Mass. Surgeon Breaks Down in Tears After Being Found Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter Over Death of His Wife (2025)

• Massachusetts surgeon, Ingolf Tuerk, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter over the murder of 45-year-old Kathleen McLean in May 2020
• Tuerk strangled his wife of five months in 2020 during a drunken fight before placing her body in a pond near their home
• The doctor was captured breaking down in tears as his guilty verdict was announced

A Massachusetts surgeon has been found guilty of murdering his wife.

According to CBS News, NBC Boston and WCVB, Ingolf Tuerk was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter over the murder of 45-year-old Kathleen McLean in May 2020.

PEOPLE previously reported that Tuerk had been charged with murder after the body of the mother of three was found in a pond near their home.

In a video from inside the court, the doctor was captured bending his head and breaking down in tears during the guilty verdict.

During his trial, Tuerk testified that he grabbed Kathleen’s neck during an argument.

He said he didn’t intend to harm his wife of five months, adding that he was defending himself after she threw a glass at his head, resulting in bleeding.

"I snapped, I kind of blacked out," he said during his testimony earlier this week, per CBS News. "I grabbed her. On the neck."

After the murder, police found Tuerk unresponsive in a Dedham hotel.

The former head of urology at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Boston testified that he had tried to commit suicide. Tuerk was taken to a local hospital, where he allegedly confessed to the murder.

PEOPLE has contacted St. Elizabeth Hospitaland the Norfolk Superior Courtfor comment.

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Tuerk was initially charged with murder but was convicted for a lesser sentence of voluntary manslaughter. According to CBS News, the surgeon, who has been in jail since his arrest in 2020, will be sentenced on May 16. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

"I think the evidence was so compelling that the jurors looking at it objectively just felt it clearly there was no malice here and no intent to kill," Tuerk's attorney Kevin Reddington, said, per CBS News.

However, Kathleen's brother Richard McLean expressed his disappointment over the lesser charge.

"Essentially, he's walking out scot-free," he told NBC Boston. "It's a shame the whole thing took five years for us to get to this point, to walk away extremely disappointed."

Kathleen’s family added that she did not get the justice she deserved, and that Tuerk got away with murder.

"Basically driving down the road and throwing a piece of trash out the window," Richard said. "That's what he did to my sister. What person deserves that?"

Meanwhile, defense attorney Reddington claimed Kathleen wanted to gain control of her husband's money and assets, “and she played him pretty darn good."

"I suggest to you that he reacted. He was drunk... He defended himself,” the lawyer said. “And the beauty of the law is that the government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self defense."

However, assistant Norfolk District Attorney Lisa Beatty argued that Tuerk intended to kill Kathleen due to fear about his money and not wanting to divorce again, adding that he disposed of her body "like a piece of trash."

She said Kathleen would have been conscious as he strangled her, adding that he did not try to resuscitate her or call emergency services, instead, he weighed her body down with rocks in a pond.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.