Michael Burham

A Jamestown man who had been arrested after raping and later murdering his former girlfriend has pleaded guilty.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt announced late Wednesday that 37-year-old Michael Burham has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, arising from the shooting death of Kala Hodgkin on May 11, 2023.

Hodgkin accused Burham of forcibly raping her two months before her death and was shot dead in her home by him after he was charged but before he was arrested.

Burham’s plea occurred Tuesday, during a final conference before jury selection was scheduled to begin on Jan. 13. After pleading to the top count in the indictment, Burham’s trial was canceled.

Schmidt said Burham is now scheduled to be sentenced on March 2 and is expected to receive an indeterminate prison sentence of 25 years to life.

“Two and one-half years after Kala was brutally executed in her home while she and her three kids slept during the early morning hours and not a single day has gone by that we haven’t thought about her and the children, preparing for this trial which was to take place next week, waiting to finally hold this monster accountable for his heinous, cowardly actions,” Schmidt said. “Whether by trial or plea, Mr. Burham’s judgment day was coming and we now look forward to sending him off to state prison where I hope he spends the rest of his life reliving what he did, murdering an innocent young mother, destroying a local family, and traumatizing Kala’s surviving children.

“Our thoughts and prayers have been and remain with the children, including Mr. Burham’s daughter who was sleeping upstairs when he broke into Kala’s home at about 4:20 in the morning and committed this shockingly evil crime. His plea yesterday is the result of an iron-clad case put together through the collaborative efforts of Jamestown Police Department which led the investigation, my office, Chautauqua County Forensic Investigation Team, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Jamestown Fire Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Warren City Police and the Warren County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania, and the North Charleston and Summerville Police Departments in South Carolina. We owe a debt of gratitude to each and every agency and person who worked tirelessly to develop the evidence used to secure this conviction.”

Jamestown Police Department Lieutenant Adam McKinley said, “A guilty plea for Murder First and to avoid putting the family through a lengthy trial is a win. Everyone involved did a thorough investigation which led to the guilty plea. We hope Michael Burham spends the rest of his life in prison for his actions.”

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.