Kelsey Turner, Las Vegas woman takes plea deal in murder of Dr. Thomas Burchard, child psychiatrist sugar daddy. Former Playboy model faces 10-25 years jail at time of sentencing.
An ex-Playboy model accused of killing a 71-year-old California child psychiatrist who she was romantically involved with agreed to a plea deal in the man’s death Wednesday, according to reports.
Kelsey Turner, who previously posed in Playboy Italia and Maxim, faces anywhere from 10 to 25 years behind bars after accepting an Alford plea where she doesn’t admit guilt in the slaying of Dr. Thomas Burchard, while nevertheless accepting the punishment of a second degree murder charge handed down by the court, Law and Crime reported.
Burchard was found dead in the trunk of a Mercedes in Las Vegas in March 2019 after he was brutally beaten to death, cops said at the time.
During the course of their relationship, Turner gave Buchard thousands of dollars so she could pay rent toward her home in Salinas and then Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
At the time of the man’s beating death, Burchard had indicated to Turner that he could no longer pay for her expenses, which along with rent, included her cars and bills.
#BREAKING: Kelsey Turner, the former Playboy model accused of killing a psychiatrist, plead guilty ahead of trial.
Turner entered an Alford plea for the fatal beating of 71-year-old Dr. Thomas Burchard.
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— Court TV (@CourtTV) November 10, 2022
Vehicle where body was found linked to ex Playmate
Prosecutors argued that the couple who had been involved in a sugar daddy arrangement proceeding to then fight, before the man’s murder.
Burchard had stopped paying Turner’s $3,200 rent per-month in the fall of 2018, leading to Turner, her two children, and her mother to being evicted for not paying rent, Law & Crime reported.
Following Burchard’s slaying, prosecutors alleged Turner and her then-boyfriend, Joe Kennison, bludgeoning Burchard to death with a baseball bat, and stuffing his body into the trunk of Turner’s Mercedes Benz on a desert road in rural Nevada.
The car where Burchard’s body was found was linked to Turner, with the former Playboy model eventually taken into custody by federal agents in California weeks after Burchard was found.
$300K over the years
Kennison and Diana Pena also plead guilty in connection to the doctor’s death, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. The pair along with Turner lived in the Las Vegas apartment.
According to Judy Earp, Burchard’s fiancée and his life partner of 17 years, the child psychologist had given Turner some $300,000 over the years. It would be only days after having travelled to Las Vegas to tell Turner he was now cutting her off completely that the man was found deceased.
Turner has all along denied any involvement in her alleged former sugar daddy’s death.
Sentencing will take place in January.
Turner’s next court appearance is reportedly Nov. 15.
