Newly obtained court documents accuse the Illinois surgeon charged with killing his ex-wife and her new husband of making chilling threats against Monique Tepe and entering the couple’s Ohio home weeks before they were found dead there.
A person identified in a probable cause affidavit as a witness told Columbus police that Michael McKee, 39, told Tepe that he could “kill her at any time and would find her and buy the house right next to her,” the document says.
Tepe told the witness about the alleged threat — along with another statement the affidavit attributes to McKee: “She will always be his wife.”
McKee pleaded not guilty last week to charges of aggravated murder and burglary in connection with the fatal shooting on Dec. 30 of Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37. He is being held without bond and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted.
McKee’s attorney declined to comment.
Another witness cited in the affidavit told police that Monique Tepe said her ex-husband had choked her and “forced unwanted sex.”
Security video allegedly captured McKee entering the couple’s Columbus home on Dec. 6 while they were gone, the document says. Officials say McKee left a few hours later.
Spencer and Monique Tepe were at the Big Ten Championship game that day in Indiana, according to the affidavit. After she left early, the document says, Spencer told friends that she had become upset about something involving her ex-husband.
The affidavit, filed in Franklin County Municipal Court this month, does not provide additional details about the incident.
McKee, a vascular surgeon who was working at an Illinois hospital at the time of his Jan. 10 arrest, was married to Monique Tepe for two years roughly a decade ago. Divorce documents cited “incompatibility” as the reason for their separation.
A relative of Spencer Tepe’s has said McKee was emotionally abusive.
Spencer, a dentist, married Monique Tepe in 2021, and the couple had two children. They were found dead at their home in a killing that Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has described as a “targeted attack.”
Authorities have said the gun used in the killing was equipped with a silencer.
Authorities found the couple dead after a friend stopped by and found Spencer’s body in a puddle of blood, according to a transcript of a 911 call released by Columbus police.
The couple’s two young children were found unharmed in the home, authorities have said.
The Tepes’ relatives have said that the couple shared a “beautiful, strong, and deeply happy relationship” and that the family was heartbroken by their deaths.
“While no outcome can ever undo this loss, our family is committed to seeing this tragedy fully and fairly brought to justice, and to honoring Spencer and Monique by protecting the future of the children they loved so deeply,” the family said.
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