The brutal murders of Dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife, Monique, were one of the main highlights at CrimeCon 2026 in Las Vegas. The weekend-long event is immersive and all about everything true crime and mystery. This year, the Ohio murders became a prime focus of the event.
Murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe
Court TV and Law&Crime went into a deep dive of the case and discussed the murders, the arrest of Monique Tepe’s ex-husband, and speculated as to what took place in the couple’s home on December 30, 2025.
Spencer and Monique Tepe were slain in their Weiland Park, Ohio, home just before New Year’s Eve. A coworker of Spencer called in a welfare check when he failed to show up to work, and the family was unable to reach them. Their two young children and dog were found inside the following day, unharmed, but unfortunately, the couple was found shot to death.
“Imagine what happened inside that home,” Court TV anchor Vinnie Politan said. “Two people were murdered, not at the same time, so when one victim goes down, the other knows what is happening.”
Four different calls were made to 911 on New Year’s Eve by worried friends and concerned coworkers. “It’s so hard to think about all of that,” Law&Crime’s Sierra Gillespie said. “It’s so weird, because there’s no sign of forced entry, there’s no sign of break-in.”
Surveillance Footage Leads to Arrest
Court TV’s Cody Thomas said the Tepes’ home was located in a neighborhood with housing projects, which was a prostitution hotspot at the time. Due to this, there was tons of surveillance equipment set up to the point Thomas was shocked. “I’ve never seen an area with so many cameras. There were cameras everywhere,” he said.
But to the credit of the surveillance video, the initial tip that led to a break in the case was a video showing a man walking in the middle of the night from the home through a dark alley. Investigators estimated this to be around the time the Tepes were murdered, and it led them to their first suspect.
Almost two weeks after the murders on January 10, 2026, an Illinois-based doctor, Michael David McKee, was arrested and charged with premeditated aggravated murder in both deaths. McKee and Monique were married from 2015 until 2017, when they were granted a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility.
Motive Still in Question
“It seemed like a very amicable divorce,” Law&Crime’s Chris Stewart said. McKee was living six hours away from the couple’s home in Illinois at the time of their deaths. The lingering question that plagues us all is the motive.
“There’s still so much we don’t know,” Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber said. Investigators have yet to reveal a possible motive behind the slayings, and McKee has been cooperative since his arrest. He waived extradition and was transported to Ohio shortly after, and pleaded not guilty to the murders.
However, there were alleged issues between McKee and Monique in the weeks leading up to the murders. The Tepes attended the Big 10 Championship game in Indiana, but the night was quickly ruined when Monique became upset over something involving McKee and returned to the hotel.
Prosecutors allege that while the couple was in Indiana for the game, McKee traveled to their home in Ohio.
Future Trial for Tepe Murders
A trial date for McKee has yet to be scheduled. His defense counsel, Diana Menashe, is described by Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber as a powerhouse attorney. “I think she’s going to attack those search warrants as much as possible,” he said. Menashe may claim “it was a sloppy investigation,” he suggested.
