COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Murder suspect Michael McKee is now in a Franklin County jail after being extradited to Columbus on January 20.
McKee is charged with four counts of aggravated murder, accused of killing Monique and Spencer Tepe in their Weinland Park home on December 30.
There will be an arraignment hearing for McKee likely on Friday, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This case will most certainly be litigated, and he will enter a not guilty plea to all of those counts, I can assure you,” said Sam Shamansky, a criminal defense attorney in Columbus.
Shamansky is not representing McKee but spoke from his experience working on murder cases.
“The first thing that’ll be on his mind, and this is a presumption on my part, will be a bail, some sort of bond that makes sense in this case, one that hopefully he can make,” Shamansky said when discussing what comes next in the case now that McKee has been extradited.
During McKee’s upcoming arraignment, the judge will determine whether McKee can bond out of jail and the amount and conditions of his bond.
“It depends on the judge’s comfort level regarding the circumstances, but given the fact that this man is a surgeon and has no criminal record, I presume, and again hasn’t done anything to absent himself from the jurisdiction, it wouldn’t be an unreasonable request if he’s granted bail to allow him to return home,” Shamansky said.
Court records include that McKee lives in an apartment complex in Chicago, Illinois.
Shamansky said it is possible that the judge could decide not to allow McKee to return to his home in Illinois if he bonds out.
“A judge could say, ‘Hey, look. You know, I’m going to grant bail, but rent an apartment here. Have an ankle monitor. Be under the auspices of our probation department, and you’re not leaving Franklin County. It’s possible.”
The defense attorney on the case will also begin to look intothe evidence. Columbus police said they found the gun used in the crimes on McKee’s property. Court records allege he used a silencer.
“Stakes are incredibly high in this case, and in every murder case, and it has to be treated with great attention and skill and dedication to trying to win,” he said. “And you can rest assured the prosecutor’s office will be doing the same thing along with the police.”
