Ongoing case
Investigation Ready
Columbus, Ohio
•
2025-12-25
•
ex-wife
domestic violence homicide
intimate partner violence
Aggravated Murder
Firearm Suppressor / Silencer
Stalking / Coercive Control
Post-Decree Litigation
Multijurisdictional Offender
Aggravated Burglary
Safe Children Present
How to use this case file
Readers often arrive looking for the victim name, the case, the suspect, or the location. This page is meant to help you understand the memorial story, the documented timeline, and the verified public record in one place.
Browse the full case archive, explore the warning signs index, see the cross-case timeline, or find domestic violence support resources.
Victim summary
This summary layer helps readers understand the person, the known case posture, and the documentary shape of the file before moving into the fuller reporting.
Case snapshot
- Victim: Spencer & Monique Tepe
- Relationship: ex-wife
- Offender: McKee
Location and dates
- City: Columbus
- County: Pending
- State: Ohio
- Incident date: Pending
- Date of death: 2025-12-25
Case status and outcome
This section summarizes the court posture and procedural outcome that readers most often search for.
Status
- Case status: Charges Filed
- Conviction status: Pending
- Source strength: 9 linked sources
Charges and sentencing
Charges: Two counts Aggravated Murder (Prior Calculation and Design); Aggravated Burglary; Two counts Aggravated Murder During Aggravated Burglary; Firearm Specifications including Suppressor Enhancement
Court monitoring
This section reflects core court-tracking details only when they are available in the public case record.
Docket information
- Case status: Charges Filed
Warning signs and risk factors
These markers help readers connect a single case to broader patterns of coercive control, escalating abuse, and missed intervention points.
Warning signs
Risk factors
Access to firearms
Life, memory, and case context
Monique Frances Tepe (née Sabaturski), 39, was remembered by those who knew her as a deeply loving, patient, and joyful mother whose vibrant warmth instantly made others feel at home. Born in Chicago and raised in Worthington, Ohio, Monique was an avid reader, runner, and soccer player with an enduring love for horses. While pursuing her master's degree in early childhood education at The Ohio State University, she dedicated her time to working at a local daycare, later channeling her passion for children into becoming a devoted stay-at-home mother. Her family fondly highlighted her bright smile, infectious laugh, and exceptional baking skills.
Dr. Spencer L. Tepe, 37, was a passionate and highly respected dentist who practiced at Athens Dental Depot and previously served patients at Stone Creek Dental in Ashland, Ohio. Born in Cincinnati, Spencer graduated from Mason High School before completing his undergraduate and Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees at The Ohio State University. He was an enthusiastic soccer player, golfer, and speaker of Spanish who possessed a natural gift for entertaining. Above all else, Spencer was known for his generous heart and his unwavering commitment to protecting and nurturing his family.
Monique and Spencer built their relationship on a deep foundation of mutual love, respect, and shared joy. Married in a private ceremony on December 13, 2020, they created a welcoming, lively home centered on their two young children, Emilia and Beckham, and their beloved dog. They were frequently described as the life of the party, bringing friends and extended family together through numerous gatherings.
Fatal incident and reported circumstances
On the morning of December 30, 2025, Columbus police were requested to conduct a wellness check at the Tepe residence, located at 1411 N. 4th Street in the Weinland Park neighborhood, after Dr. Spencer Tepe failed to report for work—an absence noted by his colleagues as entirely out of character. Concerned friends and co-workers who arrived at the home discovered that the doors were secure, but they could hear the children inside. Upon accessing the property, a friend discovered Spencer Tepe unresponsive on a bedroom floor.
Responding officers located both Spencer and Monique deceased in a second-floor bedroom. The couple's four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son, along with the family dog, were found in a separate room physically unharmed. According to findings released by the Franklin County Coroner's Office, the incident involved severe violence; Monique Tepe suffered nine gunshot wounds, and Spencer Tepe suffered seven. Investigators recovered three 9mm shell casings at the scene. There were no signs of forced entry or theft, and authorities quickly ruled out a murder-suicide, categorizing the event as a targeted double homicide.
Aftermath and case developments
Following an eleven-day multi-jurisdictional investigation, Michael David McKee was apprehended by law enforcement on January 10, 2026, near his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. On January 11, an initial aggravated murder warrant was issued through the Franklin County Municipal Court (Case No. 2026 CR A 000559). McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing during an Illinois court appearance on January 12 and was subsequently transferred to Ohio custody.
On January 16, 2026, a Franklin County Grand Jury returned a five-count felony indictment (Case No. 26CR000253) charging McKee with two counts of Aggravated Murder with prior calculation and design, one count of Aggravated Burglary, and two counts of Aggravated Murder committed during a burglary. Every count carried severe firearm specifications, including a six-year enhancement for utilizing a firearm suppressor. During his remote arraignment on January 23, 2026, McKee pleaded not guilty to all charges. His defense counsel waived bond, and he remains detained in the Franklin County Jail awaiting trial.
In the wake of the tragedy, the community rallied to support the surviving children. A public visitation and joint memorial service held on January 11, 2026, at Schoedinger Northwest and Due Amici drew more than 1,000 attendees to honor the victims' lives.
Prevention context
This case emphasizes critical warning signs and potential systemic gaps commonly observed in high-lethal domestic violence fatalities, particularly the persistence of risk long after legal separation:
• Long-Term Post-Separation Lethality: Although Monique and the suspect divorced in 2017 after a brief and troubled marriage, family members reported that McKee had subjected her to persistent emotional abuse and explicit death threats. This underscores that the risk of severe intimate partner violence does not automatically dissipate with the passage of time or legal dissolution.
• Escalating Post-Decree Litigation: Public court records reveal that the case saw renewed post-decree legal filings in June 2025, eight years post-divorce. In family court systems, sudden or renewed post-decree litigation can serve as a proxy for escalating coercive control or a refusal to accept the victim's independence, frequently preceding physical escalation.
• Stalking Indicators: The disclosure that Monique became highly distressed regarding her ex-husband during a trip to Indiana just weeks before her death points toward active stalking, tracking, or harassing communications that may have gone unreported to law enforcement or unaddressed by structural interventions.
• Multijurisdictional Tracking Barriers: McKee maintained a highly transient professional footprint, holding medical licenses and residences across Virginia, Nevada, Illinois, and Ohio. At the time of the murders, he was actively evading process servers tracking him for an intense medical malpractice lawsuit in Las Vegas. This highly mobile behavior and fragmentation across state lines can make it incredibly difficult for localized law enforcement or family courts to monitor a high-risk individual's proximity and intent.
Family interviews and memorial voices
When families choose to speak, their words help preserve memory, context, and the human reality behind the public record.
Family interview
Surgeon pleads not guilty to the killings of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in Ohio
verified
Surgeon pleads not guilty to the killings of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in Ohio
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Court records and public filings
Public filings, police reports, court dockets, and related records help establish what is documented, what remains disputed, and where warnings were recorded.
Court record or filing
Grand Jury Indicts Michael McKee for Murders of Monique & Spencer Tepe
Today, a Grand Jury returned an indictment against Michael David McKee for the murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe.
McKee, 39, is charged with the following:
Two counts of Aggravated Murder (prior calculation and design)
One count of Aggravated Burglary
Two counts of Aggravated Murder (committed during the course of an Aggravated Burglary)
verified
Grand Jury Indicts Michael McKee for Murders of Monique & Spencer Tepe
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Additional evidence and source material
Some materials do not fit neatly into one category but still belong in the documentary record of the case.
Document or transcript
indictment-26-cr-253-mckee_redacted
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Other record
Obituary
verified
Obituary
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News report
Family, friends shocked by murder of former Ashland dentist & wife
The couple shared two young children who were found unharmed inside the residence: a four-year-old daughter named Emilia and a one-year-old son named Beckham.
verified
Family, friends shocked by murder of former Ashland dentist & wife
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Video
Autopsy report details deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe
The couple was shot more than a dozen times
verified
Autopsy report details deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe
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News report
Spencer Tepe and Monique Tepe
Public court dockets show that Monique and McKee had active post-decree legal activity regarding their divorce in the Franklin County Domestic Relations Court as recently as June 17, 2025, which included magistrate hearing notices and continuances.
verified
Spencer Tepe and Monique Tepe
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News report
Doctor accused of killing ex-wife and Ohio dentist faces lawsuit in NV
Prior to moving to Illinois, McKee practiced vascular surgery at Las Vegas Surgical Associates in Nevada under a license active from March 2023 to June 2025. He was named as a defendant in an active medical malpractice lawsuit. Throughout September and October 2025, process servers made multiple unsuccessful attempts to serve McKee at various quiet or vacant Las Vegas properties, leading a judge to grant an order for service by publication.
verified
Doctor accused of killing ex-wife and Ohio dentist faces lawsuit in NV
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Other record
Killing of Monique and Spencer Tepe
Investigative affidavits reveal that neighborhood surveillance footage from December 6, 2025—weeks before the homicides—captured McKee scouting the immediate exterior of the Tepe residence while the couple was away. This occurred during the weekend Monique and Spencer traveled to Indiana with friends for the Big Ten Championship game, from which Monique had abruptly returned to her hotel room early, visibly distressed by an issue involving her ex-husband.
contextual
Killing of Monique and Spencer Tepe
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News report
Chicago doctor suspected in Columbus double homicide waives extradition
Verified public coverage detailing Winnebago County, IL court waiver of extradition and transfer timeline.
Chicago doctor suspected in Columbus double homicide waives extradition
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