DOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - A former doctor from Dover was sentenced to 12 to 16 years in prison Friday in connection with the death of his wife.
Ingolf Tuerk, 63, known as “Harry,” was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter last month. He testified he and his wife Kathleen McLean were in the middle of a divorce and got into an argument while drinking.
Tuerk admitted he strangled her and dumped her body in a pond, weighing her down with rocks. His attorney said Tuerk was defending himself after McLean threw a glass at him during the fight.
“I’m sorry, Katie. I’m so sorry. I know we will see each other in the afterlife, and I hope we can make peace with each other and maybe you will be able to find a way to forgive me,” Tuerk said in court.
McLean’s sister Beth Melanson explained to the judge what it was like having to identify her body and prepare her for burial.
“After an autopsy and two days in a dirty pond, my beautiful sister did not look beautiful. I had to clean dirty black pond mud from under her nails, I had to put lipstick and jewelry on her, I had to fix her hair. I put her in a bright Lilly Pulitzer dress, because that’s who she was. She was bright and she was happy,” Melanson said.
The judge said he will credit Tuerk the five years he has already served.
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