A “survivalist” murder suspect who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison using a rope made from bed sheets has been captured.
Fugitive Michael Burham, an army veteran with survival and firearms training, was arrested after he was spotted in a homeowner’s garden on Saturday.
Mr Burham, 34, had been the subject of an intense manhunt since his escape from Warren County Jail in Pennsylvania on July 6.
Officials say Mr Burham was found camping in the back garden of a home in Conewango Township after the owner’s dog began barking.
“They came out to check on why the dog was barking, went to the back of their property, they met Burham,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens told reporters.
“I was told there was a conversation, a brief conversation, asking what he was doing there. He said something about camping. And the property owner recognized it, got his wife back, they were in a golf cart…drove away from there so he could contact us immediately as Burham fled into the woods .
Mr Burham was then ‘followed through the woods’ by several officers before being captured two hours after being spotted.
He was being held on kidnapping and related charges and is also suspected of murder and rape in New York. Mr Burham is accused of shooting Kala Hodgkin of Jamestown, New York, on May 11 before fleeing. He was eventually arrested in South Carolina following a multi-state manhunt.
Officials say the suspect climbed onto the roof of the Pennsylvania prison gymnasium before using the sheets to descend.
Mr. Burham served in the Army Reserve as a water treatment specialist and utility equipment repairer from February 2008 to December 2020, according to Fox News.
Officials said he will not be returned to the Warren County Jail and a decision on where he will be housed will be made after his arraignment.