The divorce case between accused killer surgeon Michael McKee and his slain ex-wife, Monique Tepe — which was finalized years ago — was mistakenly revived just months before McKee allegedly gunned down Tepe and her new husband in their Ohio home.
McKee and Tepe were married in August 2015 and officially divorced in May 2017, but the case received a new hearing that appeared on the docket in June 2025, according to USA Today.
It showed a trial date set for September, but court officials later confirmed that the revival of the case was a clerical error with the docket number, and the September date was canceled, the paper reported.
McKee and Tepe’s divorce seemed mundane and civil at the time, according to court records. However, family members have spoken out since the killings, saying McKee would “torment” Tepe during their short marriage.
“Differences have arisen between the parties, and they are now living separate and apart from each other,” their separation agreement, filed on April 28, 2017, stated.
In the divorce, McKee kept the couple’s $230,000 home in Roanoke, Virginia, where he was working on his residency. The home and mortgage were both solely in his name, USA Today reported.
Neither was ordered to pay spousal support and they each kept their own vehicles and their own debts, according to the agreement.
The pair had no children together and Monique Tepe, 39, married her new husband, dentist Spencer Tepe, 37, in December 2020.
McKee, 39, has been charged in the Tepes’ murders after he allegedly snuck into their Columbus home on Dec. 30 and shot them dead in their bedroom, leaving their two children, ages 4 and 1, unharmed in another room, cops said.
The vascular surgeon was arrested more than a week later some 325 miles away 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” domestic violence attack and revealed police discovered the gun believed to have been used in the murders at McKee’s residence.
Investigators have not determined a motive in the killings.
McKee is awaiting extradition to Ohio to face trial.
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