The Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office announced that 37-year-old Michael Burham has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Kala Hodgkin.
The plea occurred on Tuesday during a final conference before jury selection was scheduled to begin on January 13. After the plea, the trial was canceled.
The District Attorney’s office said Burham shot and killed Hodgkin inside her home on May 11, 2023. Burham was charged with raping Hodgkin and there was a warrant out for his arrest when the deadly shooting occurred.
After the murder, Burham led authorities on a manhunt, during which he kidnapped a Pennsylvania couple and forced them to drive him to South Carolina. The couple was located alive in a cemetery and told law enforcement they were kidnapped at gunpoint from their home in Sheffield, Pennsylvania…