Columbus police provided an update Wednesday on the investigation into the December murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe in Weinland Park, including how authorities linked suspect Michael McKee to the case.
Columbus Division of Police Chief Elaine Bryant called the crime a targeted domestic violence-related attack. She said McKee's vehicle was captured on neighborhood surveillance video arriving in the area before the murders and leaving after the couple was killed.
Bryant also said when police and federal agents arrested McKee in Rockford, Illinois and searched his home in Chicago, officers found multiple weapons. Bryant said the weapons included one that can be preliminarily linked to the homicides using national ballistics data through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN.
"(McKee is) currently incarcerated in the Winnebago County Jail and awaiting extradition to Columbus. We believe, at this point, we have the person responsible for the murders of Monique and Spencer Tepe in custody, and that person is Michael McKee," Bryant said.
McKee is the ex-husband of Monique Tepe and lived in the Chicago neighborhood of Lincoln Park. The two were married from 2015 to 2017 before divorcing.
Bryant didn't give a suspected motive or say how McKee was able to enter the Weinland Park home since there were no signs of forced entry. When police arrived at the home and found the couple with gunshot wounds, officers also found the couple's two young children unharmed.
The case has garnered national media attention and scrutiny as police searched for a suspect between the murders on Dec. 30 and when McKee was arrested on Jan. 10.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther also spoke at the press conference. Ginther thanked Bryant and the police department for helping to solve the case and the dozens of other homicides that happened in Columbus in 2025.
"I pray this collaboration will help us prevent violent crime from happening in the first place. But it's also a powerful, powerful tool for solving crime when it does occur," Ginther said.
Ginther said the public and the press helped police work the case by providing numerous tips and sharing information about the police's search for evidence and a suspect.
Ginther said the city will continue to seek justice for the Tepe family and said the city will also do so for the more than 80 other families that lost someone to a homicide last year.
"I know this case has taken on national interests, but I want to tell each of these families, 84 families, CPD pursues every case with the same intensity, commitment and resolve," Ginther said.
McKee is set to be extradited to Columbus from Illinois soon.
A hearing on his extradition is set for Jan. 23 in Winnebago County.
