Vascular surgeon accused of double murder pleads not guilty
Michael McKee, the 39-year-old vascular surgeon accused of murdering his ex-wife and her husband, has officially entered a plea of not guilty. He appeared remotely in court Friday, Jan. 23, and did not speak for the duration of that appearance.
McKee faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 32 years. The maximum sentence he could face is life in prison without parole.
Trial dates have yet to be announced. Both legal teams are still reviewing the available evidence.
Reviewing the case against Michael McKee
McKee, a vascular surgeon with OSF Saint Anthony in Rockford, Illinois, is accused of making the long journey to Ohio and murdering Monique Tepe and Spencer Tepe on Dec. 30. McKee was married to Monique Tepe from 2015 to 2017. She married Spencer Tepe in 2020.
On Jan. 16, McKee was officially indicted on four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary for the two murders.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant detailed the case during a press conference after McKee was arrested.
“This is still an active and ongoing investigation,” she said at the time. “Detectives are still going through evidence, tips and videos.”
Bryant described the incident as a “targeted attack” related to domestic violence.
“We can say that we have the suspect’s vehicle on neighborhood video surveillance arriving just before the murders and leaving shortly after,” Bryant added. “Detectives were able to link this vehicle to McKee. The vehicle was located in Rockford, Illinois, and evidence was found that showed McKee in possession of the vehicle before and after the homicides. We can also say that multiple weapons were taken from the property of McKee.”
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.