After Dr. Thomas Burchard, a well-respected child psychiatrist, and Instagram model Kelsey Turner connected online, their relationship rapidly progressed into an addiction.
He was completely preoccupied with the stunning young woman of 25 years old who went by the name “Bad Barbie.”
She was financially reliant on the doctor for her extravagant way of life.
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Thomas Burchard Murder Case Update
Turner and her ex-boyfriend Jon “Logan” Kennison have been held in custody for the murder of a child therapist named Dr. Thomas Burchard ever since the year 2019.1
They are accused of killing the 71-year-old psychiatrist with a baseball bat and then placing his body in the trunk of Turner’s Mercedes Benz. The charges against them include the following:
Judy Earp, who is engaged to the victim, claims that Burchard paid Turner around $300,000 over the course of several years to act as his “sugar baby.”
According to Earp, while Burchard was leaving the room, he allegedly stated something along the lines of, “She’s such a pervasive liar that I have to see for myself.”
When the body of Burchard was discovered in the trunk of Turner’s car, which had been left abandoned on a desert road outside of Las Vegas, the car had been driven by Turner.
Turner was taken into custody by authorities from the Las Vegas Police Department and the FBI in Stockton, California, on March 21, 2019, after a period of three years had passed since her sentencing.
In July 2022, after Kennison had pleaded guilty, she gave her approval for the court to accept an Alford guilty plea.
She insisted that she was innocent up until the 9th of November, 2022, when she consented to the plea agreement. On January 10, 2023, Kesley was given a prison sentence that ranged from 10 to 25 years.
In June of 2022, Kennison pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a deadly instrument and murder conspiracy charges.
He had originally been charged with first-degree murder. As a result of his participation in the crime, he was given a sentence that ranged from 18 to 45 years in prison.
Diana Pena, who shared living space with the couple, confessed to being an accessory to homicide and provided the prosecution with information that was extremely helpful.
At this time, Turner is being held for questioning at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in Nevada.
Thomas Burchard (Murder): Autospy And Investigation
The results of the autopsy revealed that he had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.2
During the investigation of the couple’s residence, the authorities discovered a door that had been smashed in half, as well as cleaning supplies, blood, and objects with Jon’s name, according to the prosecutors.
According to the police, there were also bath towels that were identical to the ones that were found together with Burchard’s body.
It is believed that Kelsey and Jon’s fingerprints, as well as those of a baseball bat, were discovered in the vehicle in which his body was dumped.
As soon as the horrifying news of Thomas’s body being found spread, both of them were immediately located and taken into custody.
In his initial interview with Access Hollywood, Jon denied any involvement in the murder, saying, “We’re not monsters, we didn’t do it.” Jon was initially detained for his role in the incident.
Despite this, Jon maintained his innocence for more than a year until finally pleading guilty to the charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy.
In July of 2022, he was given a prison sentence ranging from 18 to 45 years.
Turner is a well-known American fashion model who was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but spent most of her childhood in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She is currently 29 years old.
After graduating from Arkansas State University, she started a career as a model, doing shots for lingerie and swimwear among other things.
After that, she worked for respected publications including Maxim, Playboy, Players Magazine, Fire and Ice, and Modelmania.
In addition, Kelsey was featured on the cover of journals such as OneTen, Conceited, and Dream Victims.
Due to her fame, she had roles in the films The Promise (2011) and Wally Got Wasted (2018), both of which were released in 2018.
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Thomas Burchard (Murder): Who Is Kelsey Turner?
According to one of the defendant’s representatives who spoke with Law&Crime in the past, Kelsey Turner, age 29, accepted an Alford plea in November of the previous year.
Turner was aware of the potential term she faced at the time, and she agreed to enter a plea of guilty to one count of murder in the second degree in exchange for a promise that she would be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of ten years in prison.
Criminal defendants have the option of entering an Alford plea, which allows them to maintain their innocence regarding the specifics of an allegation even while acknowledging that the evidence presented by the state is likely to be sufficient to convince a judge or jury of their guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Caroline Bleakley, a reporter for the Las Vegas station that is affiliated with CBS and KLAS, stated that Turner accepted her sentence while crying.
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Thomas Burchard (Murder): How Did He Die?
Dr. Thomas Kirk Burchard was born on February 16, 1948, and spent his childhood in Boston, Massachusetts, before moving to Virginia, where his father had architecture teaching positions at both Harvard University and the College of Architecture at Virginia Tech University.3
After completing his training in medicine, he made the decision to focus his career on child psychology. He then worked as a resident child psychiatrist at a number of well-known hospitals and institutions across the country.
After a while, Dr. Thomas became a child psychiatrist at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey, California. He worked there for a total of forty years and was one of the most sought-after professionals in his field.
Dr. Thomas is remembered fondly by his loved ones and coworkers as a man with an exceptionally kind and loving heart who adored children and delighted in putting on magic shows for them.
Aside from that, he had a reputation for being a selfless person who rarely cared about himself and would go out of his way to assist people who were struggling.
However, the resident of Salinas tragically lost his life as a direct result of his charity. On March 7, 2019, a guy called 911 to report an abandoned Mercedes-Benz that was located on a gravel road close to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This call was received by the Nevada Police Department.
As soon as the law enforcement officials got on the scene, they noticed that the car’s windows were rolled up, and it appeared as though something had been burned on the passenger seat.
They opened the trunk of the car as soon as they saw blood on the back seat and the driver’s headrest. There, they discovered a foul-smelling clothing item along with some bedding.
After removing them, they found the horribly beaten body of 71-year-old Dr. Thomas, which was so badly disfigured that it was almost unrecognisable.
In addition to having a portion of his ear removed, he also had defensive wounds all over his face, neck, arms, and upper chest. These wounds included bruises, scratches, and scrapes.
The results of the official autopsy came back quickly, revealing that Dr. Thomas had died from head trauma caused by a blow to the head.
Kelsey Turner: Where Is She Now? Punishment Details
For a very good portion of his sentence, Turner will be confined to the confines of a state prison. According to court documents from Clark County that were obtained by KTNV, Turner made the decision to enter into a plea bargain in November of 2022.
An Alford plea refers to the situation in which a defendant maintains their innocence while choosing to accept a charge of murder in the second degree in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Now, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that on Tuesday, January 11, 2023, Turner was handed a sentence of ten to twenty-five years in jail for his crime.
She will serve out her time in the Nevada Department of Prisons in accordance with the terms of her sentence.
Because this was Turner’s first crime, the defence and the prosecution came to an agreement over the appropriate punishment.
In July of 2022, Kennison was given a sentence that could put him behind bars for anywhere between 18 and 45 years.
In addition, it has been reported by KLAS that Turner and Kennison’s former roommate, Diana Pea, has furnished the prosecution with crucial evidence. Yet, she also entered a guilty plea to the charge of being a murder accessory.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Pêna stated in court that she assisted in cleaning up the crime scene and left the state with the couple after they committed the murder.
Kelsey Turner: Childhood And Career
Turner was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on May 5, 1993, but he spent most of his childhood in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She attended Arkansas State University for her final two years of schooling.
In later years, she became a fashion model, initially specialising in lingerie and swimsuits.
During her time as a model, she split her time between Salinas, in the state of California, and Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada.
Turner began her career as a fashion model by appearing in lingerie and swimwear magazines, including Maxim, Playboy, Players Magazine, Fire and Ice, Modelmania, and OneTen. She also worked for OneTen magazine.
Turner is also well-known for her roles in films such as “The Promise” (2011) and “Wally Got Wasted” (2018), both of which she starred in. Moreover, in 2021, Turner and a business partner established the clothing brand Badd Barbie.
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