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Life Sentence In Killing Of Marshall Student

By AP

Huntington, WVA – The second of two men who escaped from a Kentucky jail and went on a deadly multi-state crime spree has entered a guilty plea Monday to killing a Marshall University student.
Branden Basham pleaded to a federal charge of carjacking resulting in death to avoid a possible death penalty.
The 23 year old Basham was charged in the 2002 disappearance of 19 year old West Hamlin, West Virginia native Samantha Burns. He was sentenced to life in prison by U. S. District judge Chuck Chambers.
Burns has been missing since November 11, 2002. Her burned out car was found on a rural road in Wayne County, West Virginia about six hours after she had called her mother for the last time.
Her body has never been found, though Basham and co-defendant Chadrick Fulks, of West Hamlin, have said Burns and another victim in South Carolina are dead.
The two escaped from the Hopkins County regional detention center.