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MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Boston surgeon charged with killing wife allegedly abused her for months by choking and cutting her with scissors

Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, 58, was arrested and charged with Kathleen McLean’s murder after her body was found on Saturday, May 16, in an outdoor area near the couple's home
UPDATED MAY 18, 2020
(LinkedIn)
(LinkedIn)

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: A surgeon who allegedly killed his wife had also reportedly strangled her and cut her with scissors in the past. The alleged abuse had left Kathleen McLean so afraid of her husband Dr. Ingolf Tuerk that she took out a restraining order, records revealed.

The 58-year-old doctor, who was once the head of urology at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Brighton, was arrested after McLean’s body was found on Saturday, May 16, in an outdoor area near the couple's Valley Road home in Dover by Massachusetts State Police. The officials charged Tuerk with her murder, who is scheduled to be arraigned on May 18 in Dedham District Court.

According to the official documents, two months before her killing, the 45-year-old McLean had told police about her husband’s repeated abusive behavior during the course of their married life. The couple had been together for two years but got married recently in December 2019. However, just two months after their wedding, in February, the mother-of-three pressed charges against Tuerk, alleging he had choked her and cut her with scissors.

At the time, the woman also told officers that Tuerk was physically abusing her and she was filing for divorce. “She said she was afraid of Ingolf and did not know what he would do once she had filed for divorce,” the report stated. McLean also reportedly confided in her family members and two police officer friends about the ill-treatment at the hands of her doctor husband “in case something happened to her”. She claimed that since Tuerk had lost his job, most of the time he was in the house.

One of her friends also said that McLean had told her Tuerk was “angry and very controlling” and claimed, “he put hand on her in the past”. However, court papers revealed that early in May the couple reconciled as the wife requested the restraining order to be lifted. As per the papers, McLean said she did not want to pursue criminal charges against Tuerk as the duo began to attend couple's counseling. “I feel safe and would like to bring my family back together with my husband,” she mentioned in a May 2 court affidavit.

Meanwhile, the Steward Medical Group, the parent organization of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital where Tuerk used to work, released a statement over the weekend, stating: “Dr. Tuerk has not seen or treated patients as part of Steward Medical Group for more than a year. He was formally terminated in February.”

The reason for his termination was he allegedly falsely billed Medicaid and agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve the allegations under the terms of a settlement made in November 2019. According to the office of Attorney General Maura Healey, Tuerk “caused improper billings to MassHealth of over $31,000.”

“False billing is a serious issue that hurts people in need of health care," said Healey in the statement. "It is important that all doctors follow the law, and our office will aggressively pursue those who overbill our health care system,” a statement from the attorney general office said.

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