IL Surgeon Visited Slain Couple's Home, Stalked Ex-Wife Prior To Double Murder: Report

CHICAGO — Michael McKee, the Chicago surgeon accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and her new husband in Ohio last month, was reportedly stalking Monique Tepe prior to the crime. McKee, 39, has pleaded not guilty to the double murder, and remains behind bars without bond at the Franklin County Jail in Columbus, Ohio.

According to unsealed court documents obtained by The Columbus Dispatch, McKee had visited the Weinland Park home of Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, weeks before they were found shot to death on Dec. 30. The couple's two young children, both under the age of 5, were found physically unharmed inside the home after the shooting.

Patch has reached out to the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office for this story.

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McKee, who resided in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, was indicted Jan. 16 on four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary by a Franklin County grand jury. He was arrested on Jan. 10 by ATF agents in Rockford, reportedly at a Chick-fil-A restaurant not far from where he worked as a vascular surgeon at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.

Following his arrest, McKee was held at the Winnebago County Jail before being extradited to Ohio last week.

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting a video shows McKee going into the area of the Tepe home on Dec. 6, and then leaving "a few hours later," while the couple were out of town at the Big 10 Championship football game in Indianapolis. The court documents state the area McKee entered was the "curtilage," which the media outlet said "is legally considered part of a house but typically thought of as the yard, outdoor buildings, porches and other similar areas."

Spencer Tepe, who was a dentist, had reportedly told friends that Monique "was upset about something involving her ex-husband," reports The Columbus Dispatch. Friends of the couple have reportedly told police McKee had been abusive toward his wife during their nearly two-year marriage, which ended in divorce in 2017, and had continued threatening her since.

McKee went to medical school at Ohio State University and has family in the Zanesville area, which is about 55 miles east of Columbus.

Detectives from the Columbus Division of Police were able to identify McKee as a suspect through neighborhood video surveillance. He was tracked to a vehicle which had arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after. Police were able to identify the vehicle further and linked it to McKee, later finding it in Rockford. They also discovered evidence that he was in possession of the vehicle before and after the homicides.

During a Jan. 16 press conference, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said her department recovered multiple weapons at 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.

McKee faces a minimum of life in prison with parole eligibility after 32 years, and a maximum term of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

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