The Tepe Murders: The Case Against Michael McKee

Monique did everything a victim is supposed to do. She recognized the danger in seven months and got out. She didn't fight over assets—let him keep the house, the rings. She paid what she owed with an interest penalty clause he demanded. She moved back to Ohio, rebuilt her life with Spencer, had two children. Her family says she never said Michael McKee's name after the divorce. She only called hi...

Eight years between a divorce and an alleged double murder. Most people heal. Most people rebuild. But according to former FBI behavioral expert Robin Dreeke, Dr. Michael McKee may fit a dangerous profile: the wound collector. Someone who catalogs grievances, assigns permanent blame, and carries resentment for years—even decades—before acting on it. Dreeke headed the FBI's Counterintelligence Beha...

The gun was in his penthouse. Columbus police confirmed NIBIN matched shell casings from the Tepe bedroom to a firearm recovered from Dr. Michael McKee's Chicago residence eleven days after the murders. Multiple weapons seized. His alibi collapsed before his arrest. ATF picked him up at a Chick-fil-A seven minutes from the hospital where he worked overnight shifts—the same hospital where he allege...

The evidence just got physical. Columbus police announced they've recovered multiple firearms from Dr. Michael McKee's property—and one of those weapons has a preliminary ballistic link through NIBIN to the murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe. This is the first time investigators have publicly connected a specific weapon to the crime scene. Chief Elaine Bryant broke the department's sixteen-day si...

This week we're examining the full legal picture in the Tepe double murder case—plus the Kohberger wrongful death lawsuit that's making national headlines—with former felony prosecutor turned defense attorney Eric Faddis. Dr. Michael McKee is charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of Monique Tepe and Richard Tepe. Police say they recovered the murder weapon from McKee's Chicago apartment ele...

Michael McKee is expected to plead not guilty to the aggravated murders of Monique Tepe and Richard Tepe. He's hired a defense attorney. He has resources. And his legal team is already looking for every weakness in the prosecution's case. Criminal defense attorney Eric Faddis—a former felony prosecutor who's tried 45+ jury trials from both sides—breaks down what McKee's defense will likely argue....

Michael McKee is finally in Ohio. After being extradited from Illinois this week, he's now sitting in the Franklin County jail facing four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary in the deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe. The indictment includes firearm specifications that add years to any sentence. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 32 years before parole eligibility — a...

Monique Tepe and Richard Tepe were killed in their Columbus home while their children slept just feet away. Police say Michael McKee—Monique's ex-husband and a Chicago vascular surgeon—drove 300 miles to commit the murders and kept the weapon in his penthouse apartment for eleven days afterward. Now McKee faces two counts of aggravated murder, and the question isn't whether prosecutors have eviden...

This is the definitive psychological breakdown of the Tepe murder case. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott brings over thirty years in forensic settings and domestic violence work to examine what allegedly happened — and why. She's the author of "The Minds of Mass Killers." And she's a survivor herself — her ex-husband died by revenge suicide after she asked for divorce. She understands this case in wa...

Two children lost both parents in a single night. A one-year-old and four-year-old were found physically unharmed but alone in the house with the bodies of Spencer and Monique Tepe. Those kids are now being raised by family. Over a thousand people attended the funeral. And everyone touched by this case is asking the same question: What could Monique have done differently? The answer might be nothi...

Before Michael McKee allegedly killed Spencer Tepe and Monique Tepe in their Columbus home, he was already disappearing. Court records from Nevada reveal two active lawsuits that McKee was evading in the months before the murders—lawsuits that expose a pattern of alleged negligence and concealment. One lawsuit alleges McKee's surgical team left 8.6 inches of plastic catheter inside a patient durin...

Monique knew. And she lived with that knowledge for eight years. Family members say Monique Tepe described Michael McKee as emotionally abusive from nearly the beginning. She told people about the death threats during their brief marriage. She said she was terrified — and that terror didn't fade when she moved on, remarried Spencer, and had two children. She carried it. But she never filed a polic...

For the first time, we're hearing from the people who actually knew Michael McKee — the surgeon charged with murdering Monique and Spencer Tepe in their Columbus home while their two young children slept nearby. His ex-girlfriend posted a TikTok after his arrest. She dated him for a year. Called him "nice" but "boring." Said there was a wall she could never get past — that he couldn't go deep with...

This episode goes inside the psychology of the man charged with killing Monique and Spencer Tepe. Michael McKee allegedly couldn't let go. Family members say Monique escaped their marriage within seven months after experiencing emotional abuse and death threats. She moved on. She remarried. She had children. She built a beautiful life. There's no indication McKee ever remarried in those eight year...

This is the episode that goes deeper than the evidence. This is about why. Michael McKee is charged with murdering his ex-wife Monique Tepe and her husband Spencer in their Columbus home on December 30, 2025. The evidence is substantial: surveillance footage, a preliminary ballistic match, no forced entry, a suppressor specification. But evidence tells you what allegedly happened. It doesn't tell...

The indictment against Dr. Michael McKee alleges he used a firearm equipped with a suppressor to kill Monique and Spencer Tepe while their children slept in another room. That's not a crime of passion. That's allegedly planning the murders down to making sure no one would hear the shots. Defense attorney Bob Motta breaks down both the prosecution's case and the defense's options. Prosecutors have...

Monique and Spencer Tepe were killed in their Columbus home while their young children slept nearby. Prosecutors say Dr. Michael McKee did it — and they have surveillance footage, a ballistics match, and an alleged suppressor to support their case. But what about the holes? Defense attorney Bob Motta analyzes the McKee case from the defense's perspective. The prosecution still hasn't explained how...

Monique Tepe remarried. Built a life with Spencer Tepe. Had two young children. Then on a night that should have been ordinary, both were shot dead while their children slept in another room. The man charged with their murders is Monique's ex-husband, Dr. Michael McKee. The Franklin County indictment reveals a detail that changes how we understand this case: prosecutors allege McKee used a firearm...

Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer delivers comprehensive analysis of the Michael McKee case — from the forensic evidence to the behavioral psychology behind an alleged eight-year grudge against Monique Tepe. Part one examines the investigation: the preliminary NIBIN ballistics match linking a firearm from McKee's Chicago penthouse to shell casings at the crime scene, the surveillance...

Monique Tepe's family says the arrest wasn't a shock. They'd suspected Dr. Michael McKee from the moment she and Spencer were found murdered. They just couldn't say anything — they were protecting the investigation. But here's the reality that should unsettle everyone following this case: they'd known for years. Monique had told them about emotional abuse during the marriage. About torment. She wa...

Breaking down the Tepe murder case. Vascular surgeon Michael McKee, 39, is charged with two counts of premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of his ex-wife Monique Tepe and her husband Spencer Tepe in Columbus, Ohio on December 30th, 2025. Their two young children — ages one and four — were found unharmed in the home. McKee and Monique divorced in 2017 after a seven-month marriage....

Columbus police have released critical details in the case against Dr. Michael McKee, the Chicago vascular surgeon charged with the premeditated aggravated murder of Monique Tepe and Spencer Tepe. A preliminary NIBIN ballistics match now links a firearm recovered from McKee's penthouse apartment to shell casings found at the crime scene. Surveillance footage places his vehicle at the Tepe residenc...

Two high-profile cases. Two men with no prior criminal records. Two alleged murder plots that shocked the people who thought they knew them. Brendan Banfield was an IRS Criminal Investigation agent — trained in interrogation, evidence analysis, and how criminals get caught. Prosecutors say he used that training to build a months-long plot to kill his wife Christine and frame a stranger for it. The...

Columbus police confirmed this week that the Tepe murders were a targeted domestic violence attack. Dr. Michael McKee, a vascular surgeon with no criminal history, allegedly killed his ex-wife Monique and her husband Spencer eight years after their divorce was finalized. No documented threats. No protection orders. Nothing on paper. Just a man who, according to behavioral experts, may have spent n...

Columbus police broke their silence on the Tepe family murders. At a press conference, Chief Elaine Bryant confirmed investigators recovered the murder weapon from Michael McKee's Chicago apartment. Shell casings from Spencer and Monique Tepe's bedroom were matched through NIBIN to a firearm seized from McKee's residence. Multiple weapons were recovered. McKee allegedly held onto the gun for eleve...