JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — The prosecutors waiting to charge Michael Burham with a series of crimes don't know when he will be brought back to the area.
Burham was captured in South Carolina last week after a 13 day manhunt that started in Jamestown earlier this month.
Now, the Chautauqua County District Attorney says his office does not know when Burham will be extradited back to Western New York.
DA Jason Schmidt says the U.S. Marshals are handling his transport, but there's no set timeline yet.
When he returns, Burham will be charged with rape and arson in Jamestown, and kidnapping in Pennsylvania.
He remains a suspect in the murder of Kala Hodgkin.
DA Jason Schmidt issued the following statement:
"I’ve received a number of inquiries about Michael Burham who was apprehended in South Carolina last week and want to update the community as best as I can at this point in time.
Mr. Burham was previously charged by Jamestown Police with Rape in the First Degree which resulted in the issuance of a warrant for his arrest on April 27th. As a result of events that occurred on May 11th while that warrant was still outstanding, Jamestown Police then charged Mr. Burham with Arson in the Third Degree. He is also the subject of an ongoing homicide investigation arising from the death of Kayla Hodgkin which occurred on May 11th as well.
Shortly after those tragic events, Mr. Burham left New York, entered into Pennsylvania and appears to have abducted an elderly couple resulting in the filing of kidnapping charges by Pennsylvania State Police. Mr. Burham then appears to have traveled south with this couple, leading to the assertion of one or more unlawful flight charges by Federal law enforcement authorities. He eventually arrived in South Carolina where he was taken into custody without further harm to him or anyone else.
On May 25th, Mr. Burham went before a South Carolina Magistrate where he waived any objection to his extradition on the Federal warrant. My understanding is that the U.S. Marshals Service is handling his transport back to the Western District of New York and that his ETA is not yet clear. It may take another week or two, if not more, before he is back in New York.
I have already been in contact with the Pennsylvania and Federal prosecutors and we are coordinating the respective prosecutions so that it makes the most sense for all of us, taking into account that our homicide investigation is still being put together. Ms. Hodgkin’s death is obviously the most serious event in this tragic chain of events and it is critical to all of us that we proceed diligently but very carefully, especially given our discovery obligations in the face of an investigation that spans across multiple states and multiple law enforcement agencies.
I will try to be as transparent as I can given the seriousness of the case. My heart goes out to the family of Ms. Hodgkin and we are working hard to ensure that the responsible person be held accountable for his actions."
