Gary McGurk, from Tyrone will serve 29 to 37 years having pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his ex-girlfriend Michelle Lee in her Queens, New York apartment.

The killer admitted to first-degree manslaughter yesterday. This means that Ms Lee’s family and friends will be spared reliving the horrific details of the murder which emerged last year during the initial investigation. 

McGurk met Ms Lee in 2004 at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where they were studying to be forensic investigators, like those portrayed in TV series, “CSI”. Ms Lee worked for the New York City Police Department.

Her body was found by her roommate. She has been stabbed in the throat, beaten in the head, bound with a cell phone charger cord and seared on the chest with a steam iron.

Chillingly the trained forensic scientist, Mc Gurk, tampered with her blood and sent a message from her Blackberry to his phone before he left the apartment.

Later that evening he changed his mood on his MySpace page to “blissful”.

Before the murder McGurk has also swindled, possibly, thousands of dollars from Ms Lee claiming that he had cancer and needed the money to pay for treatment.

Disturbingly last year when McGurk was arrested for the heinous crime he insisted upon his innocence. He said “If I did it, I would deserve to be put away."

Though McGurk was in the final year of forensic pathology he told police that the pictures of the crime scene made his stomach turn. He said “It’s too much to handle. I panic for needles.”

Ron Rubinstein, McGurk’s lawyer told IrishCentral “He told police he wasn't guilty, he told me he's not guilty, and I'm telling you he is not guilty."

Thankfully he has now admitted to his guilt. Last year records at John Jay’s records showed that McGurk has attending two academic events during his studies: "Understanding and Preventing the Murder of Women in Intimate Relationships" and "The Interrogation and Torture Controversy."

He will be sentenced June 16th and faces a sentence of between 29 and 37 years in prison.