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.

Hodgkin accused Burham of forcibly raping her two months before her death and was shot dead in her home by him after a warrant was issued for his arrest, but before he was taken into custody.

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 of the murder of Hodgkin would run at the same time as his sentence for the kidnapping.

Schmidt said in January he supported that move. “A murder one conviction is very rare. We don’t see how he would ever be paroled,” he said.

In 2024 Schmidt held a press conference where he announced that he would be charging Burham with first- and second-degree murder as well as third-degree arson.

It was the first time that Schmidt had ever charged a suspect with first-degree murder, during his time in the District Attorney’s Office, either as the DA or an Assistant DA.

Schmidt explained back in 2024 that if a person kills a witness to prevent that person from testifying about a crime, the suspect can be charged with first-degree murder.

Schmidt noted that Hodgkin had come to Jamestown Police about a month prior looking for help, as a domestic violence victim.

After working with police, charges were filed against Burham for first-degree rape and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.

A warrant was issued but Burham was not taken into custody before Hodgkin was murdered.

Schmidt said previously that because Hodgkin was murdered, the rape and unlawful imprisonment charges were dropped, something he said is required by law.