NEED TO KNOW
- Michael McKee made his first court appearance since being extradited to Ohio earlier this week, appearing remotely from the Franklin County Jail
- His lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to four counts of aggravated murder and a single count of aggravated burglary in the deaths of Monique and Spencer Tepe
- McKee, who was previously married to Monique, did not speak during the 30-second proceedings and showed no emotion
Michael McKee made his first appearance in an Ohio courtroom a week after a grand jury indicted him in connection with the deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband.
The 39-year-old surgeon appeared remotely from the Franklin County Jail as his attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to four counts of aggravated murder and a single count of aggravated burglary.
McKee showed no emotion during his brief appearance, and stood silent and motionless in his jail jumpsuit for the entire proceeding.
He is accused of murdering Monique and Spencer Tepe, who were killed in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 30 inside their home in Columbus as their two children, then 3 and 17 months, slept just a few feet away.
Police found the two dead inside their home after receiving a series of panicked calls from Spencer’s co-workers.
Monique, 39, had at least one apparent gunshot wound to the chest and Spencer, 37, had multiple apparent gunshot wounds, according to a police report.
McKee was arrested on Jan. 10 after investigators linked him to a vehicle that could be seen on neighborhood surveillance cameras arriving near the crime scene just before Monique and Spencer were killed, and then leaving shortly after.
He was taken into custody by federal agents at a Chick-fil-A in Rockford, Ill.
A subsequent search of his property resulted in the discovery of multiple weapons, including one that Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said was similar to the weapon that investigators suspect was used to kill Monique and Spencer.
He had moved to Chicago sometime in the past 18 months, and in July purchased a penthouse apartment in the city.
Prior to that he worked in Las Vegas, where he is being sued for medical malpractice.
A process server had struggled to serve McKee for that lawsuit, and when he asked a co-worker about the surgeon he was informed that “he just disappeared,” according to a court filing obtained by PEOPLE.
McKee and Monique had met at Ohio State State University and were married in 2015.
The couple moved to Virginia after their wedding for McKee’s residency, but seven months into the relationship the two separated and Monique moved back to Ohio.
Monique did not file for divorce until May 2017, stating in her filing that she and McKee were “incompatible.” A judge granted their divorce the following month.
Monique met Spencer the following year and the two were married in 2020. They had just celebrated their five-year anniversary two weeks before they were killed.
McKee made his first court appearance at the Winnebago County Courthouse on Jan. 12, at which time he waived his extradition hearing and the public defender assigned to represent him informed the judge of his plan to plead not guilty to murder.
He was extradited to Ohio on Jan. 20 and is now being housed at the Franklin County Jail.
McKee previously refused to speak with detectives after his arrest in Illinois, with police telling PEOPLE he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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