Suspected killer escapes prison using bed sheet rope

Authorities in Pennsylvania are desperately searching for a suspected killer who absconded from custody last night using a rope fashioned out of bed sheets.

Michael C. Burham, 34, was last seen in the gym at Warren County Prison around 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, the Warren and Jamestown police shared on Facebook.

Surveillance footage shows Burham entering the gym with three other inmates around 10:40, the Erie-Times News reported, citing an affidavit filed Friday.

Forty minutes later, he was captured doing pullups on workout equipment before shimmying out of the building through the roof.

“After escaping from the yard the Defendant tied a rope which consisted of multiple sheets tied together,” the complaint reads.

“The Defendant slid down the rope, landing on the portico, and jumped from the portico to the ground. He then took off on foot.”

Local and state police are involved in the extensive search, Lt. Mark Weindorf of the Pennsylvania State Police’s Troop E told the outlet.

Burham is considered very dangerous.

He is currently facing 26 charges, including eight felonies, after allegedly kidnapping an elderly Warren County couple at gunpoint and leading police on a multi-state manhunt earlier this year, WJET said.

Burham is also a suspect in the May 11 shooting death of Kala Hodgkin, 34, in Jamestown, the outlet reported.

At the time of Hodgkin’s murder, Burham was facing charges of raping her, according to the Erie-Times News.

Also on May 11, Burham’s former girlfriend – identified as “N.O.” – told police that he tried to break into her Jamestown home before setting her car on fire.

There were no sightings of Burham for several days until May 20, when Pennsylvania State Police learned that an elderly Sheffield couple was missing and their Honda SUV was mysteriously absent from their driveway.

The unidentified couple was found unharmed in a cemetery in North Carolina on May 21. Burham was arrested in Huger, South Carolina, four days later.

He was initially transferred to New York, where he faced a federal flight charge before being sent to Warren County Prison on June 19.

The evidence against Burham in the kidnapping case includes a handwritten note that was found in the stolen SUV in South Carolina, the outlet said, citing an FBI report.

“Hey Dad, I’m safe for Now, I just left the area,” the missive reads in part.

“Sorry for all the problems I caused the family. I quit drinking since May 10th.

I’m not sorry for what I Did, however, I do feel Terrible about the children. I would like (redacted) and (illegible) to adopt (redacted).”

Kala Hodgkin had three children, according to her obituary. It is unclear if Burham was the father of any of them, or if the two had any prior relationship.

Shortly after noon on Friday, the City of Warren Police said that the search for Burham was still ongoing.

In the meantime, local police have urged nearby residents to lock their doors and call 911 if they see anything out of the ordinary, WJET said.

Burham was last seen wearing orange and white overalls with crocks and a denim jacket.

He is due at a preliminary hearing on July 11.