The South Carolina man who helped capture fugitive murder and kidnapping suspect Michael Burham after the first of two manhunts has advice for anyone else who may face similar circumstances after police in multiple states spent nine days working to recapture the Army Reserve veteran after his escape from jail this month.
Almost two weeks after Burham, 35, allegedly killed a woman in New York, Anthony Phillips, his girlfriend and their Jack Russell terrier found him camping out behind their shed in May. He was captured over the weekend after a second manhunt by a task force that included U.S. Marshals and Border Patrol agents more than a week after he climbed out of the gym and fled the Warren County jail in Pennsylvania.
During the first search, authorities had urged local residents to keep an eye out and to patrol their own properties after police found a stolen car with a note from Burham in which he claimed he was “not sorry” for what he’d done. So, with a handgun and his dog, Phillips went out for a look on the afternoon of May 23, and his diligence led to Burham’s initial capture.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina shared this image after Michael Burham’s capture on May 23. (Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office)
“If you notice something out of the ordinary, you got to report it,” Phillips said. “If it’s not out of the ordinary, don’t lead them on a wild goose chase.”
Burham had been on the run since May 11 when police in New York found 34-year-old mother of three Kala Hodgkin shot dead. On May 20, a Pennsylvania couple was reported missing, and South Carolina police found them alive on May 22. They told authorities they had been kidnapped at gunpoint and identified Burham as their abductor, prompting a massive manhunt in the Palmetto State.
“We just did like anybody else should do, always check your property, walk around your property, make sure there’s nothing out of place,” Phillips said. “And if there’s something out of place, make sure you let the law know.”
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Sadie is the Jack Russell terrier whose growling helped alert her owners to the presence of fugitive murder suspect Michael Burham on their South Carolina property, leading to his capture in May. (Anthony Phillips / File)
The next afternoon, Phillips and his girlfriend spotted a suspicious pair of shoes near their shed and stumbled across the fugitive suspect in their yard, wrapped in a sheet of Tyvek building insulation.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Phillips said. “He don’t have no fear in his heart, that’s for sure. He’s not going to give up.”
While Phillips was armed, he said his first priority was keeping his girlfriend safe. He stood between her and Burham as she returned to the house and called 911.
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Michael Burham is suspected of shooting Kala Hodgkin to death in New York before lighting another woman’s car on fire and then kidnapping a Pennsylvania couple, according to police. (Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office | Kala Hodgkin / Facebook)
“When he stood up, he was very cool, calm and collected,” Phillips said.
But the homeowner, who knew there was an active manhunt in the area for a man suspected of a string of violent crimes in New York and Pennsylvania, started shouting.
MANHUNT LAUNCHED AFTER MURDER SUSPECT WHO WROTE HE’S ‘NOT SORRY’ ESCAPES PENNSYLVANIA JAIL
Michael Burham (Warren City Police Department via AP)
“I was too busy hollering at him and cussing,” he said. “You always want to protect your own and protect your family.”
The fugitive grabbed his shoes and took off running, tripped over a tree branch and vanished into the woods, Phillips said.
Phillips went inside, and the couple spoke with 911.
Police arrived within five minutes, he said.
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But Burham, who can run six miles in an hour, his ex-girlfriend told Fox News, led police on a lengthy chase through the brush.
Michael Burham was arrested in Warren County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday after a nine-day manhunt. (City of Warren Police – Pennsylvania)
They captured him after roughly two hours, Phillips said.
Then this past weekend, with police again on the hunt for signs of Burham, a Pennsylvania couple on their back patio heard their dog barking and called 911.
Cynthia Ecklund told Fox News Digital that she and her husband found Burham shirtless and wearing his orange prison pants next to a creek. They recognized him immediately from news reports, she said.
“My husband and I both recognized it as Michael Burham immediately,” Cynthia said.
Burham was recaptured at gunpoint, according to police.
Fox News’ CB Cotton contributed to this report.
