The man accused of gunning down a Columbus couple just weeks before their wedding anniversary took a key legal step Monday that will send him back to Ohio to face the charges.
According to Fox News, Michael David McKee, 39, appeared in an Illinois courtroom where he waived extradition, clearing the way for authorities to return him to Columbus in connection with the fatal shooting of Spencer and Monique Tepe.
His attorney said McKee plans to plead not guilty to double murder.
The brief hearing took place at the Winnebago County Justice Center, where McKee appeared shackled and dressed in a yellow jail jumpsuit.
Observers noted that he remained calm throughout the proceedings and showed little visible emotion. He is being represented by Winnebago County Public Defender Carie Poirier.
McKee was taken into custody Saturday and booked at the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office shortly before noon, according to jail records. Ohio authorities have since upgraded the charges against him to premeditated aggravated murder in the deaths of both victims.
Columbus police say they were called to a home in the Weinland Park neighborhood around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30 after a friend went to check on the couple. Inside, officers found Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, dead from gunshot wounds.
The friend who discovered the scene described the moment in a frantic call to 911.
“There’s a body,” the caller said. “Our friend wasn’t answering his phone. We just did a wellness check. We just came here, and he appears dead. He’s laying next to his bed, off of his bed in this blood. I can’t get closer to see more than that.”
Court records show Monique Tepe was previously married to McKee. The two wed in August 2015, and Monique filed for divorce in 2017.
Public records indicate McKee has lived in several states over the past few years, including Virginia, Nevada, and Illinois, before recently relocating to Chicago. He is identified as a vascular surgeon who worked in the Rockford, Illinois, area.
According to charging documents, investigators were able to link McKee to the crime through a vehicle seen entering the Tepes’ neighborhood shortly before the shootings and leaving soon afterward. That vehicle was later located in Rockford, where police determined it belonged to McKee.
Family members said the killings came just one month before Spencer and Monique were set to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.
The case now moves back to Ohio, where McKee is expected to be formally arraigned and prosecuted.
