Murder on the Inca Trail: Ursula Glück-Tesler, 1997

The case in brief

The murder of Ursula Glück-Tesler took place on the Inca Trail in Peru at about 5 a.m. on 7 January 1997, when the 34-year-old German biochemist and cancer researcher from Munich was shot in the head in the couple's tent at Pacamayo. She died on 13 January 1997 in a hospital in Lima. Her husband, the Israeli Ilan Tesler, was convicted of murder out of greed and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Landgericht München I on 22 January 2002. The verdict is final. He has never confessed.

The victim and the couple

Ursula Glück-Tesler was a German cancer researcher from Munich and a relative of the politician Gebhard Glück. She married Ilan Tesler on 1 August 1995 in New York City. For professional reasons, to complete her doctorate, she first lived in New York without him. In 1997 the couple travelled to Peru.

The shooting

On 7 January 1997 at 5 a.m., her husband shot her in the head while they were in their tent on the Inca Trail at Pacamayo, according to the findings of the German courts. She died on 13 January in Lima. Tesler told the police that the couple had been attacked and has maintained his innocence.

The investigation

At first the investigation in Peru made no progress. Munich investigators later found indications that Tesler had collected money from insurers in connection with his wife's death. According to the investigation, he wanted to receive 1.5 million Deutsche Mark from five term life insurance policies. He was arrested at Munich airport in 1999. In 2000 a team of almost 40 people, including experts, a prosecutor, a judge, a court clerk, police officers, a guide and 19 porters, travelled from Munich to the scene. Tesler was interviewed 33 times by the police.

The trial and verdict

The Munich trial was a case built on circumstantial evidence. After a year-long trial with 56 hearing days, the Landgericht München I (Schwurgericht I) found Tesler guilty of murder out of greed on 22 January 2002 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The verdict became final. In June 2009 he was transferred to a prison in Israel.

Media

The case was the subject of a 2004 documentary film, "Mord auf dem Inka-Pfad", and of a four-part true-crime miniseries of the same name, produced for ARD, which aired on 30 April and 1 May 2025.