LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -A tearful former model was sentenced to between 10 to 25 years in prison for her role in the 2019 killing of a 71-year-old California psychiatrist. The body of Thomas Burchard was found in the trunk of an abandoned car.
Turner’s sentence on a second-degree murder charge was the result of a plea deal with the state that guaranteed she would be eligible for parole in 10 years if she accepted an Alford plea, according to court documents.
The plea allowed Turner, 29, to not plead guilty but to acknowledge that the state had enough evidence to prove she was guilty.
Prosecutors said Turner and her boyfriend, Jon Kennison, beat Burchard to death and hid him in the trunk of a car left out in the desert near Lake Mead in March of 2019.
Police said Turner had a relationship with Burchard and he paid her rent.
“She was content to leave someone she knew for a number of years, who supported her and her child financially for a number of years, to rot in the back of the car in the desert that he paid for,” Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney, Pamela Weckerly said while addressing the court.
The victim’s longtime girlfriend Judy Earp told the court “My whole world was viciously ripped from me.”
Earp previously told 8 News Now that Turner stole upwards of $300,000 from Burchard after he attempted to cut her off.
“She printed on her home computer checks with Tom’s name and account number and her address. She also went online and made many charges paying her bills,” Earp said to the court. “His last words to me were, ‘she’s such a pervasive liar that I had to see for myself.’”
Earp declined to speak to media after court, but inside court, she indicated that she fears that Turner will retaliate against her when she’s released. She said Turner threatened to kill her over text before.
“I never realized such evil existed in this world until this happened,” Earp said. “I do not want to spend the rest of my life constantly worrying and always looking over my shoulder, if or when she is granted parole.”
Kennison was sentenced in July to between 18 and 45 years for his role in the murder. A roommate of the couple, Diana Nicole Pena, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and provided prosecutors with critical evidence.