Suspected Murder Weapon In Deaths Of Ex-Wife, New Husband Found In Surgeon's IL Home: Police

ROCKFORD, IL — Michael David McKee, the Chicago vascular surgeon accused of killing his ex-wife and her current husband at their Ohio home, will remain in an Illinois jail until at least next week, as officials in Columbus say they believe they have recovered the murder weapon on his property.

During a press conference Wednesday, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said her department recovered multiple weapons McKee's property, including the gun they believe was used in the double homicide. She indicated the crime was targeted and domestic violence-related, and said there was no sign of forced entry to the Tepes' home.

According to CBS, the weapons were found in McKee's Lincoln Park condo. Bryant declined to give specifics on what types of weapons were found.

"We believe at this point we have the person responsible for the murders of Monique and Spencer Tepe in custody," Bryant said of McKee. "This is still an active and ongoing investigation. Detectives are still going through evidence, tips and videos." Police said they received "numerous tips, from multiple sources" on the killings.

Detectives from the Columbus Division of Police were able to identify McKee as a suspect through neighborhood video surveillance. Asked if she believes McKee is the person seen in the footage, Bryant said, "We do."

He was tracked to a vehicle which had arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after. Police say they identified the vehicle further and linked it to McKee, later finding it in Rockford, where McKee was arrested by ATF agents on Saturday. They also say investigators discovered evidence that he was in possession of the vehicle before and after the homicides.

According to court records, McKee, who had requested extradition to the Buckeye State earlier this week, is not due back in court until Jan. 23. On Monday, the 39-year-old resident of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood waived an extradition hearing in his first court appearance at the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County. McKee was booked into the jail in Rockford after his arrest, and remains there.

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A public defender representing McKee said in court Monday that his client consents to return to Ohio. The lawyer also indicated McKee will plead not guilty to two charges of premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, who were found dead in Columbus's Weinland Park neighborhood on Dec. 30, according to court documents. The couple's two young children, both under the age of 5, were found physically unharmed inside the home.

Bryant would not comment on whether they believe McKee had any contact with the children, or confirm reports that neighbors saw McKee outside the Tepes' home days before the murders.

McKee and Monique Tepe were married for about two years before they divorced in 2017. They had no children together. Bryant said investigators so far have not received any information indicating possible past abuse of Monique Tepe by McKee during their marriage.

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McKee has active medical licenses in both Illinois and California, and is a vascular surgeon at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford. In addition, McKee had a medical license nearly three years ago in Nevada, but that one expired on June 30, 2025, reports ABC13 in Las Vegas. The television station said McKee practiced at Las Vegas Surgical Associates, and is part of a medical malpractice lawsuit involving that clinic, according to court records.

According to ABC13, a patient of the clinic underwent laser treatment related to lower extremity venous insufficiency on July 5, 2023. McKee was supervising the procedure along with another doctor. The patient alleges he and the other doctor did not properly train or supervise the doctor performing the surgery, which caused a "catheter or device to shear or fracture, leaving an 8.6-inch portion of the device in the Plaintiff's body." The patient was then rushed to an acute care hospital by an ambulance to have emergency surgery to retrieve the device.

Attorneys for the doctor who performed the surgery deny that McKee, who was on-site at the time of the incident, was the supervising physician, reports ABC13. Attorneys attempted to serve court papers to McKee on at least six occasions starting on Sept. 30 of last year, but reportedly had a "difficult time" finding him. On Oct. 9, 2025, a process server was told by another doctor that McKee had just "disappeared."

A status check for trial readiness for the medical malpractice lawsuit is set for April 28, 2027, according to the news outlet.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, McKee went to medical school at Ohio State University and has family in the Zanesville area, which is about 55 miles east of Columbus. Prior to services for the slain couple last Sunday, an anonymous family member of the Tepes told the Daily Mail they suspected McKee was responsible for their deaths.

"It was absolutely not a shock to anybody, we had all expected it, but we weren't saying that, because we didn't want to compromise the investigation," the outlet reported.