By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, the former chief of urology at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton took the stand on Tuesday, April 8 after being accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in a pond near the couple’s home in Dover. The incident took place five years ago in 2020.
Prosecutors stated that Tuerk killed his 45-year-old wife, who was last seen at the couple's Valley Road home on May 14, 2020. Days later, her remains were discovered in a pond not far from their residency.
Tuerk became emotional as he took the stand, crying as he gave his testimony. He stated that he did not intend to kill his wife.
According to WCVB, “Tuerk testified that the two had been drinking and got into a heated argument. He said McLean broke a glass over his head before he blacked out and grabbed her by the neck. She flailed around, he said, until she passed out.”
On Tuesday, April 8, when Tuerk took the stand, he said: “"She was not responsive. She was passed out. I asked her, 'Katie, come on. Please, Katie, wake up.”
In an opening statement during the trial last month, Tuerk’s lawyer admitted that his client had ended his wife’s life; but it was not the way that the prosecution claims as it was not premeditated. At the time of the incident, Tuerk was free on bail in a domestic case and under a court order to stay away from McLean, who had filed for divorce, records show.
Tuerk had faced a first-degree murder charge for allegedly strangling McLean and disposing of her body in a pond. However, the jury convicted him of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter on Thursday, April 10. The conviction carries a sentence of up to twenty years in prison.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16.
