Dentist will go on trial Monday

MOCKSVILLE

Nearly two years ago, the body of Jennifer Jean Wittwer Turner was found in the shop building of the lavish house she shared with her estranged husband, Kirk Alan Turner, a prominent Clemmons dentist.

Jennifer Turner, 54, had two gashes across her throat, severing her windpipe, and a pocketknife was found beneath her.

Her husband was at the house when she was found. He had stab wounds on his thigh and groin that he later said were made by his wife when she stabbed him with a spear.

Three months after his wife's death, Kirk Alan Turner, who will turn 52 today, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. Starting Monday, he will stand trial on that charge in Davie Superior Court. If convicted, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jennifer Turner's death has split the family. The couple's daughter, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Turner, believes that her father killed her mother. His son, Gilbert Richard Turner, supports his father, all the while facing charges that he broke into his parents' house and stole gold coins, a big-screen television and other items.

And the case has been high-profile. District Attorney Garry Frank said he has been contacted by the CBS news show 48 Hours.

The jury pool will consist of 450 people in an effort to find a jury of 12 who have not read too much about the case.

Prosecutors say that Kirk Turner killed his wife because he was angry with her over a hotly contested separation and her allegations that he cheated on her. Defense attorneys say that Kirk Turner was defending himself from an attack by his spear-wielding wife.

Over the next two to three weeks, a jury will have to decide whether Jennifer Turner's death was murder or self-defense.

Court papers give a history

Frank declined to comment on what prosecutors will argue during the trial.

Joseph Cheshire, a Raleigh attorney who represented the Duke University lacrosse players, is Kirk Turner's attorney. He did not return messages left for him.

But much is known about the couple through court papers filed in their contentious divorce.

Jennifer and Kirk Turner were married Jan. 8, 1984, in Las Vegas. They had two children, Gilbert Richard Turner and Gwendolyn Elizabeth Turner.

The couple lived in an 8,000-square-foot home on about 35 acres at 627 Booe Road, a few miles north of Mocksville.

That is where Jennifer Turner, 54, kept her horses, which were shown regularly at horse shows.

Kirk Turner collected and restored Corvettes. He also owned an El Dorado, an El Camino and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

They lived a lush lifestyle, and according to court papers, Kirk Turner spent $12,000 a month on personal expenses for his wife, who worked for a time as an office manager on a part-time basis.

But the marriage took a turn for the worse. On April 4, 2006, Kirk Turner told his wife that he no longer wanted to be married. Jennifer Turner filed for post-separation support and attorney fees two months later.

And then on July 31, 2007, Kirk Turner filed for divorce and things got nasty between the two. In court papers, each accused the other of cheating. In a civil suit asking for financial support, Jennifer Turner alleged that her husband came by the house on June 16, 2006, without notice to pick up some things from the shop building. She said that she was afraid for her safety.

At another point, she said in court papers that when she asked if her husband wanted a divorce, he replied, "No, there is more than one way to end a marriage."

Kirk Turner denied those allegations in court papers, and there was no record of her having filed for a restraining order against her husband. He accused his wife of causing "severe pain and embarrassment by falsely and publicly accusing him of intending to kill her."

Trip to the shop

Jennifer Turner also filed a lawsuit against a woman with whom she said her husband was having an affair. In court papers, Kirk Turner accused his wife of having an affair and getting a sexually transmitted disease. Jennifer Turner countered that she got the sexually transmitted disease because of his philandering.

Prosecutors said that it was the acrimonious nature of their separation and the lawsuit his wife filed that led Kirk Turner to kill her on Sept. 12, 2007.

On that day, Kirk Turner went with his friend, Gregory Smithson, to the shop building to pick up a few items.

What happened next is in dispute.

Deputies from the Davie County Sheriff's Office responded to a call to the house about 9:45 p.m. and found Jennifer Turner dead.

Kirk Turner told officials that his wife had attacked him with a spear, stabbing him in the groin area. According to Turner, his wife his wife told him that she wanted to stab his "pretty part," a search warrant says.

Prosecutors paint a brutal picture of what happened. During a hearing in January 2008, Assistant District Attorney Greg Brown said that an autopsy showed two gashes across Jennifer Turner's throat, both severing the windpipe. One cut went all the way through to her spine, and she also had a blunt-force injury to her head and defensive wounds on her left palm. A pocketknife was found beneath her body, and Brown said at the time that it was similar to the one Kirk Turner was known to carry.

He also argued that Kirk Turner's injuries could have been self-inflicted. Defense attorneys say that would have been impossible.

Jennifer Turner's sister and daughter will be at the trial, said Bryan Thompson, the attorney representing the estate.

The sister, Gwen Elizabeth Kennedy, who is the executor of Jennifer Turner's estate, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Kirk Turner and is in the process of resolving the remaining issues in the divorce.

Thompson said that Kennedy didn't want to comment.

Kirk Turner's son, Gilbert Richard Turner, is strongly supporting his father. And in a strange twist, he will also be facing charges of his own. He is accused of breaking into his parent's house and stealing gold coins, a big-screen television and other items.

Kirk Turner continues to practice dentistry, but on Friday, his office was closed, not to open again until Wednesday.

■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com