A former doctor from Dover, Massachusetts who admitted to strangling his wife during a fight has been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter.

Ingolf Tuerk was charged with murder in the death of his wife, 45-year-old Kathleen McLean, in May 2020. Her body was found in a pond near their Valley Road home weighed down by rocks.

Tuerk testified that he grabbed McLean by the neck during an argument. He said he did not mean to harm his wife, and that he was defending himself after she threw a glass at his head, causing him to bleed. 

"I snapped, I kind of blacked out," Tuerk testified during his trial earlier this week. "I grabbed her. On the neck." 

Police later found Tuerk unresponsive in a Dedham hotel. He testified that he had tried to kill himself.

Attorney says "no intent to kill"

Tuerk's attorney, Kevin Reddington, said they were pleased with the verdict. 

"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," Reddington said. 

Tuerk was once the head of urology at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Brighton. 

Tuerk and McLean got married months before in December. McLean had accused Tuerk of abuse several times and had filed a restraining order against him. 

Tuerk, who has been in jail since he was arrested, will be sentenced on May 16. He faces up to 20 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction.