Family ‘quickly believed’ surgeon ex was involved in Ohio dentist couple’s murder as co-worker details mishaps

CHICAGO, Ill. – The ex-husband of the Ohio dentist’s wife, charged in the couple’s murders, spent nearly a decade after their divorce moving from job to job across the country, with a former coworker saying a stint in Nevada marked the start of a “downward spiral” that preceded the alleged killings.

Michael David McKee, 39, was arrested after allegedly killing a couple in Columbus, Ohio, according to records. Police officers responded to a house located in Columbus’ Weinland Park neighborhood around 10 a.m. Dec. 30 and found Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, both dead with gunshot wounds. 

McKee is Monique’s ex-husband. Rob Misleh, Spencer’s brother-in-law, told NBC News that their family “quickly believed” that McKee was somehow involved in their deaths.

“He was an emotionally abusive person when they were together, that is all I know,” Misleh said.

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McKee was booked at the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois just before noon Saturday, jail records show. He’s facing upgraded premeditated aggravated murder charges in Ohio in relation to Spencer and Monique’s deaths.

Divorce records obtained by Fox News Digital show that McKee and Monique got married on Aug. 22, 2015, and separated by March 2016, with the marriage lasting seven months. According to the initial divorce complaint filed by Monique, she and McKee were “incompatible.” By March 2016, Monique and McKee were living separately. The couple had no children during their short marriage.

At the time, McKee was in the process of completing his residency at the Virginia Tech Carilion Clinic making $51,000 in 2016, records show. They owned a home in Roanoke, Virginia, which had an estimated value of $219,500. McKee owned a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited, while Monique owned a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 2008 Toyota Rav 4.

Financial records included by Monique in her divorce filing indicated the couple hadn’t yet opened a joint bank account. Monique indicated that she didn’t know how much money McKee had in his bank account. Monique wrote “unknown” as the value of several of his financial accounts, stocks and retirement plan, indicating she didn’t know their value.

According to the separation agreement, “Differences have arisen between [the couple] and they are now living separate and apart from each other.” Monique and McKee kept most of their personal assets, including bank accounts, and split personal property to their “mutual satisfaction,” the records show. McKee kept possession of the house, which was in his name.

Here’s a timeline of McKee’s work history, according to records and sources:

2005 to 2009: Undergraduate student at Ohio State University.

2009 to 2014: Studied to earn his medical degree at Ohio State University.

2014 to 2015: General surgery internship at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

2015 to 2020: General surgery internship at Virginia Tech Carilion Clinic.

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2020 to 2022: Vascular surgery fellowship at University of Maryland Medical Center.

2022 to 2025: Was licensed in several states, including California, Nevada and Illinois. From 2023 to 2024, he worked as a vascular surgeon at Las Vegas Surgical Associates.

2025 to 2026: Vascular surgeon at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois.

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According to a source who has worked with McKee who spoke with Fox News Digital, the vascular surgeon had “basically no experience” before he was hired at Las Vegas Surgical Associates. The source said McKee’s “downward spiral” began after a series of alleged surgical mishaps, one of which was detailed in a lawsuit filed in Nevada.

“He was always nice, he was always kind and you know, he wasn’t ever one of those that has these like emotional outbursts or anything like that within the operating room or when he gets into a stressful situation,” the source said of McKee. 

The source added that it was “reckless” for those around McKee to continue allowing him to perform high-risk surgeries knowing his limitations.

“Why are you letting a guy that’s a year and a half out of fellowship, two years, free rein to do these crazy cases? How come there’s nobody putting a stop saying, ‘what are you thinking of doing?’” the source said.

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Charging documents indicate police were able to identify McKee by linking him to a car that arrived in the Tepes’ neighborhood shortly before the murders and left just after the homicide. The car was then located in Rockford, Illinois, and police found evidence it belonged to McKee.

The couple was killed one month short of celebrating their five-year wedding anniversary, Misleh told WSYX.