Rape and murder suspect Michael Charles Burham was on the lam, but a dog, Tucker, spotted him. (Mugshot of Burham: Warren County; screenshot of Tucker: WIVB)
An escaped inmate facing a slew of violent charges was captured this weekend because a dog alerted a couple about the suspect being in their backyard.
Michael Charles Burham, 34, is back in the hands of Pennsylvania authorities, though officials reportedly have no plans to return him to Warren County Prison in northwest Pennsylvania.
He escaped on July 7 by climbing on top of some of the prison’s exercise equipment, leaving the prison yard through a metal grate in the roof, then using a makeshift rope of several bed sheets tied to lower himself.
“Michael Burham has been captured,” the Pennsylvania State Police announced Saturday night. “Thank you to all partner agencies and the surrounding community for their assistance and support during this detail.”
Law enforcement previously warned that the “self-taught survivalist” had military reserve experience and was using it to live on the lam. They did not announce any other arrests, though they suggested someone was helping him after the escape. His luck, however, appeared to have run out in the backyard of Ron and Cindy Ecklund.
The couple told WIVB they were sitting on their porch just after 4 p.m. on Saturday. Their chocolate Labrador, Tucker, ran to the creek along their backyard. He did not return, so the Ecklunds checked it out. They spotted a man.
Ron said that Cindy joked if he wanted to get his gun. Ron dismissed it at the time. The couple initially believed this to be a fisherman and drove out on their golf cart. The man they were about to meet faces charges in Warren County, including two counts each of kidnapping and aggravated assault and one count each of burglary, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and criminal trespass. In New York, 11 miles from the Warren County Prison, he faces an arrest warrant for rape.
Burham has not been formally charged but is the main suspect in the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin, who, on March 13, was gunned down inside her home in Jamestown, New York. After the shooting, authorities allege that Burham intentionally set fire to a car owned by another woman.
After a warrant was issued for his arrest in the Hodgkin’s shooting, Burham, on May 20, is accused of trying to evade authorities by allegedly kidnapping an elderly couple at gunpoint in Warren County, Pennsylvania. He allegedly used their car to drive to Charleston, South Carolina. Authorities found the couple unharmed and took Burham into custody a few days after a homeowner spotted him prowling in their backyard.
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Ron Ecklund said he questioned the stranger.
“I’m camping,” Burham allegedly said.
“Well, no one camps in my backyard,” Ron told the outlet.
The couple started returning home.
“We started back, and I said, ‘dial 911,”” Ron told the outlet. “I’ve seen his pictures.”
Burham returned to the woods, the couple said. Footage shows law enforcement escorting him handcuffed.
Law enforcement credits the Ecklunds, but the couple credits Tucker. They planned on giving him a baked steak dinner.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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