LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man will serve several years in prison for the murder of a California doctor whose body was discovered in the trunk of a car at Lake Mead.
Jon Kennison and his girlfriend Kelsey Turner were charged with the death of Thomas Kirk Burchard, 71, after his body was found in 2019.
In June, he pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a murder, and murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Kennison to 18 to 45 years in prison.
8 News Now previously reported on the couple’s alleged involvement in the murder after a coroner determined Burchard died from blunt force trauma to his head.
The coroner’s report also determined he had been struck multiple times with an unidentified object.
The car Burchard’s body was found it belonged to Turner, a former model, who had never reported it missing.
Burchard had been reported missing by his longtime girlfriend in California when he didn’t return home.
She told police that he had gone to visit Turner and she became concerned when she started receiving text messages that didn’t sound like Burchard.
She believed Turner and her boyfriend may have killed him, the report said.
Police also found evidence of a crime and clean-up in Turner’s home.
The couple’s roommate, Diana Pena, pled guilt to accessory to murder in 2019.
Turner’s trial is set for November.
