An affidavit unsealed by the court reveals that Michael McKee allegedly went to his ex-wife Monique Tepe‘s home on Dec. 6
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Michael McKee.Credit : Adam Cairns/The Columbus Dispatch via AP
The surgeon who has been arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-wife and her husband allegedly broke into their home weeks before their deaths.
Michael McKee, 39, was seen on video entering the “curtilage” of the Ohio home — meaning on the property, but not the home itself — owned by Spencer and Monique Tepe in Columbus on Dec. 6. He was then seen leaving a few hours later during a period when the Tepes were away, according to a probable cause affidavit unsealed in court and obtained by PEOPLE.
On that same night, Monique and Spencer were at the Big Ten Championship football game in Indiana with several other couples, according to the affidavit.
At some point during the evening, Monique excused herself and returned to the hotel room, prompting Spencer to later tell their friend she was “upset about something involving her ex-husband and he was going back to the hotel.”
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Spencer Tepe, Monique Tepe.gofundme; WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP
The curtilage of the Tepe home is accessed via the back alleyway, which McKee is allegedly seen walking down in a person of interest video released by the Columbus Police Department.
Investigators also discovered that McKee was not on the schedule for the hospital at which he worked on Dec. 6, when he was allegedly seen at his wife’s home.
He would return to the Tepe home on Dec. 30, according to authorities — at which time he allegedly shot Monique, 39, and Spencer, 37, as their children slept just feet away.
McKee allegedly left his phone at work on Dec. 29, when, according to authorities, he traveled to Columbus to commit the murders. The following day, 17 hours later, he retrieved his phone, say investigators.
The round trip from Rockford — the site of the hospital where McKee worked — to Columbus is seven hours, meaning that McKee drove at least 14 hours during that 17 hour span, according to investigators’ timeline.
In total, the round trip is 900 miles.
McKee made his first appearance in an Ohio courtroom a week after a grand jury indicted him in connection with the deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband.
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The 39-year-old surgeon appeared remotely from the Franklin County Jail as his attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to four counts of aggravated murder and a single count of aggravated burglary.
McKee was arrested on Jan. 10 after investigators allegedly linked him to a vehicle that could be seen on neighborhood surveillance cameras arriving near the crime scene just before Monique and Spencer were killed, and then leaving shortly after.
A subsequent search of his property in Illinois allegedly resulted in the discovery of multiple weapons, including one that Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said was similar to the weapon that investigators suspect was used to kill Monique and Spencer.
McKee and Monique met at Ohio State State University and were married in 2015.
The couple moved to Virginia after their wedding for McKee’s medical residency, but seven months into the marriage, the two separated and Monique moved back to Ohio.
Monique filed for divorce in May 2017, stating in her filing that she and McKee were “incompatible.” A judge granted their divorce the following month.
McKee made his first court appearance at the Winnebago County Courthouse on Jan. 12, at which time he waived his extradition hearing and the public defender assigned to represent him informed the judge of his plan to plead not guilty to murder.
He was extradited to Ohio on Jan. 20 and is now being housed at the Franklin County Jail.
McKee previously refused to speak with detectives after his arrest in Illinois, with police telling PEOPLE he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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