After a doctor was discovered dead, a MURDER investigation was launched.
Thomas Burchard’s lifeless body was discovered in the trunk of a car owned by Kelsey Turner.
Who was Thomas Burchard?
Thomas Burchard, a 71-year-old doctor and psychiatrist from Monterey, California, was assassinated.
He shared a home in Salinas with his long-term girlfriend, Judy Earp.
The couple met during a trip to Las Vegas with mutual friends in the early 2000s.
Burchard was involved in Judy’s four children’s lives despite the fact that the two had no children together.
“He was extremely generous. If he saw somebody in need, he would literally give them the shirt off his back,” Judy remembered of her late partner to ELLE.
In the years leading up to his death, Burchard was involved in a platonic friendship with a Playboy model named Kelsey Turner.
“The last conversation I had with him, he had to go to Las Vegas to check things out because she was a compulsive liar,” Judy said to KTNV.
“All I know Tom was a big guy, almost six feet, 250 pounds. I don’t think one woman could get him into the trunk of the car.”
What happened to him?
On March 7, 2019, Thomas Burchard was discovered dead in the trunk of an abandoned Mercedes-Benz near Lake Mead.
The car belonged to Kelsey Turner, with whom he travelled to Las Vegas.
Burchard died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to an autopsy.
Turner, her boyfriend Jon Kennison, and her roommate Diana Pena were arrested on March 30, 2019, in connection with the late doctor’s murder.
Kennison was found guilty of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder on July 27, 2022.
He was sentenced to 18 to 45 years in prison for his crimes.
Turner was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder after agreeing to an Alford plea deal.
Pena, the third suspect, testified against Kennison and Turner.
She was eventually found guilty of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to three years probation.
How to watch Burchard’s 20/20 episode?
Burchard’s death at the hands of Turner and Kennison is recounted in the episode A Model Murder of ABC’s 20/20.
A Model Murder is set to air on the aforementioned network on February 24, 2023 at 9 p.m. EST.
Chris Connelly, the show’s anchor, leads the broadcast as he gathers first-hand testimony from those involved in Burchard’s case.
There are streaming options available for those who missed Friday’s broadcast.
When the episode’s cable premiere concludes, viewers can head over to Hulu to watch the special live.
