“CONTROLLING” MICHAEL MCKEE PLED THE 5TH, WON’T TALK TO POLICE — BUT USED TO ASK FRIENDS FOR UPDATES ABOUT MONIQUE TEPE
According to People, Michael David McKee pled the 5th, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself after his arrest.
McKee refused to speak with detectives.
But in the days and years before Monique Tepe and the “love of her life” 2nd husband Spencer Tepe were gunned down on 12/30/25, McKee had a lot of questions for friends about his ex-wife.
FRIEND OF MONIQUE & MICHAEL SAYS THEY WERE IN LOVE, AT FIRST…
A friend who spoke with People described how years ago, Michael McKee and Monique Tepe were very much in love.
But things went south when they moved further south:
No longer college mates at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, but a married couple, who wed in 2015.
After relocating to Roanoke, Virginia, cracks in the union became more apparent.
The friend said they moved to Virginia for McKee’s post-medical school residency.
Their pal told People:
“At first when it was just starting out, they seemed so happy and they were so in love, but he was always manipulative.”
MONIQUE REALIZES MCKEE’S MANIPULATION
The friend said that it took years for Monique to realize McKee was manipulating their situation and finding ways of “bending things to his will.”
She adds:
“He needed to be in control of most situations, but wouldn’t make it seem like he was controlling the situation.”
According to the friend, McKee also allegedly exerted a level of control over Monique.
It was control that grew and became more obvious when the newlyweds moved to Virginia.
Trapped with a controlling husband, coupled with Monique’s unhappiness about living about a 5 1/2 hour drive away from her family and friends, those circumstances played a big part in the couple’s split.
No wonder Monique allegedly dipped out one day, not warning McKee, and taking their dog with her–according to a new report by McKee’s ex-girlfriend.
Time will tell what exact details caused Monique to flee, but unfortunately it didn’t stop McKee from asking about her when he ran into mutual friends.
And allegedly eventually finding her and her new husband…
McKee would ask people about Monique whenever he saw a friend they had in common, the pal told People.
Did McKee stalk Monique prior to the murders, like the rumors claim?
The friend said:
“I’ll say that we’ve been talking about it, but none of us ever actually saw any evidence of this.”
She added that Monique never mentioned anything about McKee.
“She had moved on. He had not.”
Monique was thriving in her element, once again around people she loved, healing from her divorce from McKee.
Monique struggled for a while, says her friend, but she was soon back to her old self again and putting herself out there.
“She is a family girl and a girl’s girl. She needs that in her life and she didn’t have that. It was just the two of them in a new place and she had no support system.”
Eventually, Monique met Spencer Tepe on a dating app, and in 2020, she went on to marry the dentist, who was also a fellow Ohio State University alum.
This makes a lot of case-followers wonder if Spencer and McKee ever knew one another at OSU.
DID MCKEE DRIVE HIMSELF TO MADNESS BY MONIQUE’S JOY?
This friend still talked to Monique but hadn’t talked to McKee in years.
But she believes that McKee’s anger may have been rooted in seeing his ex-wife’s happiness.
“He thought she could not live without him. That she needed him. So for her to thrive [in her new marriage], that just destroyed his fragile little ego.”
Monique was able to move on and experience real love–“I finally found my lobster,” Monique said in her wedding vows to Spencer, referencing an episode of Friends — but the friend says McKee did not do the same.
With Monique married to Spencer — she was “so happy.”
“Everything you see is completely true because that’s who they were. That’s how much love and pride and joy they had for one another. They really were perfect. Their kids really were perfect. Their life really was perfect.”
WHEN WILL MCKEE APPEAR IN AN OHIO COURT?
Now that a grand jury in Franklin County voted to indict McKee on 4 counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated robbery on Friday, January 16, 2026, according to court records, people are eagerly awaiting seeing McKee in an Ohio courtroom.
What will he plead?
Will he strike a deal to avoid the death penalty?
