Michael Burham is pictured being escorted out of Chautauqua County Court on Monday after his sentencing. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

A Jamestown man who is already behind bars for kidnapping an elderly couple has been sentenced for a murder that he committed nearly three years ago.

On Monday, Chautauqua County Court Judge David Foley sentenced 37-year-old Michael Burham to 25 years to life in prison.

In January Burham pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, arising from the shooting death of Kala Hodgkin on May 11, 2023.

Burham is currently serving time behind bars in the kidnapping of an elderly Pennsylvania couple.

After Hodgkin was shot to death with her three children in her home, Burham started a vehicle on fire and fled to Pennsylvania.

While there, he kidnapped a Sheffield couple and they went to South Carolina, where Burham was eventually captured.

He was brought back to Warren County, where he escaped and was captured after a 10-day manhunt. For the Pennsylvania crimes, Burham was sentenced to 25 years, two months to 50 years in Pennsylvania after he pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, theft and burglary.

As part of Burham’s guilty plea, he was informed by the court that his sentence for the murder of Hodgkin would run at the same time as his sentence for the kidnapping.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said in January he supported that move. After Burham was sentenced Monday by Judge David Foley in Chautauqua County Court, Schmidt said Burham will go back to Pennsylvania to serve his time, then will be transferred to New York state to enter its prison system. Schmidt is hopeful that the state parole board will deny all future applications.