Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: Michael McKee, Tepe murder suspect, waives extradition: What’s next? – Legal Perspective
Columbus police say Tepe murders were ‘a targeted attack’
Columbus Police Chief said “multiple weapons” were recovered from Michael McKee’s property, the suspect in the deaths of Monique and Spencer Tepe.
- A Chicago surgeon is in custody for the shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her husband in Columbus, Ohio.
- The suspect, Michael McKee, is charged with murder and aggravated murder in what police call a targeted attack.
- Police believe they have recovered the murder weapon from the suspect’s home in Chicago.
The man Columbus police believe is responsible for killing his ex-wife and her husband in their Weinland Park home is in custody and detectives feel confident they also have the murder weapon. So what comes next?
Michael McKee, a 39-year-old vascular surgeon from Chicago, is currently charged with both murder and aggravated murder in connection with the Dec. 30 deaths of Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37. McKee and Monique Tepe married in 2015 and divorced in 2017.
Around 10 a.m. on Dec. 30, Monique and Spencer were found dead inside their home on the 1400 block of North 4th Street in Weinland Park. Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant on Jan. 14 called the killings a “targeted, domestic violence attack.” The couple’s two young children were found inside the home, physically unharmed.
The Franklin County Coroner’s office’s autopsy reports for the couple are still pending but court records show both of the Tepes were shot multiple times. Court records also say police believe the killings were premeditated.
When will Michael McKee come to Ohio to face charges?
McKee will remain in Winnebago County, Illinois, until transportation to Ohio is finalized. Columbus police said interstate transports typically are handled by a third-party company the division contracts with for that purpose.
Those transport companies have schedules and routes that must be coordinated, as well as multiple stops on each trip, police said. Based on Illinois court records, McKee’s transport to Ohio is likely to occur after Jan. 19.
McKee’s transport to Ohio is part of a legal process called extradition. When a person is arrested for a crime in another jurisdiction from where they are charged, either in-state or in another state, the process allows the agency that charged the defendant to come and get them.
Extradition hearings can be waived, as McKee did. At those hearings, a judge would determine whether the warrant and supporting paperwork for the defendant are valid and, if so, set a deadline for their transport.
In McKee’s case, a judge has set a hearing for Jan. 23 to determine the status of transporting him to Ohio. If McKee is already in Ohio at that point, the hearing will not take place.
What happens to McKee after he’s in Ohio?
When McKee is brought to Franklin County, he will be housed in the Franklin County jail. He will then appear in Franklin County Municipal Court, where a judge will set a bond.
The case will then be reviewed by a grand jury for potential indictment and consideration of additional charges. Should the grand jury indict McKee, he would have a hearing in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where he would enter an expected not guilty plea and have a new bond set.
McKee does not yet have an attorney listed as representing him in Ohio.
What are the next steps in the investigation into the Tepes’ deaths?
Bryant said on Jan. 14 that police continue to review video evidence and follow up on leads in the case.
While Bryant said a preliminary link has been established between a firearm found at McKee’s condo in Chicago and the homicide scene, additional confirmation will need to happen with that firearm.
Detectives will file search warrants for information from electronic devices and platforms where the Tepes or McKee had accounts, analyzing that information when it is provided to them. In addition, detectives will likely try to obtain cell phone location data and other technological information to support their case.
How are murder and aggravated murder different in Ohio law?
Ohio law separates homicide offenses into six primary charges: aggravated murder, murder, involuntary manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and negligent homicide.
The two most serious are aggravated murder and murder. Under Ohio law, murder is defined as purposefully causing a person’s death or causing a person’s death as a proximate result of – or a direct link to – committing another crime, typically felonious assault. Murder has a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years if there is a conviction.
Under Ohio law, there are several ways prosecutors can seek to prove aggravated murder. They include:
- Purposefully causing a death with prior calculation and design, often called premeditation
- Purposefully causing a death while committing another violent crime such as kidnapping or aggravated burglary
- Purposefully causing the death of a child under the age of 13
- Being under detention and causing the death of another person while in custody or after escaping from custody
- Purposefully causing the death of a law enforcement officer who is acting in their official capacity
- Purposefully causing the death of a first responder or military member who is known to be either and with the intent of killing a person in one of those groups
Ohio law allows judges to have sentencing options for aggravated murder. They include life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20, 25 or 30 years, life in prison with no possibility of parole and, in some specific circumstances, the death penalty.
The death penalty can only be sought by prosecutors under certain guidelines outlined under Ohio law that include the killing of multiple people, assassinating a government official and committing a murder for hire. Franklin County prosecutors have not sought the death penalty in any cases since 2019.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.