Third suspect arrested in Monterey doctor’s murder
UPDATE 4/18/19: The third suspect arrested for charges related to the murder of Monterey Doctor Thomas Kirk Burchard is set for his first hearing on those charges this week.
Jon Logan Kennison is scheduled to appear at that hearing scheduled for April 19 in front of a Clark County judge.
It’s not known if Kennison will plea guilty or not guilty at this time. The details of his arrest and where he was located are also not known.
In its investigation, Las Vegas Metro Police determined Kennison fled Nevada to California shortly after the body of Thomas Burchard was found in the trunk of a car near Las Vegas.
Kennison left the state with Kelsey Turner, another suspect in this investigation, who was arrested in Stockton, CA with Kennison by her side.
Kennison had initially agreed to speak with investigators upon Turner’s arrest, but disappeared for about four weeks.
The other suspect, Diana Pena, was also arrested after having attempted to go into hiding as well.
UPDATE: A third suspect has been arrested for the murder of Monterey Doctor Thomas Burchard.
According to the Clark County Jail, Jon Kennison was arrested at 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17th. He is facing several charges including conspiracy of murder and open murder with a deadly weapon.
PREVIOUS STORY:
The second suspect arrested for the murder of a Monterey doctor entered a not guilty plea in court Tuesday morning.
Diana Pena appeared in a Clark County courtroom for a status check. In addition to entering a plea, another status check was set for April 30.
Her lawyer requested bail, but the judge said the court would ask for a written bail motion, so for now she has no bail. The lawyer says he plans to submit a written request for bail.
Pena, one of three suspects in the murder of Dr. Thomas Burchard, was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on April 13. She’s been charged with conspiracy of murder and open murder with the use of a deadly weapon or tear gas.
ORIGINAL STORY: Kelsey Turner, a former model and suspect in the murder of a Monterey doctor has been extradited from Stockton, California, to Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.
Dr. Thomas Burchard’s body was found near Lake Mead on March 7. The Clark County Coroner said 71-year-old Bouchard, who was from Salinas, California, died from blunt force injuries to his head.
According to Metro Police, the suspects, in this case, are as followed:
Kelsey Turner
Jon Logan Kennison
Diana Nicole Pena
Turner, 25, was apprehended by police in Stockton, California in late March. Her extradition was delayed after authorities found out she was pregnant, but she was booked into CCDC at some point on April 12.
Everything unfolded on March 7, when someone called 9-1-1 to report a 2017 Mercedes Benz C300 with California plates parked in the desert area of State Route 147 (Lake Mead Boulevard) near mile marker 14 in eastern Clark County.
The car looked suspicious because it was along a dirt road and the windows were rolled down, but there wasn’t anyone in the car.
When law enforcement officers arrived and ran the car’s plates, it was registered out of San Francisco, and the vehicle had not been reported stolen. The warrant report said the car was in Turner’s possession because she took over the payments, but it was registered under someone else’s name.
When officers opened the trunk, they saw clothes and bedding all over it, but they also detected a foul odor, the warrant report said. When the clothes were moved around, officers found a body part.
On the front passenger seat, Metro Police detectives found blue latex gloves and remnants of small defects or tears to the headliner. There was also blood on the driver’s seat headrest and in the backseat, along with small defects of tears to the headliner, the warrant said.
They also found prints, swabs of possible DNA, clothing with blood on it, Bouchard’s vest and house keys, and a Caesars Palace employee card for Diana Pena. Metro said it looked like someone tried to clean up evidence in the car.
The body in the trunk was soon identified as that of Burchard.
Burchard’s long-time girlfriend Judy Earp told 8 News NOW Burchard came to Las Vegas on March 1 and was supposed to return to California on March 4, so when he didn’t and when she couldn’t get in touch with him she called the police to report him missing.
