Massachusetts doctor accused of Medicare fraud charged with murdering his wife
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A Massachusettes doctor who was once accused of Medicare fraud has now been charged with murdering his wife after her body was found in a pond near their home.
Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, 58, was arraigned on Monday in Dedham District Court for killing Kathleen McLean and pleaded not guilty, according to a statement from the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
Tuerk was found unconscious in a hotel with superficial lacerations on his left wrist and a knife and needle nearby on Friday, according to reports by the Boston Globe. He waived his Miranda rights and confessed to killing his wife while he was still in the hospital being treated for his wounds, according to the police report. He directed police to the location of where he had dumped his wife’s body.
Police found McLean on Saturday night in the pond. She was naked from the waist up and with rocks in the pockets of her pants, police said.
Dr. Ingolf Tuerk is accused of murdering his wife Kathleen McLean.
Tuerk told investigators that he and McLean had gotten into a fight on Thursday night over drinks and said she hit him in the head with a glass object. Tuerk then choked her until she passed out, but ″realized he went too far,” police said.
He then carried her body to his Jeep and disposed of it in the pond.
He was denied bail by the courts.
Tuerk reportedly had a history of violence against McLean, 45, who filed for divorce in February after she told police he was abusing her.
“She said she was afraid of Ingolf and did not know what he would do once she had filed for divorce,” according to a police report. She told family members and two friends who were police officers about the abuse “in case something happened to her.”
McLean reported multiple instances to police where Tuerk had choked her until she couldn’t breathe and slammed her head into the headboard of their bed, the Globe reported.
However, in May, she decided she did not want to pursue charges and instead wanted to work to mend their relationship.
“I feel safe and would like to bring my family back together with my husband,” McLean wrote in an affidavit filed on May 2. “My goal is to salvage our family including reuniting with my husband as father and stepfather to my children.”
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Tuerk was once a prominent urologist at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston but was fired after the state attorney general’s office found he had committed $31,000 worth of Medicare fraud. He agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve the allegations.
