Former Playboy model and her boyfriend indicted in killing of California psychiatrist

A former magazine model and her boyfriend are headed for trial in the killing of a 71-year-old California psychiatrist whose body was found outside Las Vegas, a defense attorney said Friday.

Kelsey Nichole Turner and Jon Logan Kennison are due Monday before a Las Vegas judge on murder and conspiracy charges in the slaying of Thomas Kirk Burchard, according to Turner’s lawyer, Brian Smith.

However, Smith said, their preliminary hearing will be called off after a grand jury handed up an indictment moving the case to Nevada state court for trial.

Attorney Jess Matsuda, representing their former roommate, Diana Nicole Pena, said his client has not been indicted and he is negotiating with prosecutors. Pena also is due in court on Monday.

Burchard lived in Salinas, east of Monterey Bay. Police say he had an intimate relationship with Turner and paid rent on a Las Vegas home where Turner, Kennison and Pena lived.

Turner and Kennison are accused of killing Burchard and leaving his bludgeoned corpse in Turner’s Mercedes Benz where it was found March 7 on a desert road between Las Vegas and Lake Mead.

Turner, 26, modeled for Playboy Italia and Maxim magazines. She was arrested March 21 in Stockton.

Kennison, 27, was arrested April 17 in Las Vegas.

Pena, 30, was a Las Vegas Strip bartender. She surrendered to authorities on April 13. All three remain jailed without bail in Las Vegas.