(AP)-A prominent Massachusetts urologist, who was fired after a billing scandal, killed his wife and left her body in a small pond near their home in an affluent Boston suburb, prosecutors said in court Monday.
Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, 58, of Dover, was held without bail at his arraignment after pleading not guilty to murder in the death of Kathleen McLean.
McLean, 45, had last been seen at their Dover home Thursday and her body was found Saturday night, according to a statement from the office of Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.
Assistant District Attorney Lisa Beatty told the judge during a virtual arraignment that the medical examiner found that McLean had injuries and bruising consistent with strangulation.
Tuerk’s attorney, Howard Cooper, did not challenge the bail ruling, but said his client has helped countless patients.
“Dr. Tuerk has long had a reputation as an extraordinary physician and surgeon,” Cooper said. “The number of people he has helped and whose lives he has saved over the years include people from every background, every nationality, every religion and race.”
Tuerk, who was an alternate for the former East Germany’s Olympic decathlon team in 1980 according to a 2004 profile in The Boston Globe, was a urologist at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.
He was formally terminated from Steward Medical Group, which operates St. Elizabeth’s, in February, according to a statement from Steward.
Tuerk agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve allegations that he caused his employer to inappropriately bill the state’s Medicaid Program $31,000, according to a statement from Massachusetts attorney general’s office issued in November.
The couple had married in December but was in the midst of divorce proceedings and there was a history of violence in the relationship, according to published reports.
McLean ran Birch Tree Energy and Healing, an alternative healing service.
The state Board of Registration in Medicine lists Tuerk’s medical license as active, but subject to restrictions.
Tuerk is due back in court on June 10.
