Who Were Spencer and Monique Tepe?
Although Spencer, 37, and Monique, 39, both attended The Ohio State University—Spencer for dental school and Monique for early childhood education—the pair met online. They immediately hit it off.
On December 13, 2020, they wed in a private ceremony at their home, where together they raised their two children, Emilia and Beckham.
Monique stayed home with the kids, while Spencer worked as a dentist at a clinic in Athens, Ohio.
Spencer’s brother-in-law, Rob Misleh, said the couple “shared a beautiful, strong and deeply happy relationship. They loved to travel, to laugh and build a life rooted in love. They were proud parents of two beautiful children and their beloved Goldendoodle, and they created a home filled with warmth, happiness and connection,” in a statement released in the days following the murders.
Separately, Misleh described Spencer as “intelligent, warm and endlessly welcoming.”
“He gave back through Big Brothers, Big Sisters, (he was) a huge Bengals and Buckeyes fan, and lived life with energy, laughter, and generosity,” Misleh remembered, while Monique “brought care and intention into everything she did. She was an excellent baker, a thoughtful planner, and someone who found joy in bringing people together. Her kindness made people feel instantly at home.”
Monique Tepe’s Ex-Husband Said She'd 'Always Be His Wife'
Monique was married from 2015 until 2017 to Dr. Michael McKee, a vascular surgeon who was employed at a medical center in Rockford, Ill., at the time of the alleged killings.
The former couple shared no children together.
According to probable cause documents, Monique accused McKee of being an “abusive” husband who made “numerous threats on her life and after their marriage,” loved ones told police. She also alleged he “forced unwanted sex,” strangled her, and threatened to “kill her at any time and would find her and buy the house right next to her, that she will always be his wife,” the documents state.
Three weeks before the murders, on December 6, 2025, Monique and Spencer attended a Big Ten Football Championship game with friends in Indianapolis when she said she felt “upset about something involving her ex-husband,” prompting her to return to their hotel room early.
The details over what upset her remain unclear.
Misleh alleged that he “and many others were well aware of, kind of, the negative impact that he [McKee] had on her," he told Good Morning America in January 2026. "And the abuse that he put her through, the torment that he put her through. She [Monique] was willing to do anything to get out of there."
His most recent home address is in Chicago, and he was working as a surgeon at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Ill., at the time of his arrest.
The Alleged Murders: 'Hatred and Rage'
On the morning of December 30, 2025, a colleague requested police conduct a welfare check on the Tepes after Spencer failed to show up to work.
Responding officers discovered the couple fatally shot in their bedroom.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry.
Monique suffered nine gunshot wounds to the head, face, chest and arm, according to the autopsy report.
“She was alive for every one of the shots,” Nicole Angemi, host of Mother Knows Death and a pathologists’ assistant with no connection to the case, tells A&E Crime + Investigation, citing the report. “I would say that four of them were fatal and caused devastating injuries.”
The gunshot wounds to her right arm and hand appeared to be defense wounds.
“She was trying to cover her body,” Angemi speculates. “It doesn't seem like she got up and was running away,” but the gunshot to her heart was “pretty catastrophic, blowing up one of her major coronary arteries.”
Angemi believes Spencer’s attack followed.
He was shot seven times in the head, neck, chest and arm.
“It's likely that she was lying in bed and was shot, that woke him up, and he got up and was shot twice in the back,” she explains. “It seems that he was running away, and that would make sense as to why he was found on the floor.”
The shot to his head appeared to be fatal.
“That was really significant and would have caused him to become unconscious immediately,” Angemi says.
McKee purportedly drove more than 350 miles from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, to allegedly murder the couple.
Surveillance footage allegedly captured him and his vehicle in the Tepes’ neighborhood at the time of the slayings. Police allege he was also seen on video entering and leaving their property the day the couple was away at the college football game in Indianapolis, earlier that month.
Forensic scientist Amy Santoro, who has no involvement in the case, says she would be sweeping the couple’s residence for McKee’s DNA.
“This is a unique case in that it seems like the offender never really had a legitimate reason to be in this house, which means that if his DNA is present in any way in the home, it's problematic,” Santoro tells A&E Crime + Investigation.
She would also be looking for “any DNA from the decedent on things that belong to the offender because any relationship between Monique and the offender was done years ago, so there's no reason for her DNA to be in his car, on his clothes, on anything in his house.”
Santoro highlights the time that McKee allegedly chose to strike.
“It's very unusual. You are intentionally confronting your victims at a time when they are as vulnerable as they possibly can be, so it's a little bit of a psychological trick,” she explains. "On top of that, to do so when their children are home, and then to add in the number of shots, it really displays just a complete lack of any feelings beyond hatred and rage, and also a lack of self-preservation.”
What’s Next in the Spencer and Monique Tepe Case?
Following McKee’s arrest, the Tepes’ loved ones stated, “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.”
McKee remains held without bond at a Franklin County jail in Ohio.
If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
