A gruesome Lexington murder: What happened to Michael Turpin?

Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.

Feb. 3, 1986: Michael Turpin is murdered. Police found Turpin’s body in Lakeside Golf Course after his wife had reported him missing. He had been stabbed 19 times.

His wife, Elizabeth, reported him missing the next day. She told police she had been out on Feb. 2 with friends and stayed out all night, but when she came home the next day, she saw blood in their apartment and decided to call the police.

On Feb. 4, two parks department employees found Turpin’s body. The coroner determined he’d died from internal hemorrhaging from the stab wounds to his face, neck and chest.

Lexington Police Department Detective Fran Root would recall later in the Oxygen True Crime show “A Wedding and A Murder,” his wife told police she’d left Michael at home around 7:15 p.m. and went out to party with co-workers and spent the night at coworker Karen Brown’s apartment because it was raining. She also had been drinking and said she wasn’t a good night driver.”

“That was really the first time my interest got piqued on this young lady because she was telling me too much,” Root said.

It wouldn’t be the last time her behavior raised eyebrows.

When Elizabeth told police her husband was a drug dealer working for an organized crime, his family said that wasn’t true.

But on the day his body was found, Brown showed up at the police station to corroborate Elizabeth’s story that Michael was a drug dealer and to verify Elizabeth’s alibi.

Brown also told the police Michael regularly abused Elizabeth.

Michael’s friends told police the Browns’ marriage was on the rocks because Elizabeth wouldn’t give up her party life, and that the night before Michael’s death, Elizabeth and Brown shared a passionate kiss on the dance floor.

Then police found a $60,000 life insurance policy had been taken out on Michael’s life with Elizabeth as the sole beneficiary. Two of Brown’s roommates told police station they had seen Brown cleaning out her car with her coworker Keith Bouchard and that Bouchard had blood on his clothes and shoes.

When police brought Brown and Bouchard in for questioning they searched Brown’s car. After finding blood and bleach in the car, Brown broke down and said Bouchard was the killer, but Elizabeth was the mastermind.

Brown said Elizabeth had promised to split the life insurance money with them if they would kill her husband and dispose of his body.

Bouchard was to do the killing, Brown was the getaway driver, and Elizabeth kept her hands clean.

According to Brown, she and Bouchard drove to the Turpins’ apartment and knocked on the door. When Michael answered, Bouchard stabbed him multiple times with paring knives while Brown held him down.

Bouchard pleaded guilty to murder and testified against Elizabeth and Brown. All three were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

In 2017, Bouchard filed his last plea for parole. The parole board denied his plea. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Elizabeth Turpin filed her last chance for parole in January 2020. The parole board denied her plea as well citing her behavior while incarcerated. According to officials, in one of a number of incidents, she had convinced a new husband she’d married while in prison to send her money so she could have other inmates assaulted.

She will also spend her life behind bars.

And in February 2021, Karen Brown was also denied parole for a final time. Barring any court action, she, too, will spend the rest of her life in prison.

This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 4:30 AM.