JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Prosecutors on Friday revealed new details about the murder of a Jamestown mother of three last year.
Michael Burham, the same man who was the subject of a 13-day manhunt who then escaped from prison in Pennsylvania, is now charged in that murder.
Friday, we learned more from prosecutors about how Kala Hodgkin had gone to police for help before the murder.
"She had worked with a program that the police agency and the Jamestown city administration had developed called the Project Crossroads Program. That program was developed to help domestic violence victims," Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said.
The Chautauqua County District Attorney says Hodgkin went to police a month before she was killed to accuse her ex-boyfriend, Michael Burham, of rape. A rape charge against Burham was filed two weeks before her murder.
"It was really no indication that I could see that something preemptive should have occurred here, and I would point out that in our community, it's very difficult for us to, we don't have the resources, unfortunately, available to us to protect each and every person before a crime occurs," Schmidt said.
Burham was extradited back to Chautauqua County on Tuesday from Pennsylvania, where he's serving 25 to 50 years, to face first and second degree murder charges and an arson charge.
He's accused of shooting Hodgkin as she slept in her Jamestown home in May of 2023.
"All three children were home when this occurred. This is not a, this is an event that's going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. You can imagine," Schmidt said.
On Friday, the D.A. was asked why it took more than a year to charge Burham with murder.
"Here we had collected tangible objects at the two crime scenes. We had to have those objects tested. We rely on outside laboratories, including New York State Police, PSP and their labs conducted some of the testing, and we referred some of the matters out to the FBI because they have more sensitive equipment than is available to us. We also rely on Erie County. We don't have a local crime lab available to us," Schmidt said.
The next court date in this case is later this month, and the D.A. thinks it'll go to trial some time around next summer.