The Tepe Murders: Evidence and Signs of Abuse / Part 3 // 574

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Tepe Murders: Evidence and Signs of Abuse / Part 3

Going West: True Crime (Episode 574)

Hosts: Daphne Woolsoncroft & Heath Merryman
Date: January 16, 2026

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Main Theme

This episode is the concluding chapter (for now) on the ongoing case of Monique and Spencer Tepe’s murders in Columbus, Ohio, believed to be a premeditated domestic violence attack by Monique’s ex-husband, Dr. Michael McKee. The hosts delve deep into new developments—police updates, family and friend interviews, chilling evidence, and the dark history of Monique’s relationship with the alleged killer. Part 3 synthesizes what’s publicly known, highlights the emotional toll, and reveals disturbing signs of long-term abuse.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Extradition Hearing & Charges

• Michael McKee’s arrest and hearing:
  • Arrested Jan 10, 2026, in Rockford, Illinois; charged initially with two counts of murder, quickly upgraded to premeditated aggravated murder due to new evidence indicating a planned attack.
  • Extradition hearing was brief:
    • “The hearing lasted only about a minute and a half…” (Daphne, 06:27)
    • McKee waived extradition; the defense’s strategy is to move quickly to Ohio to plead not guilty and begin the trial process.
    • “So now we know his intentions are to plead not guilty.” (Daphne, 07:28)
    • Not guilty pleas are standard at this stage, giving space for future legal maneuvering.

2. Police Briefing & Investigation Details

• Press conference takeaways:
  • Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant outlined the timeline and confirmed evidence tying McKee to the scene through surveillance and vehicle tracking.
  • An initial critical error was revealed: police responded to the wrong house after the first 911 call, explaining why Monique and Spencer’s children weren’t discovered immediately.
    • “When they responded to the first 911 call... they actually went to the wrong house that day...” (Heath, 08:24)
• Evidence against McKee:
  • Surveillance cameras captured McKee’s car and physical presence outside the Tepes’ home.
  • Murder weapon believed to have been recovered from McKee’s Chicago apartment.
    • “Wild to think that he then may have just had the murder weapon in his home, not throwing it away…” (Daphne, 10:25)
• Motive:
  • Classified by police as “a targeted domestic violence attack and a premeditated aggravated double homicide.” (Daphne, 03:25, repeated emphasis by hosts and police)
• Community involvement:
  • Tips from family, friends, and the Columbus community helped direct suspicion toward Michael McKee.

3. History of Abuse: Family and Friends Speak Up

• Monique’s experience
  • In both private and public contexts, Monique referred to her ex-husband as “a monster,” never by name, describing him as emotionally and verbally abusive, often threatening.
    • “She never said good things about him either, only that Michael was a monster.” (Daphne, 16:46)
  • Her brother-in-law, Rob Misla, confirms that Monique was proud of escaping her abusive marriage and finding real happiness with Spencer.
• Impact of the marriage
  • The trauma from her relationship with Michael remained with Monique for years after the divorce.
    • “She was always worried about him... There was a piece of her that was worried that he was out there alive.” (Heath, 20:15)
• Insight into Monique’s mindset
  • Even though Michael wasn’t a pressing threat day-to-day, he was a background concern. There were no reports filed in Columbus for stalking or abuse, suggesting much of the abuse was unreported at the jurisdiction where the crime occurred.

4. Notable Emotional and Supernatural Moments

• Intuitive connection at time of murder:
  • On the night of the murders, Spencer’s sister Madeline awoke suddenly with severe nausea, an event deemed possibly linked to the time her brother was killed.
    • “She explained that she had a horrible pain in her stomach... at about that very time... her brother was murdered.” (Daphne, 29:57)
• Parallels to other cases:
  • Daphne shares her own family’s similar experience, reinforcing the eerie phenomenon of loved ones sensing tragedy.

5. Testimonies Highlighting Abuse

• Physical abuse surfaced
  • Monique’s friend reported that Monique had been “terrified of Michael,” and that he once tried to strangle her—an incident unreported due to Michael’s public standing as a “charming surgeon.”
    • “She left him after he had tried to strangle her. But she didn’t report the incident because... she didn’t think that she would be believed... as Michael was this charming surgeon...” (Heath, 33:08)
• Gina (Monique’s friend) corroborates deep fear:
  • “She never said Michael. She said my ex. She said it was... He was bad. She said abusive. I don't think I ever got the impression that she was afraid of him. I got the impression that she hated him...I don't think it ever fully left her mind.” (Gina, 34:36)
  • On motive: “He could not live with it. I think he could not fathom her happiness. And she was so happy.” (Gina, 35:14)

6. Michael McKee’s Personal and Professional Downfall

• Divorce and personal turmoil
  • Monique left their marriage and home, surrendering marital assets, signaling an urgent need to escape the relationship.
    • “I think that's big insight that she was just like, take it, take it. I’m out of here.” (Daphne, 29:19)
• Professional struggles and malpractice
  • Details of a Nevada malpractice suit:
    • Supervised a surgery that resulted in an 8-inch piece of tube left inside a patient.
    • Fled Nevada, gave false contact info, and was unreachable for service of the lawsuit—suggesting he was already “on the run” from consequences before the murders.
      • “It kind of feels like at that point when the murders took place, he was already on the run from something else.” (Heath, 41:53)
• Emotional and familial detachment
  • McKee was adopted but only told in college, after which his personality changed drastically; eventually estranged from his parents the same year as the divorce with Monique.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the procedural not guilty plea:
  • “This not guilty plea is very procedural at this point and not a statement about what evidence exists or doesn’t exist against him.” (Daphne, 07:58)
• On emotional abuse:
  • “He was emotionally and verbally abusive, and he would often threaten her... She wasn’t hiding that it happened to her... it was almost therapeutic for her to kind of talk about it since he was in her past.” (Daphne, 16:46–19:12)
• On Monique’s confidence and pride in her new relationship:
  • “She was so happy about that.” (Daphne, 18:42)
• On the overwhelming sense of loss:
  • “It really did feel like she had moved completely on with her life... In her mind, she’s probably thinking, ‘I made it, I did it.’” (Heath, 18:53)
• On the impact of Michael’s psychological issues and estrangement:
  • “His personality really shifted a lot after he found this out... estranged himself from his adoptive parents and cut contact with them in 2017...” (Heath, 38:04–38:24)
• On McKee possibly being driven by envy and obsession:
  • “He could not live with it. I think he could not fathom her happiness.” (Gina, 35:14)
• On the family’s shock and strength:
  • “They're just so shocked. But he said that they're all being very strong and just coming together for Spencer and Monique’s two children.” (Daphne, 32:59)
• On the GoFundMe and the impact on children left behind:
  • “...our hearts really go out to them... we will put that GoFundMe in the description of this episode... for Spencer and Monique’s children.” (Heath, 44:43)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Extradition hearing & legal strategy: 03:25–08:24
• Columbus Police press conference and evidence: 08:24–14:44
• Family and friend interviews on abuse (Rob Misla, Gina): 15:05–21:26, 34:36–35:35
• Intuitive moment at the time of the murders: 29:44–32:28
• Details of physical abuse and lack of reporting: 33:08–34:36
• Michael's professional problems/malpractice: 39:23–41:53
• Michael’s personal/emotional decline: 38:04–39:15

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Overall Tone and Style

The hosts maintain a blend of empathy for the victims’ families and critical scrutiny of the case details, mixing thoughtful reflection with straightforward, sometimes blunt commentary. Personal stories and connections to similar cases add a somber, thoughtful depth to the episode.

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Conclusion

Part 3 of the Monique and Spencer Tepe story brings together chilling new evidence and personal testimonies to paint a picture of a domestic violence tragedy with years-in-the-making warning signs. The episode underscores the insidious long-term effects of abuse—even after separation—and the lifelines of support forged among friends and family. The case now awaits trial, with the community rallying behind Monique and Spencer’s children and a collective hope that justice will be served.

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For those affected by domestic violence, resources are available. The hosts remind listeners to check episode notes for the GoFundMe supporting the Tepe children.

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This summary captures the essential narrative, emotional, and investigative developments of the episode, complete with speaker attribution, memorable quotes, clear structure, and key timestamps.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Heath]

What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath.

[Daphne]

And I'm your host, Daphne.

[Heath]

And you're listening to Going West.

[Daphne]

Hello everybody. We have been keeping very close tabs on the murders of Monique and Spencer Tappe, as many of you know. And even more has come out since our first episode that dropped a week ago and the update episode that dropped the day after that one.

[Heath]

Yeah, there is actually a lot more background that we're going to get into in today's episode. We're going to be talking about Monique and Michael's marriage, all the backstory that pertains to that and also some abuse that was going on within that relationship.

[Daphne]

Yeah, this will probably be our last update on this story until the trial happens, whenever that is, we imagine sometime in the somewhat far away future. So we wanted to kind of close this chapter up because. Because we do have a lot more to discuss.

[Heath]

Well, without further ado, this is episode 574 of Going West. So let's get into it.

[Rob Misla]

Just what Monique had told us stories wise of her. She never called him by name. She would just call him her ex husband and just how much of a monster he was, to be honest, emotionally abusive and threatening. You know, she did everything she could to extricate herself from that situation.

[Daphne]

Since the murders of Monique and Spencer Tepe and the arrest of their alleged killer Michael McKee. An extradition hearing has taken place and police and family members have released more information that gives a closer look into what happened on that fateful early morning when two incredible people were ruthlessly taken. Talks of surveillance footage, a found weapon, abuse and terror have come out with police now classifying this case as a targeted domestic violence attack and a premeditated aggravated double homicide. This is part three of the murders of Monique and Spencer Tepe. If you haven't yet, make sure you listen to parts one and two of the Monique and Spencer Tepe story just to have a better grasp on what happened up to now because we're going to be doing very little recap in this one, so it's not too repetitive. So first we want to pick up right where we left off. One of the last things we reported in part two was that on Monday, January 12, 2026, 39 year old accused murderer Michael McKee had his extradition hearing for the murders of 39 year old Monique Tepe and 37 year old Spencer Tepe that occurred on December 30, 2025 in their wineland Park, Columbus, Ohio home. Now, what we didn't know when we reported this on the day of his arrest January 10th was that this hearing was going to be incredibly short. To be fair, most extradition hearings are, they're very cut and dry. But by the way, when he was arrested in Rockford, Illinois just before noon, he was charged with two counts of murder. But those charges were upgraded shortly afterwards to premeditated aggravated murder as police had evidence to prove this was a planned targeted attack. So when he entered that hearing, those are the new charges that he was up against. And apologies if you follow us on social media because this next small snippet may be familiar if you watched our videos, but the rest of what we have for you today will be totally new and not yet discussed or shared on our socials or TikTok. Now, the hearing lasted only about a minute and a half with Michael wearing a yellow jumpsuit, his hands handcuffed in front of him with a chain around his waist. As Winnebago County Assistant Public Defender Carrie Puyer told the judge, Mr. McKee believes the most expeditious manner in which he may defend himself against the charges pending in Ohio. And to plead not guilty is to waive his right to an extradition hearing and have a governor's warrant for his immediate transport. So let's break down what this actually means, what Michael's public defender is saying here. Is basically, we don't want to waste time. You know, they're choosing the fastest path to get him back to Ohio, which is, of course, where the crime occurred. Since he lives in and was arrested in Illinois after police tracked a vehicle seen on surveillance footage somewhere outside the Tepes home to Illinois to him, to his name. So by waving extradition, he's not fighting the transfer. He's kind of saying, go ahead and send me there. Because the goal is to get in front of an Ohio judge as quickly as possible, enter a not guilty plea, and start defending himself in the case. So now we know his intentions are to plead not guilty. And with what we're going to discuss today, and obviously knowing that a car at the scene was traced to him six and a half hours away, you're probably wondering, why the hell would he plead not guilty? Honestly, almost everyone charged with serious crimes pleads not guilty at first, especially in a case as serious as aggravated double homicide. Because it basically preserves his right to challenge evidence, preserves his right to a trial and whatever his defense strategy will be. Because later, like we've seen many times, Michael may try to even say that he killed them in self defense. Maybe he will admit to the killings, but not to planning to kill them, going to their home and then killing them. This just gives him wiggle room to decide potentially what to lie about. So this not guilty plea is very procedural at this point and not a statement about what evidence exists or doesn't exist against him.

[Heath]

Well, on Wednesday, January 14, Columbus Police held a press conference to discuss the case publicly for the first time since Michael McKee's arrest. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant laid out a timeline of events which we're all very familiar with at this point. Just breaking down what we already know about what happened at the Tepe house on Tuesday, December 30, 2025. Something police have actually admitted to since the release of our first episode on this story is that when they responded to the first 911 call from Spencer's boss, they actually went to the wrong house that day, which is why no one was answering the door. And I think something a lot of us were probably curious about was how they didn't hear any crying kids. When shortly afterwards, other friends and colleagues arrived to hear Monique and Spencer's kids, aged four and one, in distress. But it's because they were again at the wrong home, and they've taken responsibility for this error. And here's a small clip from that presser so that you can hear.

[Chief Elaine Bryant]

Chief Bryant McKee is the ex husband of Monique Tepe. We can say that we have the suspect's vehicle on neighborhood video surveillance arriving just before the murders and leaving shortly after. Detectives were able to link this vehicle to Makee. The vehicle was located in Rockford, Illinois, and evidence was found that showed McKee in possession of the vehicle before and after the homicides.

[Heath]

After this, Chief Bryant goes on to explain that multiple weapons were taken from Michael McKee's property, which we assume would be his Linkin Park, Chicago apartment, one of which had a preliminary link to the weapon that was used in the murders of Monique and Spencer. So it may have been multiple guns. It could have been one gun or other weapons. But one, the Columbus police are confident, was the gun that was used in those killings.

[Daphne]

Wild. To think that he then may have just had the murder weapon in his home, not throwing it away, getting rid of it during that six and a half hour drive, like that's pretty wild.

[Heath]

Yeah, you kind of would imagine that maybe he would have ditched it somewhere, but apparently he did not do that.

[Daphne]

Would have been in his best interest, but we're glad he didn't.

[Heath]

Well, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther also spoke during this conference thanking Chief Bryant as well as the women and men of the Columbus Police Department for working around the clock to solve this case as they are confident that they have the correct person in custody. When asked about a motive, Chief Bryant said that they couldn't comment at this time. When asked where he was taken into custody from, as we had previously suspected, it was maybe his job in Rockford, Illinois, at the OSFC St. Anthony Medical Center. They explained that their partners, ATF, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, took him into custody very close to his place of employment, either inside of or outside of a chick fil a up the street from his work, perhaps while he was grabbing some lunch. When asked about his whereabouts between the murderers and his arrest, they could not share that with us, but said that they do have evidence proving that he was there at the time of the murders. Other questions that they weren't able to answer yet for the sake of the investigation include how did he get into the house if there were no signs of forced entry? Did he have any interaction with the Tepes children while inside the home? Neighbors said that they saw Michael McKee outside of the home in the days leading up to the murders. Can you confirm this? Are you able to say anything about Monique and Michael's relationship while they were together? And how quickly did Michael McKee become a suspect? And really, the only additional information that they were able to share included that Michael mckee will be headed to Columbus, Ohio, and that will happen soon. But they don't even know when yet, as the planning is still underway. They confirmed that they received numerous tips that helped secure the arrest, Many of which were the same tips from family, People close to the family and the suspect, and also people in Columbus. So a lot of people pointing them to Michael. But interestingly, Columbus police never received any reports of stalking or abuse regarding Michael and Monique. So whatever happened between them, if there were reports made by Monique, they were not made in Columbus.

[Daphne]

I'm glad that she was willing to share that, because I think that does potentially answer some small questions about reports. I kind of was surprised when she answered that, but that's good to know.

[Heath]

And this part is really interesting to us because lastly, chief Bryant confirmed that the person of interest in the surveillance footage released was indeed Michael mckee. You know, the video that we shared and discussed in parts one and two, we. Of the. That man that was wearing the black jacket, Casually walking with his hands in his pockets down that back alley near the garages. Well, guess what? That actually was Michael.

[Daphne]

She had just been saying the same thing over and over again, like, we can't confirm that, we can't say it this time, etc. And it felt like she was about to say that when a reporter asked if they could confirm if Michael is the guy in the surveillance footage of the person of interest, and then chief bryant smiled and said, we do. So. So chief bryant decided, hell with it. I'm giving them this one thing. And I felt like she kind of was hesitant to share that based on her facial expressions, But I kind of didn't think that would be the case.

[Heath]

Yeah, because a lot of us thought, you know, maybe this could just be a random person. I mean, how lucky could we possibly get that the killer is seen walking in that alleyway and it's actually the person that was inside the tepe house? Well, now we know that that's exactly who it was. It was Michael.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Cuz then you wonder, did they know who he was? Like, did they already connect the car to him? By the time that they released that footage, did they know it was probably him? Like, what did they know when they released that? I really want to know.

[Heath]

And I also think it's very important that now not only do we have the fact that the car. His car was in the surrounding area of the tepes house, but now we can actually confirm that he was in that area as well. Like his person. He was there. It wasn't just his car.

[Daphne]

Yeah, they confirmed it. Well, both the mayor and Chief Bryant pointed out that this was a targeted domestic violence attack. That is how they worded it. So based on their knowledge of the whole situation, that's how they categorized it. So let's dive into what the family has since said about mo' Nique's past relationship with Michael. Now, first, I want to say When Michael and Mo' Nique's divorce was finalized in June of 2017, they had already been living apart, of course, since their separation in March of 2016. After they got married, though, together they left Ohio and they moved to Roanoke, Virginia for Michael's residency at the Virginia Virginia Tech Carilion Clinic. But Monique wasn't happy living in Virginia. She wasn't happy in their marriage. So she went back to Ohio after they separated and started working for Nationwide Insurance in Columbus. Now, in 2017 is also when Michael obtained his medical license in Virginia. So he stayed there for a little bit before moving to California, Maryland and then Nevada over the next five years until 2023. That's when he left Nevada. It actually wasn't until 2024 when Michael obtained his medical license in Illinois and moved to Chicago. So he hadn't been at his current place of employment in Rockford very long. But these years, these few years of moving to different states were difficult for Michael, who did not want to move on from Monique. Rob Misla, who is Spencer's brother in law, married to his sister Madeline, just did an interview with correspondent of the Law and Crime Network and Jeanette Levy and revealed some of what the family knows about Monique's ex husband. He explained that he wasn't surprised when Michael McKee was arrested because he, and at least everybody in the Tepe family believed free from the jump, that it was Michael due to what they knew about him. Now, mo' Nique's family has not spoken out publicly, understandably so as they deal with this horrific loss and the media storm and just everything that's going on and finally laying them to rest this past Monday. But we can imagine that they know even more about Monique's previous marriage, of course. But yeah, so Rob confirmed that mo' Nique had indeed spoken about Michael before only referring to him as her ex husband. She never referred to him by his name. She never said good things about him either, only that Michael was a monster. This is coming from her brother in law on her, you know, husband Spencer's side and that he was emotionally abusive throughout their marriage. We aren't yet sure if he was like this before they were married or, you know, after they got married. He showed a completely different side to himself, but he was emotionally and verbally abusive, and he would often threaten her. Rob said that that marriage really changed her and her mindset and that he was kind of always in the back of her mind that. That Michael was out there because he was so unstable. Rob even said that she wasn't shy about talking of her past marriage struggles because she actually seemed very proud about getting out of that relationship and then finding such an amazing and supportive partner in Spencer. You know, this. This marriage with Spencer was completely different from her first marriage. So she was like, I can't believe that I was able to get out of this horrible situation and find somebody who truly loves me and treats me well. Like, she was so happy about that.

[Heath]

Yeah. And the terrible part about this story is the fact that it really did feel like she had moved completely on with her life. You know, Michael is so far removed from her situation, from her kids, her new husband, Spencer. I mean, in her mind, she's probably thinking, I made it, I did it.

[Daphne]

Exactly. That's. That's What Rob insinuated, 100%. So, of course, knowing all of that, when she was killed, according to Rob, the Tepes, her own family, and even friends and co workers of Monique's submitted tips to police to look into Michael McKee. I mean, even Spencer's family knew that she had concerns about Michael even years after their split, because Rob also explained that, like, it wasn't to a point, at least that he knows of, that she was worried about her safety or Spencer's safety or the safety of her kids. But he said, quote, she was always worried about him. So again, because Monique was so vocal about that relationship, she. She wasn't hiding that it happened to her. It was almost like he said it was almost therapeutic for her to kind of talk about it since he was in her past. But he also knew that she. There was a piece of her that was worried that he was out there alive. You know what I mean?

[Heath]

Yeah. And I think that speaks a lot towards Michael's character. The fact that it just didn't feel like he had moved on. She never felt like he fully did. Just, you know, the fact that she said she was worried about him, it just feels like it didn't fully come to an end in her mind. Like, he was still right there in the back of her mind, like, oh, could he do something? He's a bit crazy.

[Daphne]

Exactly. So I think that says a lot about what their relationship is like. We're gonna go into that a little bit more soon as well, because we do have some more insight. But I will add that Rob hadn't heard of Michael being, like, a recent concern. Obviously, it's possible Michael had tried to get in touch with her before the murders, but not that Rob had heard of. And of course, since Rob is Spencer's sister's husband, they were all very close. They were good friends, as is the situation with many couples and their siblings and their siblings partners. So Rob just said as far as he knew, it's not. There wasn't some crazy event that happened beforehand where. Oh, yeah, well, a couple weeks before this, he came to their door, like, there. Rob hadn't heard of anything that happened recently.

[Heath]

Sure, yeah, it was. It was in the back of the mind, but it wasn't like, it didn't seem like it was an upfront threat, like something was about to happen. You know what I mean?

[Daphne]

Right. More of, like, a passing concern. Unless something else comes out where she only shared with her mom this one thing, you know, but. Or her sister or whatever. But as far as we know, he was just a general concern, which is enough, of course. Now, before continuing to dive into this interview and all the updates, let's take a quick break.

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[Daphne]

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And as you grow, Shopify grows with you. Handle more orders, expand to new markets and do it all from the same dashboard. I am so grateful that I started my coffee company a couple years back. It was such a passion project and so fun to try and I couldn't have done it without Shopify. It was the best place for me to launch and I would seriously recommend it to anybody in 2026.

[Heath]

Stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com goingwest go to shopify.com goingwest that's shopify.com.

[Daphne]

Goingwest Hear the sound of your first sale this new year with Shopify by your side.

[Mayra Amit]

Emoji moment from Mark who writes, I just want to thank you for making GLP1s affordable. What would have been over $1,000 a month is just $99 a month with mochi. Money shouldn't be a barrier to healthy weight. Three months in and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet.

[Daphne]

You're the best.

[Mayra Amit]

Thanks, Mark. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.

[Daphne]

Mochi members have access to licensed physicians.

[Mochi Health Advertiser]

And nutritionists and are compensated for their stories.

[Daphne]

Results may vary.

[Heath]

So also in that interview, Angenette asks, they were married for seven months and the paperwork's not filed for a year. Was this him trying to get back with her? And then he says, yeah, that would be my suspicion for her to, you can see in the court documents, just give up the house and not fight for it. It's Very obvious that she had to get away from him. And it seems as though he was not. He didn't understand why.

[Daphne]

I think that's big insight that she was just like, take it, take it. I'm out of here.

[Heath]

Yeah, because we know that they had that house in Roanoke, Virginia, for a very short period of time.

[Daphne]

Yeah, it was a few hundred thousand dollars.

[Heath]

Yeah. And then she just said, you know what? This is too much. I can't be with this guy. I got to get the hell out of here. And she goes back to Ohio, but he stays there. So, yeah, in order to give up that house, you really, really got to be done, you know?

[Daphne]

And even after, like, of course, her moving out, she's like, I got to get away from you. But then even in the divorce, when they're going over their shared assets, the house that they purchased is one of them.

[Heath]

And she says, fuck it. I don't want it.

[Daphne]

Which, as we're saying, feels like it says a lot that she was just like, I don't want any more trouble. I got to get out. And I want to add, the last thing that Rob said in this interview was that this is just kind of like a spooky thing. Between 3:30 and 4:00am on the morning of December 30, 2025, which is the alleged timeframe when Monique and Spencer were murder, murdered, Rob was editing a video. He was, like, up really late working, because that's what he does for work. He does videos. And he heard his wife, Madeline, Spencer's sister, wake up and kind of move around upstairs and then go to the kitchen and get water from the fridge. And when Rob asked her why she got up, because, you know, she had been sleeping, she explained that she had a horrible pain in her stomach, like she had to throw up. But then she went back to sleep, and hours later learned that at about that very time that she experienced that weird nausea and that intense stomach pain, her brother was murdered. And Rob was just saying that he thinks, you know, maybe on some spiritual level, that she had this connection to her brother Spencer, as he was dying.

[Heath]

We have seen this in different cases as well. There was. There was one case that we talked about where a mother had a similar experience. Her daughter was being killed, and this mother woke up in the middle of the night and just knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

[Daphne]

Yes, I was thinking about that case, too.

[Heath]

I don't remember exactly what the case was, but I do.

[Daphne]

It was a while ago.

[Heath]

I do remember that detail, though.

[Daphne]

You do see that sometimes. And I think I've shared this before, but it really got to me when I heard Rob explain this, because my mom experienced something very similar. As many of you know, her sister Carol disappeared in 1984, and we very much believe that she was murdered. And the day she is believed to have been killed in Florida, my mom, who had just recently moved to California, was in a store buying wallpaper, and she just suddenly let out this horrific scream and had this terrible feeling and had to leave this store. And then a couple days later, she finds out that her sister went missing and was presumably killed that day. That. That happened to my mom. So it's really amazing that Rob has shared what he has. He's. He's really been the spokesperson for this whole case, of course, again, being the husband of Spencer's sister. So he's very close to the situation, but also maybe a little bit more emotionally available to speak with reporters.

[Heath]

Yeah. Because I think a lot of the other family are probably at this point, very, very torn up and just don't really want to be in the media right now.

[Daphne]

And he has said that. That, of course, everybody is so shocked and confused because, like we said, it was Michael was always a concern for Monique, but not enough for anybody in the family to even wonder, oh, I hope that he never. This never affects Spencer. You know, like, yeah, I hope he.

[Heath]

Never ends up doing something. Yeah.

[Daphne]

So they're just so shocked. But he said that they're all being very strong and just coming together for Spencer and Monique's two children.

[Heath]

Yeah. And he also told ABC6, quote, Myself and many others were all aware of the negative impact that he had on her. She was willing to do anything to get out of there. And then a friend of Monique's publicly reported that Monique was, quote, terrified of Michael and that she left him after he had tried to strangle her. But she didn't report the incident because, you know, she didn't think that she would be believed at that point, as Michael was this charming surgeon in the eyes of many people. So it's really interesting here just knowing that not only was there some psychological abuse, there was some emotional abuse, but now we're kind of finding out that he had possibly tried to strangle her.

[Daphne]

And it's so devastating that she didn't want to report it because she didn't think that she would be believed. And she probably hoped that. That getting away from him and divorcing him would stop the abuse. She, I'm sure, could not have possibly imagined that nine years down the road, when she's happily married to another man for five years and has two children with another man. That this guy was going to kill her. But as soon as they heard the news again, those close to her knew exactly who had done this. And actually her friend Gina, the day before this episode releases, did an interview with WBNS 10 TV in Columbus and gave a little more insight. So here's that clip.

[Gina (Friend of Monique)]

If you knew Monique, you knew this was what happened to her. She never called. She never. I didn't even know his name. She never said Michael. She said my ex. She said it was. He was bad. She said abusive. I don't think I ever got the impression that she was afraid of him. I got the impression that she hated him and that she knew. She knew things were bad there. And I don't think it ever fully left her mind. I don't think anyone thought that this was gonna happen. I also don't think that she ever thought he would leave her alone for the rest of her life.

[Angie Hicks]

Do you have any idea why now, after all of these years, that he's accused of doing this heinous act?

[Gina (Friend of Monique)]

I think it's just because everything that you like, everything you see, you see the wedding video, everything that people see is who they really were. And they were so perfect and they were so wonderful. And I think he couldn't live with it. I think he could not fathom her happiness. And she was so happy.

[Heath]

Yeah. And so that. That really does give us quite a bit of insight into their situation. But I believe that more will eventually come out during the trial. Now, in Monique's wedding vows to Spencer, she said, quote, from day one, I knew you were something special. I had quite a journey to get to you. Countless bad bumble dates, wrong relationships, and waterfalls of tears. But it was worth every cringing second because it led me to you. And I'm sure a lot of you guys have wondered if Michael dated anybody or possibly remarried. And according to friends who he had one serious girlfriend before mo' Nique and did not date seriously after their divorce, nor did he remarry.

[Daphne]

I saw a woman posting on Facebook in a group about this case, and she said in, like, a few years ago, she went on a couple dates with Michael and that she stopped seeing him because he gave, like, a creepy vibe. I don't know if that's true, but I wanted to mention that. But I do think it's interesting and possibly shows us more into his mindset regarding fascination with Monique if he could not find anybody after they divorced.

[Heath]

Yeah, I think that the connection there that they had or that Michael had to Monique. It was just one of those things where he really. He couldn't move on. He couldn't find somebody else. Maybe he tried, but it didn't really work. I think there was a certain level of probably envy here as well, knowing that she did move on. She did remarry.

[Daphne]

And found an amazing man.

[Heath]

Exactly. And had kids. And it's like he wasn't doing so hot at that point. And there's something that we're gonna talk about as far as his work goes, that relates back to Nevada, when he was living in Nevada. So, yeah, it's really interesting, the levels here that you can really see. See the jealousy and the envy that comes out. If, of course, he's responsible, which we all kind of believe he is, because I want to say allegedly.

[Daphne]

Well, even police. Police are like, we are confident that we have the right guy.

[Heath]

Sure.

[Daphne]

But you're absolutely right. Especially knowing from Rob Misla that he did not want that divorce to end. Of course he agreed to it ending, but he did not want to split from Monique, probably because Monique is an amazing person and he is not.

[Heath]

Well, a little bit more on Michael's personality and his past. According to friends, Michael was adopted and wasn't told until he started college. And he apparently had a very hard time accepting this. And his personality really shifted a lot after he found this out.

[Daphne]

So much so that they said his personality took a 180.

[Heath]

Yeah, this. This friend explained that Michael allegedly estranged himself from. From his adoptive parents and cut contact with them in 2017, which, as we know, is the year that he and Monique officially divorced. And apparently after he did so, his parents reached out to old friends of his, trying to connect with him again through them, but Michael refused to reconnect. So if that is true, and they really never rekindled that relationship, Michael lost potentially the love of his life and his parents at this at the same time. So this could give some sort of insight into his mental, well being leading up to the killings. Like, maybe he just really was feeling detached from a lot of people at that point. Well, let's talk about that Nevada situation and what went wrong there.

[Daphne]

Yeah, this could be involved, too. This is kind of a potential like this sky is falling in every way and has been for a long time.

[Heath]

And everything's kind of crumbling all at once.

[Daphne]

Yeah. So I'm just going to do something horrible. We talked briefly about Michael's malpractice lawsuit in Nevada, and I think we did that in our Second episode. It would have been our update episode. Well, we have some better insight on that because Michael, along with others, were named in a lawsuit that alleged that he was part of a surgical procedure where an 8 inch piece of plastic tubing. That's pretty big, 8 inches. Was left inside a patient in July of 2023.

[Heath]

So apparently they just weren't paying attention and left a fucking piece of plastic in someone.

[Daphne]

Apparently it, like, disconnected during the surgery and nobody noticed. And then it just, like, went freely into his body, which is so scary. So basically, Michael was supervising the surgery performed by a different doctor. But the motion for this suit was filed only days before his arrest on January 6, 2026, with the lawsuit acknowledging that the incident was accidental, but caused the patient to undergo a separate surgery to remove the tube after they suffered pain, bleeding, etc. From this mistake. But it was Michael who apparently failed to train a physician's assistant, who then caused this injury. Or, well, you know, the injury that was caused by the tube disconnecting and not being removed.

[Heath]

Yeah.

[Daphne]

You know, before they closed him up. Well, interestingly, lawyers had tried to serve Michael nine times for months before he was finally served on January 6th. Because he fled Nevada shortly after this surgery happened, moving to Illinois and eventually buying his $400,000 condo in June of 2025. Now, the reason they couldn't contact him is because he had given a false address that didn't even exist, exist, and a fax machine number instead of a phone number to his previous employer. So when this patient filed the lawsuit, the attorney on his behalf went to try to find Michael to serve him. And this attorney is contacting the hospital, and they're like, here's the information we have. And the attorney looks up the address, and it. It's not real. It's doesn't exist anywhere. And the phone number is not connected to a phone line. So he's like, are you running?

[Heath]

Yeah. It kind of feels like at that point when the murders took place, he was already on the run from something else.

[Daphne]

A lawsuit a lot of people online have pointed out. Well, his photo is on the website where he works at OSF in Rockford, Illinois. And they could have just looked up his name and gotten his phone number. So I don't know if the attorney tried this and was just ignored, but either way, Michael was not reachable. This lawyer, Las Vegas lawyer Dan Laird, claimed in the lawsuit, quote, colleagues have no idea where Dr. Michael McKee is now. He just disappeared. So this was months before the murders happened. When that was written so that's just really interesting that people were actively looking for him while he was committing murder. But whether he knew what happened and was running like I said, or just wanted a change of scenery, we don't know. Like we mentioned, Michael McKee is set to return to Franklin county, where the murders of Monique and Spencer Tepe occurred just last month. But the date for that has not been released. They're still working on it, actually. At the end of his extradition hearing, the judge had set another hearing for Ohio for January 19th, which is this coming Monday. But that's actually a holiday. And according to reports online, it doesn't seem like that is still going to happen. And right now they are working. The police in Columbus are working with an extradition company, like an outside company who does this type of thing to bring him to Ohio so that there can be another hearing. He can plead not guilty, as he's apparently going to, and a trial date can be set. So we will keep close tabs on this one for when that trial is. But for now, the Michael McKee revelations continue to disturb us. Thank you so much, everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

[Heath]

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Like Daphne said in the beginning, this is probably gonna be the last part until that trial happens. And yeah, we're gonna find out a lot. There's probably gonna be a lot of bombshells and a lot of backstory that we don't know yet.

[Daphne]

Yeah. Thank you guys for being on this journey with us. We feel like it's important and interesting sometimes to dive into multi part stories since we do come out with, you know, two different episodes a week usually. But now on Monday or on Tuesday, not Monday, we will be back with a new case for you guys. So thank you for being on this journey with us.

[Heath]

And obviously it's very tough to cover these happening now cases because I understand that the family is grieving at this point. They're going through a lot through this devastation. So our hearts really go out to them. And again, we will put that gofundme in the description of this episode. So if you guys do want to donate to Spencer and Monique's children's fund, that would be amazing. Alongside us.

[Daphne]

Yes, absolutely. So thank you guys so much. We'll see you on Tuesday.

[Heath]

And that's it. You guys are saying, all right, guys, so for everybody out there in the.

[Daphne]

World, don't be a stranger.

[Gina (Friend of Monique)]

Sam.

[Angie Hicks]

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