Dr. Michael McKee has indicated he will plead not guilty to the double murder allegations

A SURGEON accused of shooting dead his ex-wife and her new husband while their young children were inside the home is said to have made her life a “living hell” throughout their troubled marriage.

Monique Tepe, 39, and her dentist husband Spencer, 37, were discovered dead by police in Columbus, Ohio, on December 30, 2025.

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Columbus Police Patrol officers responded to the home of Spencer and Monique Tepe after a welfare check was requestedCredit: GoFundMe

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Authorities say Michael McKee still had the gun allegedly used to execute his ex-wife and her dentist husbandCredit: Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office

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McKee, 39, is seen looking stony-faced as he walks into the courtroom on January 12 in IllinoisCredit: AP
Officers were called to their home in the Weinland Park neighborhood at around 10am after concerned friends and colleagues requested a welfare check, authorities said.

The couple’s two children, aged one and four, were at home at the time but did not witness what happened and are now in the care of family members.

On January 10, Monique’s ex-husband, Michael David McKee, was taken into custody in the Chicago area.

He appeared in court for the first time this week in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he waived extradition to Ohio.

His public defender said he intends to enter a not-guilty plea once his case is formally filed.

Monique and Spencer’s family welcomed news of the arrest and suspected him since the beginning, despite the pair having been separated for years.

McKee and Monique married on August 22, 2015, and separated just seven months later in March 2016.

Documents obtained by The U.S. Sun show official divorce proceedings began in May 2017 and were finalized by June 2017 on the grounds of incompatibility.

He had threatened to kill her multiple times when they were married.”

A family source told The U.S. Sun about Michael McKee.

After meeting Spencer, Monique allegedly didn’t dwell on her past marriage and referred to McKee as her “ex-husband,” with some family only learning his name in the past week.

But a source said she told family their marriage had been hell, and he had “threatened to kill her multiple times.”

They told The U.S. Sun, “He’s clearly mentally unstable. We suspected him because of the prior emotional abuse he inflicted on Monique.

“Police never told us he was a suspect or gave us info about him.

“He had threatened to kill her multiple times when they were married.”

Spencer and Monique’s brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, also repeated the claims in an interview with former NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield for her YouTube channel.

The pair is said to have had very different personalities, with Monique being social and McKee being introverted, according to sources.

It is not known if McKee was in touch with Monqiue and Spencer in the days before their death, and they had not said anything to their families about being concerned for their safety.

Separate sources say McKee was adopted as a child, but had a good upbringing and had always known about his past.

His family has not responded to requests for comment.

The U.S. Sun has also reached out to McKee’s public defender.

After McKee’s arrest, the family said, “Today’s arrest represents an important step toward justice for Monique and Spencer.

“Nothing can undo the devastating loss of two lives taken far too soon, but we are grateful to the City of Columbus Police Department, its investigators, and assisting law enforcement community whose tireless efforts helped to capture the person involved.

‘MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT’

“We thank the community for the continued support, prayers, and compassion shown throughout this tragedy.

“As the case proceeds, we trust the justice system to hold the person responsible fully accountable.

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind.

“We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

In the months leading up to the December killings, McKee was already embroiled in significant legal trouble related to his work as a vascular surgeon.

Court records show that he was named in at least one medical malpractice case in Nevada, and lawyers pursuing that action struggled for years to contact him as the case progressed.

McKee was accused of negligence in a 2023 case in which a patient was seriously harmed after a procedure allegedly went awry, resulting in emergency surgery.

Attorneys attempting to serve him legal papers encountered what they described as false or misleading contact information, including a non-existent business address and questionable phone numbers, making it difficult to move the case forward.

Another amended complaint filed in Nevada in late September 2025 claimed that a surgical device broke inside a patient’s leg during a procedure, and that McKee could not be reached to receive the legal documents.

By the time those allegations became public, McKee had left Las Vegas and was no longer easily located by his legal opponents.

Lawyers involved in the malpractice fight told local news outlets they were baffled by McKee’s disappearance, noting that most physicians respond quickly to such complaints.

One Nevada attorney said it was surprising to see a doctor vanish when faced with serious civil claims.

Timeline of the deaths of Spencer & Monique Tepe

DENTIST Spencer Tepe and his wife Monique were found dead inside their Ohio home on December 30.

2 am to 5 am: Cops believe Spencer and Monique were killed between this timeframe

8 am: The Dentist’s office, where Spencer works, opens

9:03 am: The first 911 call received

9:22 am: Cops go to the Tepe family home, where there is no answer

9:57 am: Worried friend calls cops, telling them they can hear children inside the home

10:05 am: The name person calls 911 again, telling dispatchers there’s a body near a bed

These unresolved medical cases were active around the same period McKee is now accused of killing his Monique and Spencer.

The malpractice suits remain pending, and it’s not yet clear how, or if, they will play into the criminal prosecution in Ohio.

At the time of his arrest, he was reportedly working at  OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois.

They said, “OSF is cooperating with authorities who will provide any further information.”

Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) confronted him in a Chick-fil-A, according to authorities.

McKee graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 2014.

After medical school, he completed surgical training, including residencies and fellowships, and held medical licenses in multiple states, such as Illinois, California, and previously Nevada.

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A GoFundMe set up for the couple’s children has pulled in more than $200,000 in donationsCredit: GoFundMe

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The families of Spencer and Monique Tepe have welcomed the arrest of her ex-husband, Michael David McKee, this monthCredit: Family Handout

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Rob Misleh, Spencer and Monique’s brother-in-law, is caring for the children with his wife, Monique’s sisterCredit: Instagram