Who Is Michael Charles Burham? Murder Suspect Inmate Who Escaped From Prison Has Been Captured

Michael Charles Burham, an alleged murderer who was declared wanted after he escaped from Warren County Prison in Pennsylvania, has been re-arrested.

On Friday morning (July 7, 2023), officials discovered that Michael Charles Burham had escaped from the prison.

Authorities are on the hunt for Charles Burham who fled Warren County Prison in Pennsylvania.

Burham, 34, is considered very dangerous with “survivalist skills” and the public is asked to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary, Jamestown Police said.

On Saturday, July 15, it was reported that he was rearrested following his 9-day escape.

Read on for more on what he did, why he was arrested, and how he escaped.

Who is Michael Charles Burham and what did he do?

Police are searching for a “dangerous” murder suspect who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison on Friday.

The Jamestown Police Department in New York announced on social media on Friday that officials discovered that Michael Charles Burham, 34, had escaped from the Warren County Prison in northern Pennsylvania and was on the loose.

Warren County spokesperson Cecile Stelter said at a press conference that Burham, who was being held on arson and burglary charges, was last seen around 11:20 p.m. on Thursday wearing an orange/white striped jumpsuit, a denim jacket, and Crocs shoes, per ABC News.

Stelter said Burham had made his escape in the recreational yard by “elevating himself” on top of exercise equipment in order to reach the metal-grated roof before lowering himself to the ground using bed sheets tied together. He then fled the prison on foot.

Following his escape, federal, state, and local agencies launched a search using motorized vehicles and K-9 units on the ground as well as aerial resources including drones and aircraft, per Jamestown Police.

“[Burham] is considered very dangerous, and the public is asked to be vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary,” the department said in a release.

In a follow-up post on Facebook, the City of Warren Police Department said that the search for Burham has been expanded throughout the county and into areas of New York, with the Pennsylvania State Police assuming incident command due to geographical jurisdictions. 

What other crimes charges has Michael Charles Burham been accused of?

Burham was initially wanted on charges of rape and unlawful imprisonment of a woman for an incident in Jamestown, N.Y., on March 13, per WSOC-TV. A warrant for his arrest was issued on April 27. 

While police were searching for him, he reportedly also kidnapped an elderly couple at gunpoint in Sheffield, Pa., and drove them to North Charleston, S.C., which resulted in carjacking and kidnapping charges. 

He led police on a multistate manhunt until he was eventually captured in South Carolina on May 24 after a resident spotted him in their backyard, the outlet reported.

He is also a suspect in the murder and rape case of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin, which occurred on May 11 in Jamestown, N.Y., per ABC News. He had previously been a person of interest in the case.

Inmate Michael Burham was captured by police in a wooded area in Warren County on Saturday, nine days after escaping from a Pennsylvania prison

A fugitive who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison earlier this month has been found by police after nine days on the run, authorities said.

Michael Charles Burham was captured on Saturday in a wooded area in Warren County’s Conowingo Township after residents reported a “suspicious individual” in the area to the Pennsylvania State Police before 4:00 p.m. local time, Lt. Col. George Bivens said in a press conference. 

Bivens explained that the fugitive was discovered by a married couple at the back of their property after they heard their dog barking.

They drove in a golf cart to check the area when they found Burham, who was wearing his prison clothes inside out. He had told them he was camping.

“The owner of the property recognized him, got his wife back into the golf cart, and drove away from there so that he could immediately contact us as Burham fled into the woods,” Bivens said.

Police quickly rushed to the scene, using dogs to track down Burham, who was discovered “tired and worn out.”

Authorities prepared “an isolation cell at Warren County Jail” for Burham following his capture, where he is expected to remain for the weekend. He will then be transferred to a different prison to the one he escaped from, officials told CNN.