JONESBORO, Ark. – 25-year-old Kelsey Turner once lived in Jonesboro before she pursued a glamorous dream that led her out west. But on March 28, 2019, Turner was arrested by homicide detectives after an abandoned vehicle was found with a dead man inside of the trunk.
Dr. Thomas Burchard, 71, was a psychiatrist according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He had declined to retire at 65 because he cared about the community, one hospital spokeswoman said. His body was found on March 7 in an abandoned vehicle on State Route 147 near the Lake Mead National Recreation Area entrance, The Californian reports. He had been bludgeoned to death and it was clearly a case of homicide. He died of blunt force trauma to the head.
On Thursday, Turner was being held in San Joaquin County Jail awaiting extradition to face a murder charge in Las Vegas. San Joaquin County is in California. Turner was reported as having property in nearby Arizona and California.
On March 7, 2019, an abandoned vehicle was located on State Route 147, near mile marker 14 with a deceased male inside the trunk. An investigation by #LVMPD Homicide Detectives led to the arrest of 25-year-old Kelsey Turner in this incident. #LVMPDnews pic.twitter.com/rjYYJNeL3G
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) March 28, 2019
Authorities have not released much information about the case. NEA Report has requested the report from the LVMPD and hopes to update our audience with more as we can. However, homicide detectives were led to believe that Turner was involved in the psychiatrist’s injuries and arrested her 21 days after the dead body was found.
Burchard was found after someone noticed a rock had been thrown through the windshield of the vehicle he was in. It was at about 10:50 AM on March 7 when he was found.
Turner reportedly posed as a model for Playboy Italia, the Italian version of the adult magazine by the same name in America. She also posed for Maxim magazine.
In an interview with KSBW, Turner’s mother, Samantha, said Kelsey and Burchard knew each other for years. Samantha said the psychatrist had even paid rent on a home in Salinas where Kelsey, her mother, and Kelsey’s children all lived. A next door neighbor confirmed the family lived there for close to a year. He also said there were calls for police “on a few occasions,” but did not elaborate on why. The same neighbor said there were parties and disturbances.
KSBW reported an anonymous source said Turner moved to Las Vegas when Burchard stopped paying rent on her home. The source said Burchard met Turner online and was giving her and her mother between $2000 and $4000 weekly. The source, who was apparently familiar with Burchard, said the last thing the murder victim said was that Kelsey was “having trouble with her boyfriend out there in Vegas because he’s hitting her. He’s abusing her and she has no money, no where to go. He says I feel partially responsible for this.”
In January, court documents showed Turner’s boyfriend, Greg Hagio, was arrested for strangulation and domestic battery in Las Vegas. Charges were ultimately dropped. Hagio was listed as “in a relationship” with Turner during KSBW’s reporting but is presently not listed on her profile as of this publication.
Many recognized Turner from her time living in NEA, with social media filling full of stories about the woman during her time in Jonesboro.
“Ya, she was always the little fighter!! I remember she was a couple years below me!!!” one person wrote.
“I knew she looked familiar! She used to tan at PBT!” another said.
One person who was familiar with her speculated on what might cause her to allegedly commit the acts she’s accused of.
“…She never seemed like a murderer,” she posted.
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