(NewsNation) — As the manhunt continues for a suspected rapist and killer who escaped a Pennsylvania jail, Chautauqua County, New York, District Attorney Jason Schmidt says he’s concerned that Michael Burham may return to the community where he has ties.
Burham, 34, was being held in prison in lieu of $1 million bail on kidnapping, burglary and other charges and was a suspect in a homicide investigation in Jamestown, New York, just across the state line.
“The witnesses in the case that we’re trying to develop against him in connection with the homicide, they’re all local here. So, our immediate concern is their safety, the safety of the community, so we’ve taken some steps to preserve everybody’s safety so that we’re not caught off guard by this situation,” Schmidt said Monday on “CUOMO.”
In addition to the kidnapping, burglary and arson charges, Burham was the prime suspect in the murder of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin. Police say the mother of three was killed May 11 in Jamestown, allegedly by Burham, who then fled to South Carolina and kidnapped two people in Pennsylvania on the way.
Burham was captured in South Carolina and extradited to Pennsylvania, where he was being held on the charges. The elderly couple he is accused of holding hostage was found alive, according to the FBI.
Schmidt said his office is still building evidence in the murder case with the intent to file charges against Burham.
“This is a crazy set of circumstances, right down to the escape that occurred, which is still shocking,” Schmidt said.
Burham escaped from a jail in Warren, Pennsylvania, by climbing up on exercise equipment and using tied-up bedsheets to escape from a window. A photo obtained by NewsNation shows the bedsheet rope dangling from the roof of the building next to a stairwell.
The jail from which Burham escaped is located in northern Pennsylvania, about 18 miles from Jamestown, New York, and just outside the Allegheny National Forest.
Burham is a “self-taught survivalist,” police said.
Small campsites and stockpiles were located in the forest, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said. At a news conference Monday, Bivens said the stockpiles included supplies that will assist him with a prolonged stay in a wooded area.
“I think in some respects this (is) an individual who probably thinks he’s smarter than everybody else,” Schmidt said. “I say that having sort of watched him from afar with law enforcement interviews, and I think that he thinks he’s outsmarted everybody, but it’s going to catch up with him.”
NewsNation correspondent Evan Lambert contributed to this report.
