3rd suspect in California doctor’s death jailed in Las Vegas

The third and final suspect in the killing of a California doctor was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday, jail records show.

Jon Kennison, 27, faces charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Kennison’s two roommates, Kelsey Nichole Turner, a former model, and Diana Pena, were both booked into the jail over the weekend in connection with the killing.

The Metropolitan Police Department identified the roommates as the suspects in the death of 71-year-old Dr. Thomas Burchard, whose body was found March 7 in the trunk of Turner’s abandoned Mercedes-Benz C300 in a remote desert area east of Las Vegas, after their fingerprints were found on the car.

Police have said that Burchard had traveled to Las Vegas on March 1 to visit Turner, with whom he had an intimate relationship.

Kennison also was Turner’s current boyfriend, according to arrest reports for the suspects obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Police believe the three suspects abandoned their Las Vegas home and fled the state after the killing, according to arrest reports.

Burchard had paid their March rent in full and previously had been paying Turner’s rent in California, his longtime girlfriend, Judy Earp, has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Turner, 25, and Pena, 30, face the same charges as Kennison, and all have an enhancement added due to Burchard’s age, which carries a longer sentence if convicted.

Turner was the first of the three arrested, after being apprehended March 21 in Stockton, California. She was extradited Friday to the detention center from the San Joaquin County Jail.

She was formally charged Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas Justice Court, according to online court records, and was ordered held without bail. Her preliminary hearing was set for June 3.

Pena was taken into custody Saturday after turning herself into police, her lawyer, Jess Matsuda, said. A judge denied Pena bail in court Tuesday after she pleaded not guilty to the charges, and ordered her back in court April 30, court records show.

Kennison remained in the detention center Wednesday night without bail, according to jail records. Further details about his arrest were not immediately available.

He is set to appear in court Friday morning, court records show.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.