Killing of Monique and Spencer Tepe

On December 30, 2025, Monique Tepe, 39, and her husband, Spencer Tepe, 37, were found shot dead inside their home in Columbus, Ohio, after Spencer failed to arrive for work and a welfare check was requested. Their two young children and family dog were discovered unharmed. The investigation soon focused on Monique's ex‑husband, Michael David McKee, 39, who was arrested in Illinois on January 10, 2026, and later indicted in Franklin County on four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary. The criminal proceedings remain ongoing.

Monique Sabaturski was born on October 14, 1986, in Chicago, Illinois. Her family moved to Worthington, Ohio, when she was one year old, and she was raised there. She participated in soccer and running during her youth and developed an interest in horses and reading. She attended Ohio State University, where she pursued a master's degree in early childhood education.^[1] Monique married Michael McKee in August 2015; they separated in March 2016, and she filed for divorce in June 2017.^[2] According to relatives, McKee had been emotionally abusive during the marriage, and Monique had been afraid of him.^[3]

Spencer Tepe was born on December 9, 1988, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed both his undergraduate studies and his Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees, also at Ohio State University. He worked in the field of dentistry, practicing in Athens, Ohio, where his work included comprehensive care and implant‑related procedures. He also maintained interests in competitive activities, particularly soccer and golf, and was fluent in Spanish.^[4][5]

Monique and Spencer met online in 2018 and married in 2020. They had two children, a daughter born in 2022 and a son born in 2024.^[6][7]

On the morning of December 30, 2025, concerns were raised when Spencer did not arrive for work and could not be reached. At 8:58 a.m., his employer, who was on vacation, contacted Columbus police to request a welfare check after staff informed him that Spencer had not arrived and that no one had been able to reach either him or Monique.^[8][9] An officer was dispatched at 9:10 a.m. and arrived at 9:15 a.m., but went to the wrong address, knocked, received no response, and left.^[10]

At 9:56 a.m., a man who had gone to the correct address phoned police, reporting that he could hear the couple's children inside but could not get into the home. Two minutes later, at 9:58 a.m., a female co‑worker driving to the residence also contacted authorities to express concern. At 10:03 a.m., a 9-1-1 call reported that someone had entered the house to check on the couple and had seen Spencer unresponsive on the floor next to the bed, with blood visible at the scene.^[5] Police were dispatched again at 10:04 a.m. and located Spencer, 37, and Monique, 39, deceased. Columbus Fire Department Medic 7 formally pronounced both victims dead at 10:11 a.m. No signs of forced entry were found, no firearm was recovered, and three spent 9 mm casings were collected at the scene. Their two young children and the family dog were found unharmed inside the home.^[10][11] Autopsy reports later released by the Franklin County Coroner's Office confirmed that Monique had sustained nine gunshot wounds, including one fired at close range, and that Spencer had sustained seven.^[12]

Visitation was held on January 11, 2026, at Schoedinger Northwest in Upper Arlington, followed by a short service at the funeral home. Later that afternoon, a separate gathering in remembrance of the couple took place at Due Amici in Columbus.^[4] The family estimated that attendance exceeded one thousand people.^[13]

Police released surveillance footage on January 5, 2026, showing an unidentified man walking through an alley near the Tepe residence between 2 and 5 a.m., the estimated window of the killings.^[14] Police later identified Michael David McKee, 39, Monique's ex‑husband, as the man allegedly seen in the footage. Investigators compared the video with vehicle‑tracking data showing that a car associated with McKee arrived in the neighborhood shortly before the homicides and left soon afterward;^[15] the vehicle was later traced to Rockford, Illinois,^[16] where McKee was employed. He was arrested in Illinois on January 10, 2026, at a Chick-fil-A restaurant located near his workplace.^[17] At a January 14 police briefing, the Columbus Police Chief said the killings were a targeted, "domestic‑violence‑related attack".^[18] During a search of McKee's property, investigators recovered a firearm they said was consistent with the weapon believed to have been used in the homicides, as disclosed at the same briefing.^[17] A Franklin County grand jury returned a multi‑count indictment on January 16, charging McKee with four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary.^[19] McKee was booked into the James A. Karnes Correctional Center on January 20 ahead of a scheduled court hearing on January 23, where he pleaded not guilty.^[20][10]

According to an affidavit, surveillance footage from December 6, 2025, captured McKee allegedly entering the area immediately surrounding the Tepe residence while Monique and Spencer were out of town. The couple had traveled to Indiana with friends for the Big Ten Championship game, and during the evening Monique returned to their hotel room earlier than the rest of the group. Spencer later told a friend that she was "upset about something involving her ex‑husband" before he went back to check on her. The affidavit states that the man seen on the footage approached the property through the rear alley and departed after a period of time, and it also noted that McKee was not scheduled to work that day.^[21]