Columbus police said Wednesday they have gathered enough evidence to link Michael David McKee, a 39-year-old vascular surgeon who had been living in Chicago, to the shooting deaths of his ex-wife Monique Tepe and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home last month. Police Chief Elaine Bryant said authorities believe McKee was captured on video near the scene, his vehicle was tracked near the couple’s home the night of the killings, and a firearm recovered from his Illinois residence produced a preliminary ballistic match to evidence from the crime scene.
McKee’s arrest ends nearly two weeks of nationally watched speculation surrounding the killings, which drew scrutiny in part because no signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home, no weapon was recovered there, murder-suicide was not suspected, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed.
Evidence linking McKee to the scene
Bryant, in an interview with the Associated Press, said investigators combined community tips, surveillance footage, and forensic analysis to build the case against McKee.
“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant said. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”
Bryant said authorities believe McKee was the person seen walking in a dark alley near the Tepes’ home in video footage from the night of the murders, according to the AP.
Bryant said the department has continued to ask the public for tips. Investigators followed up on every phone call, email, and private message shared with the department, and some of that information provided the evidence needed to make an arrest, she said.
Arrest and extradition proceedings
McKee was apprehended Saturday in Rockford, Illinois, where he worked at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center. The hospital has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths.
McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains jailed. Bryant said officials are working out the details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next court date in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.
An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings, according to the AP.
Victims
Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Spencer Tepe, her husband, was 37. He was a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police.
Mayor’s remarks
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city does not treat high-profile cases differently from others, noting that Columbus’s closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. He said the city recorded its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007 in 2025.
“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” Ginther told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”
Ginther called on central Ohioans to continue supporting the Tepe family, which includes two young children, as they cope with what he called “such an unimaginable loss.”
“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.