Illinois man arrested for murder of ex-wife, Ohio dentist

Illinois man arrested for murder of ex-wife, Ohio dentist

Bethany Bruner and Nathaniel Shuda, USA TODAY NETWORK

Sat, January 10, 2026 at 7:32 PM UTC

2 min read

Illinois man arrested for murder of ex-wife, Ohio dentist

The ex-husband of a woman found shot to death with her new husband, an Ohio dentist, on Dec. 30 has been charged with murder in the deaths.

Michael David McKee, of Chicago, faces two counts of murder, Franklin County Municipal Court documents show, according to The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.

According to online court records, a warrant was issued Jan. 10 for McKee's arrest. McKee was booked into jail in Winnebago County in Illinois, shortly before noon local time. He will remain there until authorities extradite him back to Franklin County.

It's unclear if McKee has an attorney who can comment on his behalf.

Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, died on Dec. 30 after being found shot inside their home on the neighborhood in Weinland Park. The couple's two young children, both under the age of 5, were found physically unhurt inside the home.

More: Dentist's wife did not make tearful 911 call months before couple was found dead, police say

Columbus homicide detectives identified McKee through neighborhood video surveillance, police alleged in court documents. They tracked the suspect "to a vehicle which arrived just prior to the homicides and left shortly after." They found the vehicle in Rockford, Illinois, and found evidence that McKee had the vehicle before and after the killings.

Columbus police have not publicly identified a potential motive in the couple's deaths.

Around 9 a.m. on Dec. 30, coworkers of Spencer's from the dentistry office where he worked in Athens called Columbus police after Spencer did not show up for work and no one could reach Spencer or Monique by phone.

An officer went to do a well-being check but went to a home on Summit Street instead of the Tepe home, according to body camera footage released by Columbus police. About 40 minutes after that check, friends of the Tepes found them dead in their home.

Police have focused the investigation on the window of time between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Dec. 30, which is when they believe the couple was killed. On Jan. 5, detectives released video from a security camera showing a person walking in an alley near the Tepes' home during that time frame, calling the person a "person of interest."

The couple's fifth wedding anniversary would have been on Jan. 30.

"They were extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy, and deep connection to others," the Tepe family told USA TODAY in a statement on Jan. 2.

Contributing: Melina Khan, Amanda Lee Myers

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Illinois man arrested for murder of ex-wife, Ohio dentist

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