Who was Thomas Burchard? | The US sun

A MURDER investigation was launched after a doctor was found dead.

Thomas Burchard’s lifeless body was found in the trunk of a car owned by a woman named Kelsey Turner.

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Who was Thomas Burchard?

Thomas Burchard was a 71-year-old physician and psychiatrist from Monterey, California.

He lived in Salinas with his longtime girlfriend Judy Earp.

The couple met mutual friends on a trip to Las Vegas in the early 2000s.

Although the two had no children together, Burchard was involved in the lives of Judy’s four children.

“He was extremely generous. Whenever he saw someone in need, he literally gave them their shirt off their backs,” Judy recalled to her late partner, 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 was that he had to go to Las Vegas to check things out because she was a compulsive liar,” Judy told KTNV.

“All I know, Tom was a big guy, almost six feet, 250 pounds. I don’t think a woman could get it in the trunk of the car.”

What happened to him?

On March 7, 2019, Thomas Burchard was found dead in the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz that was abandoned near Lake Mead.

The vehicle belonged to Kelsey Turner, whom he was visiting in Las Vegas.

An autopsy attributed Burchard’s cause of death to blunt force trauma.

On March 30, 2019, Turner, her boyfriend Jon Kennison, and roommate Diana Pena were arrested in connection with the late doctor’s murder.

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On July 27, 2022, Kennison was found guilty of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

For his crimes he was sentenced to 18 to 45 years in prison.

After agreeing to an Alford plea, Turner was sentenced to 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder.

The third suspect, Pena, testified against Kennison and Turner.

Eventually she was found guilty of an accessory to murder and sentenced to three years probation.

How can I watch Burchard’s episode 20/20?

Burchard’s death at the hands of Turner and Kennison is retold in an episode of ABC’s 20/20 entitled A Model Murder.

On February 24, 2023, A Model Murder is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. EST via the aforementioned network.

The show’s host, Chris Connelly, helms the program while gathering first-hand testimony from those involved in Burchard’s case.

Streaming options are available for those who miss Friday’s broadcast.

When the episode’s cable premiere ends, viewers can catch the special by streaming it on Hulu.