|
Karl Edward Burnham, 42, was arrested early Saturday morning by Davidson and Forsyth County Sheriff deputies at a Kernersville address located inside of the Davidson County limits, Davidson County Sheriff David Grice said.
Burnham was wanted for a parole violation stemming from his conditional release in 2004, after he had served 15 years of a 22-year prison sentence for second-degree murder and robbery charges, stemming out of Orange County, Fla., according to the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC).
Although Burnham was never featured on America’s Most Wanted, Grice said that a viewer called the show and notified them of his whereabouts. That information that was then passed along to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, who later contacted Davidson County authorities.
Grice said that through a search of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, authorities were able to obtain a fugitive warrant for Burnham’s arrest and hold him until Florida officials can pick him up.
“He’ll be extradited as quick as possible,” Grice said. “We’ll see how the District Attorney’s office wants to handle the extradition process, which we are looking to start as early as Wednesday. Hopefully, we’ll have him out as soon as the next week or so.”
Typically when parole is issued, the prisoner is limited to a certain jurisdiction, Grice said. By being in North Carolina, Burnham violated his parole, which according to the FDC database, limits him to community supervision in Florida as a condition of his release.
Grice said that he had no estimate on how long Burnham had been living here.
“Once again, it is very characteristic of the importance of working with other agencies,” Grice said. “This is a tribute to the power of the America’s Most Wanted television show. Although he wasn’t profiled, this person called in and they passed that information on. It shows how powerful the media can be.”
Burnham is being held at the Davidson County Detention Center without bond until his extradition back to Florida.
Staff Writer Ryan Seals can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 231, or at ryan.d.seals@gmail.com.