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A surgeon accused of killing his ex-wife and her dentist husband in Ohio has pleaded not guilty after he was extradited to face murder charges.
Michael McKee was arrested on Jan. 10 after allegedly shooting and killing Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, in the couple’s home in Columbus’ Weinland Park neighborhood between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Dec. 30. McKee is Monique’s ex-husband.
McKee was arrested in Rockford, Illinois on Jan. 10 and was booked into the Winnebago County Jail in Illinois, before he was extradited to Columbus, Ohio, where he’s being held at the James A. Karnes Corrections Center. He faces upgraded premeditated aggravated murder charges in relation to the deaths of Spencer and Monique.
McKee appeared remotely at the arraignment hearing on Tuesday from jail and pleaded not guilty to four charges of premeditated aggravated murder with firearm specifications and aggravated burglary. Three aggravated murder charges include specifications alleging McKee of using or displaying an automatic firearm or silencer, and the fourth alleged that a firearm was displayed or brandished.
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Michael McKee allegedly shot Monique and Spencer Tepe at their Columbus home eight years after his divorce. (Rob Misleh | Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office)
McKee is being represented by attorney Diane Menashe, who manages her own firm and has been a lawyer for 27 years. Menashe previously represented Dr. William Husel, an Ohio doctor who was acquitted of 14 counts of murder after prosecutors alleged that he prescribed excessive pain medication to his patients in the Columbus-based Mount Carmel Health System.
Charging documents indicate police were able to identify McKee by linking him to a car that arrived in the Tepes’ neighborhood shortly before the murders and left just after the homicides. The car was then located in Rockford, Illinois, and police found evidence it belonged to McKee.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant earlier told Fox News Digital that several weapons were taken from McKee’s property, adding that a preliminary link was established that one of those firearms to the murders.
One of Spencer and Monique’s friends found the couple dead on Dec. 30 at their home, according to a 911 call.
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Spencer and Monique Tepe were found dead on Dec. 30. (Rob Misleh)
“There’s a body,” the caller says. “Our friend wasn’t answering his phone. We just did a wellness check. We just came here, and he appears dead. He’s lying next to his bed, off of his bed in this blood. I can’t get closer to seeing more than that.”
Monique and McKee were married for seven months after their wedding on Aug. 22, 2015, before they split up, court records show. McKee was completing his residency at the Virginia Tech Carilion Clinic when Monique filed for divorce, writing that the two were “incompatible.”
Monique and Spencer’s two children were found safe at the home after the shooting. Rob Misleh, Spencer’s brother-in-law, told People that the couple’s 1-year-old child was likely stuck in a crib when the shooting happened.
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Spencer and Monique Tepe pictured in wedding photos. (Rob Misleh)
“[He] was in the crib right, and was unable to get out of the crib on his own and also it was at a time he would’ve been well awake by this time,” he said. “From the timeframe that we know, 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., [when the murders took place], the kids would’ve been in their beds so we assume that not they did not see anything.”
The couple was preparing to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary one month before they were killed, Misleh told WSYX.