Columbus, Ohio – A 39-year-old vascular surgeon faces charges in one of the most serious domestic-related homicides in Ohio in recent years. Authorities allege that Dr. Michael David McKee shot his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, 39, and her husband, Spencer Tepe, 37, inside their Columbus home on the morning of December 30, 2025.
Police say the bodies of the couple were discovered in their residence after Spencer Tepe failed to show up for work. First responders found both victims had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The couple’s two young children, ages four and one, were in separate bedrooms and were physically unharmed.
The Columbus Police Department quickly collected video surveillance from the neighborhood. Investigators identified a vehicle arriving shortly before the deaths and leaving soon after. They traced that vehicle to McKee, who was located in Rockford, Illinois, roughly 450 miles from Columbus. McKee was arrested on January 10, 2026, and booked into the Winnebago County Jail, where he awaits extradition to Ohio.
On January 12, 2026, McKee appeared in an Illinois court. He waived his extradition hearing and his public defender stated that he intends to plead not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder with premeditation. If convicted in Ohio, he could face life in prison or the death penalty, as allowed under Ohio law.
Monique and Michael McKee were married in August 2015 but separated after roughly eight months and finalized their divorce in June 2017. Soon after her divorce, Monique began dating Spencer after meeting him online. The couple bought their Columbus home in 2020 and married later that year. They had two children together.
McKee, trained as a vascular surgeon, completed his medical residency and later worked in Las Vegas and Chicago, Illinois. In October 2024, he obtained licensure to practice medicine in Illinois.
In a separate legal matter, McKee was named in an amended medical malpractice complaint in September 2025 related to an alleged surgical device failure. The plaintiff in that case claimed McKee failed to properly supervise a surgical procedure during which an 8.6-inch catheter fragment broke off inside the patient’s leg. That complaint was filed roughly three months before the deaths of Monique and Spencer Tepe. Attempts to serve McKee the complaint were unsuccessful prior to his disappearance from Las Vegas in late 2025 and work relocation to Illinois.
As of January 2026, the malpractice case remains pending, and the homicide case in Ohio has yet to proceed to trial. McKee’s next scheduled appearance in Franklin County Court in Ohio is expected to be his formal arraignment, during which he will enter his plea on the aggravated murder charges.
The deaths of the Tepes have drawn national attention. The couple was described in local reports as having celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary just days before the killings. Extended family have assumed care of the couple’s young children. Law enforcement officials have not released a motive for the murders.
(Rh/MSM)
