COLUMBUS, OH - The man accused of killing his ex-wife and her dentist husband allegedly drove 900 miles on the night of the killings, with cell phone activity indicating it only took him 17 hours before making it back home to Rockford, Illinois.
Michael McKee allegedly left St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford, Illinois, sometime after 5:00 p.m. on December 29, 2025, which investigators determined based on the last time he used his cell phone, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE.
That cell phone showed no activity at McKee's workplace for the next 17 hours as he allegedly drove 450 miles to his ex-wife's house in Columbus, Ohio, and then another 450 miles back to Illinois. What time he left, the route he took, and any stops he might have made along the way are not being shared by investigators at this time.
The Columbus Police Department (CPD) did previously say, however, that a car linked to McKee allegedly arrived in the couple's neighborhood just before 3:52 a.m. on December 30, 2025, and left shortly after.
By noon on December 30, 2025, McKee was back in Rockford. The drive from the hospital in Rockford to the house in Columbus takes about seven hours under normal conditions, but McKee was traveling the week of a holiday. It is a drive he had allegedly completed at least once before, though, according to the affidavit.
On December 6, McKee was seen on video entering the couple's Ohio property. He stayed there for a few hours before leaving, the affidavit stated. That same night, his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, Spencer Tepe, were in Indiana watching their alma mater, Ohio State University, compete in the Big Ten Football Championship.
Friends told investigators after the murders that Monique excused herself and returned to the hotel room at one point that night, prompting Spencer to later tell their friend she was "upset about something involving her ex-husband," and that he was "going back to the hotel."
Monique and Spencer were days away from celebrating their fifth anniversary at the time. Three weeks later, they were shot dead as their two young children slept just a few feet away.
McKee was arrested on January 10, 2026, after the investigation linked him to a vehicle that could be seen on neighborhood surveillance cameras arriving near the crime scene just before the couple was killed, and then leaving shortly after. He was taken into custody by federal agents at a Chick-fil-A in Rockford.
A search of his property resulted in the discovery of multiple weapons, including one that CPD Chief Elaine Bryant said was similar to the weapon investigators suspect was used to kill Monique and Spencer.
McKee and Monique had met at Ohio State University and were married in 2015. The couple moved to Virginia after the wedding for McKee's residency, but seven months into the marriage, the two separated, and Monique moved back to Ohio.
Monique, however, 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.
McKee made his first court appearance at the Winnebago County Courthouse on January 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 January 20 and is now being held at the Franklin County Jail.
Michael McKee allegedly left St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford, Illinois, sometime after 5:00 p.m. on December 29, 2025, which investigators determined based on the last time he used his cell phone, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE.
That cell phone showed no activity at McKee's workplace for the next 17 hours as he allegedly drove 450 miles to his ex-wife's house in Columbus, Ohio, and then another 450 miles back to Illinois. What time he left, the route he took, and any stops he might have made along the way are not being shared by investigators at this time.
The Columbus Police Department (CPD) did previously say, however, that a car linked to McKee allegedly arrived in the couple's neighborhood just before 3:52 a.m. on December 30, 2025, and left shortly after.
By noon on December 30, 2025, McKee was back in Rockford. The drive from the hospital in Rockford to the house in Columbus takes about seven hours under normal conditions, but McKee was traveling the week of a holiday. It is a drive he had allegedly completed at least once before, though, according to the affidavit.
On December 6, McKee was seen on video entering the couple's Ohio property. He stayed there for a few hours before leaving, the affidavit stated. That same night, his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband, Spencer Tepe, were in Indiana watching their alma mater, Ohio State University, compete in the Big Ten Football Championship.
Friends told investigators after the murders that Monique excused herself and returned to the hotel room at one point that night, prompting Spencer to later tell their friend she was "upset about something involving her ex-husband," and that he was "going back to the hotel."
Monique and Spencer were days away from celebrating their fifth anniversary at the time. Three weeks later, they were shot dead as their two young children slept just a few feet away.
McKee was arrested on January 10, 2026, after the investigation linked him to a vehicle that could be seen on neighborhood surveillance cameras arriving near the crime scene just before the couple was killed, and then leaving shortly after. He was taken into custody by federal agents at a Chick-fil-A in Rockford.
A search of his property resulted in the discovery of multiple weapons, including one that CPD Chief Elaine Bryant said was similar to the weapon investigators suspect was used to kill Monique and Spencer.
McKee and Monique had met at Ohio State University and were married in 2015. The couple moved to Virginia after the wedding for McKee's residency, but seven months into the marriage, the two separated, and Monique moved back to Ohio.
Monique, however, 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.
McKee made his first court appearance at the Winnebago County Courthouse on January 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 January 20 and is now being held at the Franklin County Jail.
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