The family of the Ohio couple gunned down in their home said the alleged killer, Michael McKee, would “torment” ex-wife Monique Tepe during their short marriage, before he allegedly broke into her house and murdered her and her second husband, a dentist.
“She just had to get away from him,” Monique’s brother, Rob Misleh, told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” of Dr. Michael McKee on Wednesday, as police revealed they believe they found the murder weapon at the vascular surgeon’s Illinois home.
Misleh said McKee was emotionally abusive to Monique during their brief marriage — which lasted from 2015 to 2017 before they divorced, citing incompatibility, according to divorce documents.
“Myself and many others were well aware of, kind of, the negative impact that he had on her. And the abuse that he put her through, the torment that he put her through,” Misleh said.
“She was willing to do anything to get out of there,” he said.
“She was a very strong person,” Misleh added.
The pair had no children together and Monique, 39, married her new husband, Spencer Tepe, 37, in December 2020, according to their obituary.
McKee, 39, is accused of breaking into the Tepes’ Columbus home in the middle of the night on Dec. 30 and shooting them dead in their bedroom, leaving their two young children unharmed in another room, according to police.
He was arrested more than a week later on Saturday in Rockford, Illinois, after police traced his car to the scene the night of the murders.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant on Wednesday described the killings as a “targeted attack” and domestic violence. She revealed police discovered the gun believed to be used in the murders.
“Multiple weapons were taken from the property of McKee, and there is a preliminary link to one of the weapons that ties it to the homicides,” Bryant said.
He appeared in court in Illinois on Monday but did not enter a plea, but assistant public defender Carie Poirier told the judge he intended to plead not guilty.
“We just want justice,” Misleh said.
“We want this person that took so much from, not just us as a family, but so many more people. And obviously the kids, especially. We want this person to pay for what they did,” he added.
McKee is charged with two counts of murder, court documents state. He is scheduled to appear in court next in Winnebago County, Ill., on Jan. 23 for an extradition hearing, after which point he will be brought to Columbus to face trial.
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