Ex-roommate admits helping 2 after doctor slaying in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former roommate admitted helping a magazine model and the model’s boyfriend avoid arrest after the killing of a 71-year-old California psychiatrist in Las Vegas, and she promised to testify at their murder trial.

Diana Nicole Pena pleaded guilty Tuesday to accessory to murder after the slaying, avoiding a murder charge and telling a judge she knew at the time that former Playboy Italia and Maxim model Kelsey Turner and Jon Kennison had killed Dr. Thomas Burchard.

Turner and Kennison are due in court Thursday on murder and conspiracy charges. Their attorneys say they’ll plead not guilty.

Pena’s attorney, Jess Matsuda, says the 31-year-old Pena had nothing to do with Burchard’s death.

His body was found March 7 in the trunk of Turner’s car in the desert outside Las Vegas.