Escapee captured after 9 days when dog bark alerted couple pleads guilty in Pennsylvania

FILE – This image provided by the Pennsylvania State Police shows homicide suspect Michael Burham after he was recaptured, July 15, 2023. Burham, the homicide suspect who escaped from Warren County Prison in northwestern Pennsylvania earlier this year and was on the run for more than a week before a pet dog led to his recapture, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Nov. 9, for his escape. (Pennsylvania State Police via AP, File)

WARREN, Pa. (AP) — A homicide suspect who escaped from a northwestern Pennsylvania prison and was on the run for more than a week before a pet dog led to his recapture in July has pleaded guilty for kidnapping a Pennsylvania couple and his escape. 34-year-old Michael Burham pleaded guilty on Thursday for kidnapping an older couple in Pennsylvania and driving them to South Carolina to evade an investigation in New York where he was suspected of murder. While being held in Warren County on related charges, Burham escaped by climbing on top of exercise equipment to a grated metal roof and slid down a rope that he had made of bedsheets. A Warren County judge is expected to sentence Burham on Jan. 5, 2024.