Man charged in doctor’s death appears in Las Vegas court — VIDEO

A man charged in connection with slaying of a California doctor made his first appearance in a Las Vegas courtroom Friday morning.

Jon Kennison, 27, stood shackled, holding court papers, including one with a visible note scribbled on the back that read “Love U lil Mama.”

Kennison, who faces charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Dr. Thomas Burchard of Salinas, California, is being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center along with his girlfriend, Kelsey Nichole Turner, a former model, and Diana Pena, both of whom also are suspects in the psychiatrist’s slaying.

After a brief appearance, Kennison’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Ryan Bashor, said he would ask a judge to set a bail.

“There’s nothing we’ve seen in the evidence that connects him to the crime,” Bashor told reporters.

Neither Chief Deputy District Attorney Pam Weckerly nor Bashor offered details of Kennison’s arrest, aside to say that he was captured in Las Vegas this week.

Police believed the three suspects abandoned their Las Vegas home and fled the state after the killing, according to arrest reports.

Burchard had paid their March rent in full and previously had been paying Turner’s rent in California, his longtime girlfriend, Judy Earp, has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Turner, 25, and Pena, 30, face the same charges as Kennison, and all have an enhancement added due to Burchard’s age, which carries a longer sentence if convicted.

Turner, the first of the three arrested, was apprehended March 21 in Stockton, California.

Pena was taken into custody Saturday after turning herself into police, her lawyer, Jess Matsuda, said. The location of her arrest has not been made public.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.