Kirk Turner | Dentist Kills Wife with Pocket Knife After Spear-Facilitated Genital Modification

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[00:00:46] Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash income all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash income now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. This is True Crime Psychology and Personality where we discuss the pathology behind some

[00:01:18] of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective. I'm Dr. Todd Grande. I have a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and I'm a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:01:36] Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Kirk Turner? First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the incident, and offer my analysis. Kirk Alan Turner was born in July 1957 and lived in Upland, California.

[00:01:53] He became romantically involved with a divorced dental hygienist from Burbank named Jennifer. She was about four years older than Kirk. On January 8, 1984, Kirk and Jennifer married. They went on to have two children, Gilbert, who went by the name Richie, and Gwendolyn, who went by the name Wendy.

[00:02:14] In 1989, Kirk earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery. The family moved to Mocksville, North Carolina, which is about 60 miles north of Charlotte. Kirk opened a dental practice where he earned $650,000 a year. He liked to collect various objects, including Chevrolet Corvettes. Jennifer also had an expensive hobby involving horsepower.

[00:02:38] She had an affinity for all things equestrian. That went back to her early years. In 2005, the family bought a 35-acre horse farm at 627 Jack Bowie Road. The farm contained many buildings, including a 10,000-square-foot house and a workshop.

[00:02:55] Jennifer had nine horses and was hoping to start a breeding farm, which would yield a profit. Sometime around May 2006, Kirk started cheating with his former personal banker. He moved into an 800-square-foot apartment in June of 2006, along with his son, Richie.

[00:03:13] His daughter, Wendy, stayed with her mother in the family house. Jennifer filed for divorce, which started a lengthy and contentious dispute over marital property. Six months later, Kirk was ordered to pay Jennifer $21,000 a month in spousal support plus $3,000 a month for the ranch mortgage.

[00:03:33] Jennifer was particularly upset at Kirk's mistress and filed an alienation of affection lawsuit against her. This type of civil lawsuit is only available in North Carolina and five other states—Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The elements of alienation of affection differ by state.

[00:03:54] In North Carolina, there are three elements that a plaintiff must prove. They were in a marriage which involved genuine love and affection. The love and affection were destroyed, and a third party caused this loss. It appears as though Jennifer had a viable case against Kirk's mistress.

[00:04:12] This was particularly worrisome to Kirk. Out of all the problems he had, like spousal support and the upcoming division of marital property, Kirk was focused on this lawsuit and desperately wanted Jennifer to drop it. Jennifer refused. She was determined to make the mistress suffer.

[00:04:31] According to Jennifer's friends, she was becoming increasingly concerned about her safety and thought that Kirk might want to kill her. She purchased pepper spray and an extra cell phone. Jennifer also put a lock on her bedroom door and slept with a baseball bat nearby.

[00:04:48] Now moving to the timeline of the incident. On September 12, 2007, a longtime friend of the Turner family named Gregory Smithson, who went by the name Greg, called 911 at 945 p.m. He wanted assistance in the workshop on the Turner family ranch.

[00:05:06] It took first responders a while to get there because the place was hard to find in the dark. After they arrived, here's what they found. Jennifer Turner was dead on the floor of the workshop. She had bled out after sustaining two sharp force injuries to her neck.

[00:05:22] Her carotid artery, her windpipe, and her spine had been cut. There was also damage to the back of her head and the palm of her left hand was cut. Under her body, the police recovered a three-inch pocket knife which belonged to Kirk Turner.

[00:05:38] At another location in the workshop, the police found Kirk wounded and bleeding. He had two stab wounds to his left leg. Kirk kept repeating the phrase, she stabbed me. It became clear to investigators that Kirk had been stabbed with a seven-foot decorative

[00:05:53] spear which was found in the workshop. The spear had a 16-inch blade. The injuries that Kirk sustained went all the way through his leg, so a substantial amount of force was applied to the spear. Kirk was taken to a hospital, treated, and released six days later.

[00:06:10] The police were looking at two stabbing victims and there were two weapons. The question now was what happened in that workshop? Here is the story that the police were supplied by Greg and Kirk.

[00:06:23] Greg had contacted Jennifer about a month earlier and asked if he could come by the ranch and retrieve some of his belongings. He had lived on the property years ago when he was going through a divorce and stored some of his belongings there.

[00:06:36] When Greg arrived on September 12th in the evening, he went to the front door of the Turner family house and told Jennifer that Kirk was with him. According to Greg, Jennifer was fine with this.

[00:06:48] They all went to the workshop where Jennifer helped the two men move various items into Greg's truck. At some point during this process, Greg heard Kirk and Jennifer having a conversation. He specifically heard the words sex and reconciliation and realized this was a conversation of a personal nature.

[00:07:09] Greg carried a welder to his truck, leaving Kirk and Jennifer in the workshop by themselves. Kirk said that when he was alone with Jennifer in the workshop, he gave her two documents to review. Both were connected to the ongoing divorce.

[00:07:24] One document was to force the sale of the ranch. The second document was an affidavit in which her first husband claimed that his marriage with Jennifer ended because she was obsessed with horses. Furthermore, he claimed that Jennifer had a one-night affair after an argument.

[00:07:42] Kirk indicated that he introduced these documents to Jennifer to demonstrate that things would get ugly if they went to court. As it turns out, the ugliness was a lot closer than Kirk thought. Jennifer retrieved the seven-foot spear and stabbed Kirk two times in his left leg.

[00:07:59] During this attack, she mentioned his pretty private parts. Kirk implied that Jennifer was trying to make an unwelcome spear-assisted modification to his genitals. In response to this disturbing development, Kirk retrieved his three-inch pocket knife from the front right pocket of his pants and slashed at Jennifer.

[00:08:20] About two or three minutes after Greg walked out to his truck with the welder, he heard Kirk screaming and saying that Jennifer attacked him. This is when Greg called 911. Investigators believe that Kirk murdered Jennifer.

[00:08:32] He viciously and deeply cut her with his pocket knife and used the spear to cause the wounds to his leg. As far as Greg's behavior, the police thought that it was possible that he was not being forthcoming about what he witnessed in that workshop.

[00:08:47] On December 13, 2007, Kirk Turner was indicted for first-degree murder. He spent a month in jail before posting a $1 million bond. Kirk's trial started on July 27, 2009. The case went to the jury on August 20. They returned their verdict on August 21 after deliberating for seven hours.

[00:09:09] The jury found Kirk Turner not guilty by reason of self-defense. He continued his life with his lover. In 2011, Kirk filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Bureau of Identification, or SBI, which had helped build the case against him.

[00:09:26] Agents from the SBI had been dishonest when reporting on a bloodstain found on Kirk's shirt. In their report, they indicated the bloodstain was consistent with a bloody hand being wiped on the shirt.

[00:09:38] Later, they changed the report to read, consistent with a pointed object being wiped on the shirt. This is important because it makes Kirk look guilty, like he cut his wife with the pocket knife, wiped the knife on his shirt, then cut her a second time.

[00:09:55] The agents acted like they never made this change, as if the pointed object reference was in the original report. In 2018, the lawsuit was settled for $200,000. Now moving to my analysis. Kirk Turner maintains his innocence and he was found not guilty.

[00:10:13] He can never be retried for this murder again because of double jeopardy. Kirk has several supporters, including his son Richie, who believe that Kirk acted in self-defense. Members of the jury who were interviewed said that manslaughter was the only charge they ever seriously considered.

[00:10:29] They dismissed the idea of murder right away. The state, of course, disagrees. They were unhappy with the verdict and believe that Kirk murdered his wife and staged the scene. Kirk's daughter Wendy and many of Jennifer's friends agree with the state.

[00:10:45] They contend that the idea of Jennifer wielding a spear against Kirk is ludicrous. This brings me to the question, was Kirk Turner guilty of murder? Let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that he was guilty, starting with the inculpatory factors.

[00:11:01] The circumstances leading up to Jennifer's death were unusual. It is reasonable to believe that Kirk was not really at the ranch to help his friend Greg. Rather, his mission was to confront Jennifer.

[00:11:13] This is why he was carrying the two documents, which revealed how he could make the divorce proceedings unpleasant for Jennifer. Kirk was trying to get something that night, something that Jennifer did not want to give him.

[00:11:26] Furthermore, Jennifer had told friends and a mental health counselor that she was afraid of Kirk. Jennifer's daughter Wendy described Jennifer as a scared puppy. It's possible that Jennifer didn't know Kirk was on the property until he walked into the workshop and confronted her with the documents.

[00:11:42] Maybe this was some type of ambush. When first responders found Jennifer, she was face up on the floor of the workshop about two feet from a workbench. That workbench was covered in her blood.

[00:11:56] The blood only went up as high as 23 inches above the floor, which indicates that Jennifer was on the floor when her neck was cut. This contradicts Kirk's story that he cut Jennifer's neck when she was standing up.

[00:12:09] A spear is a highly unusual choice of weapon for Jennifer to select and no fingerprints were found on it. As far as the pocket knife, one would think that instead of using a pocket knife in self-defense,

[00:12:21] Kirk would have tried to get control of the spear or simply struck Jennifer with his hands. The way Kirk described cutting Jennifer was almost like he was randomly slashing the knife in her direction.

[00:12:33] Yet, Jennifer's wounds resulted from a substantial amount of force and what appeared to be a high level of precision. Pocket knives can be lethal, but in most areas they are not classified as deadly weapons.

[00:12:47] That's because killing somebody with a pocket knife in a fight is actually pretty difficult. Despite this, Kirk managed to kill Jennifer with just two cuts while he was in severe distress. Perhaps he used his medical knowledge to make sure those cuts were lethal.

[00:13:04] Similarly, even though Kirk sustained serious injuries, the spear just happened to miss every critical area. Maybe Kirk staged the scene as the state alleged. Investigators said that Kirk's blood was found on top of Jennifer's dry blood. If Kirk was attacked first, how did that happen?

[00:13:22] As far as Greg, the state had some problems with his story. He said the attack occurred around 8 p.m., but he called 911 at 945 p.m. Maybe he was mistaken about the time of the attack, but if he wasn't, what were the men doing for an hour and 45 minutes?

[00:13:40] On the stand, Greg was sweating profusely and appeared to be extremely nervous. What was he so worried about? Kirk claimed that Jennifer had offered him a deal. If he stayed married to her, he could continue seeing his mistress and even take his mistress on vacations.

[00:13:56] This is a fantastical claim, which is almost impossible to believe. Kirk had told Jennifer that there was more than one way to end a marriage. This could be interpreted as a threat. Moving to the exculpatory factors, the killing of Jennifer was messy and Kirk was severely

[00:14:13] injured in the altercation. If he did commit murder, it was certainly not premeditated. Jennifer was 5'11 and weighed 187 pounds. She worked on the ranch and was physically strong enough to stab Kirk with the spear.

[00:14:29] In letters that she had written, Jennifer used the term, pretty private parts when referring to Kirk's genitals. Considering the nature of infidelity, it makes sense that Jennifer would target his genitals in the event that she decided to attack him.

[00:14:44] As far as Kirk's statement about there being more than one way to end a marriage, he said he was referring to separation, not murder. The absence of fingerprints on the spear is not necessarily unexpected. There were no fingerprints on Kirk's knife either.

[00:14:59] Kirk's blood was found inside his right front pocket where he kept his pocketknife. This makes it seem like he was already wounded when he retrieved it. This supports Kirk's account of what happened. When considering the evidence in this case, do I think that Kirk Turner was guilty of

[00:15:15] murder? No, I do not believe he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, I believe he was guilty of manslaughter in reality. What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion. Kirk and Jennifer were going through a bitter divorce.

[00:15:31] Jennifer was angry at both Kirk and his mistress. She wanted revenge, and the unusual alienation of affection law in North Carolina gave her an opportunity to get it. Kirk and his mistress probably did not even know this law existed when they started having the affair.

[00:15:48] Jennifer had Kirk in a bad position. He wanted to move on, but she was standing between him and his money. He did not want to continue to pay $24,000 a month for the foreseeable future. From his perspective, selling the ranch and splitting the money was the best solution.

[00:16:08] On the night of the killing, Kirk went to the ranch hoping to further his agenda. Jennifer was upset by the two documents and attacked Kirk with the spear. If Kirk was going to separate Jennifer from her horses, she was going to go medieval on his private region.

[00:16:24] Kirk managed to knock Jennifer to the floor, which ended the threat, but decided to retrieve his pocket knife and relieve his headache permanently. He used more force than was reasonable or necessary. Jennifer gave him the opportunity to kill her without penalty, and he took it.

[00:16:41] The discovery of Kirk's blood inside his front pocket saved him from being convicted. Now moving to my final thoughts. Whether Kirk was guilty or not, in reality, he has nothing to be proud of. Infidelity is unwise and often leads to chaos and pain.

[00:16:58] This pain can pierce deeply and make people spearhead a drastic response. Kirk was lucky to have survived considering he brought a pocket knife to a spear fight. This has been true crime psychology and personality from Ars Langa Media. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only.

[00:17:26] Ars Langa, Vida Brevis. Did you guys hear about that couple that went on vacation and one spouse murdered the other? In fact, the entire vacation was planned just so that they could make the murder look like an accident. Ah, so like a slaycation.

[00:17:56] Oh boy! Sounds like a fun new true crime podcast to me! On every episode of Slaycation, we'll examine true cases of people who were killed while on vacation. Was it murder? AHHHHH! Or just a horrible accident? AH! That's up to you and the law to decide.

[00:18:17] But either way, if you leave for your vacation in the plane and come home under the plane, you've definitely gone on a slaycation. Join us every week for a fascinating new episode. 911, what's your emergency? But make sure to pack your body bags because getting away can be murder.

[00:18:37] This is Slaycation.