Kelsey Turner: Playboy model gets 10 years in prison for murder of psychiatrist Thomas Burchard
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: On Tuesday, a former Playboy and Maxim model, Kelsey Turner, 29 accepted her sentence 'through tears' for her role in killing a California psychiatrist doctor. The 71- year-old doctor, Thomas Burchard was discovered lifeless, stuffed in an abandoned car trunk in the middle of the desert. Turner will serve a 10 to 25 years jail term for the second-degree murder that she committed along with her boyfriend Jon Kennison, 29 in March of 2019 near Lake Mead.
Turner entered a plea deal after she was convicted, as there was enough evidence of her having a role in beating and later killing Burchard. The bludgeoning occurred after the doctor wished to cut off the relationship with her. Turner alleged that he had pornographic photos of minors on his phone which turned out to be false, as per the prosecutors.
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Kennison previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 to 45 years in prison. A former roommate of the couple, Diana Nicole Pena, was previously charged with murder in the case but pleaded guilty to one charge of accessory to murder in June 2019, insisting she had nothing to do with the bludgeoning itself, as per a Law&Crime report.
According to Las Vegas NBC affiliate KSNV, Pena would later confess to police that Turner and Burchard fought because Turner was "upset about images and texts on the doctor's phone." Pena added after the fight she was asked to assist in cleaning up the crime scene.
The so-called Alford plea which led her not to plead guilty so as to negotiate a sentence was accepted in November, avoiding a trial. She recognized that second-degree murder in the death of 71-year-old psychiatrist Thomas Kirk Burchard of Salinas, California, might be established by the prosecution, the report mentioned.
“She was content to leave someone she knew for a number of years, who supported her and her child financially for a number of years, to rot in the back of the car in the desert that he paid for,” Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney, Pamela Weckerly said while addressing the court as per KLAS. The outlet mentioned she was tearful as she accepted the sentence.
The victim’s longtime girlfriend, Judy Earp, was given the opportunity to address the court one last time, despite the defense’s attempt to block it through a filed objection. Earp previously told 8 News Now that Turner stole more than $300,000 from him after he attempted to cut his ties with her. In a tearful speech, she told the court, “My whole world was viciously ripped from me.” Turner was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees during her sentencing as per the outlet.