LAS VEGAS — A former model accepted a plea deal but refused to admit guilt in the case of a doctor found beaten to death in the trunk of a car.
Kelsey Turner had faced charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the death of Thomas Burchard in April 2019, USA Today reported. On Wednesday, Turner entered an Alford plea, which allows her to maintain her innocence while pleading guilty to a second-degree murder charge.
Dr. Thomas Burchard, a child psychiatrist, had been in a relationship with Turner. Burchard had traveled to Las Vegas with the intention of ending their two-year relationship and telling Turner he would no longer pay her bills, KNTV reported.
Prosecutors said Turner and her former boyfriend, Jon Kennison, beat Burchard to death and then hid him in the trunk of a car left in the desert near Lake Mead, KLAS reported.
Kennison pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 18-45 years in prison, KVVU reported.
A third person, Diana Pena, who formerly lived with Kennison and Turner, pleaded guilty to accessory to commit murder, and has not been sentenced yet, ABC News reported.
Pena testified that Turner and Kennison initially planned to take Burchard to a hospital after hitting him with a baseball bat, but Turner later demanded Kennison “knock Thomas out,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
At the time of her arrest, Turner’s Facebook profile and Instagram account described her as a model who had previously posed for Playboy, People reported.
©2022 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
