Credit: ABC
Originally posted on August 24, 2023 @ 9:49 am
The Playboy Murders Recap for Sugar Baby
-The season finale of The Playboy Murders is titled Sugar Baby and tells the story of former Playboy model turned murderer Kelsey Turner.
-On March 3rd, 2019, police arrived to a home in the Las Vegas area to do a welfare check. No one answers the door despite the lights being on. However, mail is piling up and the door is unlocked, so they go investigate, only to find signs of violence, a broken-down door and blood.
-Kelsey Turner was staying there and missing. She was a model in Playboy Italia and loved the lifestyle that came with being a model, including being a regular in the party scene.
-Kelsey had been modeling for quite some time before Playboy, having appeared in magazines such as Maxim. She also appeared in some low budget films as she worked her way toward her goal.
-Once she reached her goal, she moved to Las Vegas and began working as a party promoter in addition to modeling. She lived with Diana Pena and her boyfriend Jon Kennison while promoting events and furthering her career.
-On March 7th, 2019, police received a call about an abandoned car in the desert. There were latex gloves and blood in the car, with blue and white striped towels covering a body in the trunk.
-There was no identification on the body, but a check on the car showed that the car had been sold to Kelsey via Craigslist. The man who sold the car had Kelsey on a payment plan and he was immediately cleared of any wrongdoing.
-Credit cards were later found at the scene and identified the victim as 71-year-old Dr. Thomas Burchard. He worked as a child psychologist and was known for his work around the country. It was soon discovered that he had gone to Vegas on March 1st, but had not been heard from since March 2nd. His partner Judy knew something was wrong and had a feeling that Kelsey was somehow involved.
-It was later discovered that Dr. Burchard would find young women and take care of them financially. Kelsey was one of those women he would help by paying for her rent and car, as well as supporting her mother.
-Judy soon grew upset over the situation and wanted Dr. Burchard to cut Kelsey off. He had gone to Vegas to check on Kelsey and figure out what was happening and potentially cut her off. Phone records connected him to Kelsey’s house, but after March 3rd, he was nowhere to be found. The house was also abandoned by that time.
-On March 8th, police were able to get a search warrant for Kelsey’s home. Towels found in the house were the same ones found in the car and they also had blood stains. Fingerprints found connected Diana and Jon to the scene, but it is unclear if Kelsey was a victim.
-The landlord confirmed that Dr. Burchard was paying the rent, making things more suspicious.
-Kelsey’s phone had been turned off since March 7th. It was unclear if she was a victim or a murderer.
-Judy revealed that Kelsey had been threatening Dr. Burchard, so he kept paying her. After she last heard from him, his phone ended up in the possession of the police. A friend claimed to have called Dr. Burchard and talked to a guy named Jonny, who answered the phone. He was told to bring the phone to the police….and later confessed to being a part of the murder.
-Jonny was questioned, but it was soon discovered it was a false confession.
-Phone records confirmed that Dr. Burchard was at Kelsey’s place until March 2nd and his phone was turned off on the third. Kelsey’s involvement was still unknown.
-On the 21st, personal items were belonging to Diana and Kelsey were found at the Rio Hotel. This led to an arrest warrant being put out on them and Jonny.
-At this point, Judy also revealed she was worried about the relationship between Kelsey and Dr. Burchard because his mental health began to deteriorate. She wanted him to cut her off, even though she was threatening him.
-On April 12th, Diana turned herself in and said that Kelsey and Jon were responsible for the murder. She told them exactly what happened, including how Kelsey and Dr. Burchard picked her up from work and how they had gotten into a fight over things Kelsey found on Dr. Burchard on his phone, including pornographic photos and sexual texts between Dr. Burchard and Kelsey’s mom. Kelsey began threatening him, causing more arguing. Jon got involved and beat Dr. Burchard. The three of them planned on taking him to the hospital, while Dr. Burchard agreed to make up a story about being mugged to prevent them from getting into trouble.
-Diana stays behind to clean up, but hears everyone arguing in the car. She went to intervene, but at that point, Kelsey told her it was too late. Jon was covered in blood. The three of them left and went to the Rio Hotel. They left once the body was found, leaving all their things behind.
-They began to couch and motel surf until Kelsey got to Stockon, California. She was eventually found and arrested, but put the blame on Diana, calling her a snitch and the actual killer.
-Jon was arrested next. He claimed he killed in order to protect Kelsey.
-Diana took a plea deal to get her probation. John was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, giving him 18-45 years in prison. Kelsey took the Alford plea, meaning there is enough to convict her, but she won’t admit to anything. She got 10-25 years in prison.
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