Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt is joined by Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund, Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson, Deputy Chief Scott Forster, and Detective Lieutenant Greg Wozneak
A trial for the man accused of killing Kala Hodgkin may not be until Summer 2025.
The Jamestown Police Department and the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office held a joint press conference to discuss recent charges brought against 35-year old Michael Burham in the homicide case.
Burham is accused of killing 34-year old Hodgkin while she and her three children slept in a Williams Street house in Jamestown. He has been charged with Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, and Arson in the Third Degree.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Hodgkin had met with Jamestown Police and the domestic violence program, Project Crossroads, in April 2023 following an incident that involved Burham. First degree rape charges were filed against Burham along with a warrant, but just two weeks later, Hodgkin was dead.
Schmidt said an order of protection cannot be obtained until arraignment.
Schmidt said it has taken so long since the Grand Jury brought charges in a sealed indictment in February and Burham’s arraignment this past week due to the need to extradite Burham from the Pennsylvania State Prison where he is serving a 25 to 50 year sentence after pleading guilty to charges of kidnapping, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, theft, burglary, and escape.
Burham was charged in Chautauqua County Court with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and third-degree arson. Schmidt said most homicides result in 2nd Degree Murder charges, with a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
He said first degree murder convictions result in life in prison without the option for parole, “There’s a number of types of victims of murder that would give rise to a murder in the 1st degree charge, certainly. If a police officer is killed in the line of duty, that’s murder in the 1st degree. If a victim of a crime is killed, or a witness to a crime, in order to prevent that person from testifying in a criminal proceeding, that’s murder in the 1st degree.”
Burham is in the County Jail without bail. A discovery conference will be held on August 23.
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