5 Major Theories in Ohio Double Murder Motive

We can also say that multiple weapons. were taken from the property of McKe and. there is a preliminary link from our. Nibben to one of the weapons that ties. it to the homicides. That is the latest. from authorities on these shocking and. brutal slayings of an Ohio dentist and. his wife Spencer and Monnique Teppy. This has rocked the nation. But still, even after today, so many unanswered. questions and theories arising over.

Mon'nique's ex-husband, Michael McKe, who's now in custody, charged with their. murders. What was the motive? What is. the evidence? What are the defenses? And. especially after we just learned a key. new alleged detail in McKe's past. We. are exploring all of these questions and. theories with renowned criminal defense. attorney Brian McMongle. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Now, real quick, if you're putting. things out on social media, if you're in. the content creation game, you might be.

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producers can get you viral courtroom. updates instantly. This is the most. powerful tool there is to share ideas. and edit like a pro. So, go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to get a free week and 50% off. Talk. about a bizarre case. A vascular surgeon. accused of killing his ex-wife and her. husband out all the way in Ohio. an ex, by the way, for what, almost nine years. and then allegedly traveling back to. Illinois and getting arrested. This is. Sidebar's turn to tackle the murder case. of 37-year-old dentist Spencer Teppy and.

his wife, 39-year-old Monnique Tephe, and the man behind it all, Michael David. McKe, the 39-year-old man who has been. charged with two upgraded counts of. aggravated murder. So namely authorities. are alleging that these murders were. made with prior calculation and design. We are talking premeditation here. And. that is very interesting because what do. authorities have? What makes prosecutors. believe that this was premeditated, maybe even planned? They haven't. revealed a lot. And that's what's.

interesting here. There are a lot of. legal angles that we don't have clarity. on. There are questions of motive. There. are questions of defenses. There are. questions of evidence, a lot of. theories, a lot of speculation, a lot of. conspiracies. That is what I want to get. into right now. But first, before we. even do that, we had this press. conference today out in Columbus, Ohio. Okay. And this is where authorities. discuss the very latest in the. investigation. So, in addition to. apparently recovering firearms at McKe's. place, they also said this. We believe.

at this point we have the person. responsible for the murders of Monnique. and Spencer Teppy in custody, and that. person is Michael McKe. This is still an active and ongoing. investigation. Detectives are still. going through evidence, tips, and. videos. We can't speak to all the. specific details related to this case, so we don't want to jeopardize the. ultimate goal of conviction. But what we. can say, this was a targeted attack. This was a domestic violence related.

attack. As we know, McKe is the. ex-husband of Mon'nique. >> Yeah. Not a ton of information, right? Here's what we know in this case. December 30th, the Tempies were found. shot to death in their Columbus, Ohio. home. There were no signs of forced. entry, which can tell you something. At. the time, there was no firearm that was. recovered. Although now, based on the. press conference, it seems maybe. multiple weapons were taken from McKe's. property and there was the recovery.

apparently of this weapon tied to the. homicide. Is this in fact the murder. weapon? And really what police had to go. on initially was this surveillance. footage where you see a person dressed. in a dark hoodie walking through an. alleyway near the home between 2 and. 5:00 a.m. Police believe the killing. occurred right before 4:00 a.m. And the. tppies weren't found, by the way, until. 10:00 a.m. when police responded to the. home after Spencer didn't show up for. work. Now, according to reportedly. police records, Spencer suffered. multiple gunshot wounds while Mo'Nique.

sustained at least one shot to the. chest. I think that is telling as well. And by the way, their children were. found inside this home, thankfully. unharmed, but can you imagine? Can you. imagine what their lives are like moving. forward? Now, we got to get to the key. piece of evidence that we know about so. far. Okay, this is the really main piece. of evidence that we know of, the car. This is key. According to an affidavit. of probable cause that was filed in this. case, quote, "During the subsequent. investigation, detectives were able to. identify a suspect through neighborhood.

video surveillance. This suspect was. tracked to a vehicle which arrived just. prior to the homicides and left shortly. after the homicides. Detectives were. able to identify this vehicle further. and link it to Michael McKe. Detectives. located the vehicle in Rockford, Illinois, and found evidence of McKe in. possession of the vehicle prior to and. after the homicides. By the way, talking. about McKe, it was reported that McKe. worked at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center.

in Rockford. Had an apartment in. downtown Chicago as well. So McKe. appeared in court this week. It was out. in Illinois. This is where he was. arrested. He waved fighting extradition. back to Ohio. Technically, he could have. presented some legal challenges to fight. it. But a lot of legal experts will tell. you why fight it? Why waste the time? Just come back, fight the charges here, try to get bail if possible. And his. lawyer did indicate that he plans to. plead not guilty once he's back in Ohio. But now here are the main questions. First of all, why? If the allegations.

are true, what is the motive? After all. of this time, being divorced, being. separated, what is the evidence against. him besides the car? What could be a. defense? You know, court records show. that Mo'Nique and McKe, they got married. in 2015, but then she filed for divorce. just two years later. He apparently. bounced around from different states. since 2020 until settling out in. Illinois. It's weird. ABC 6 obtained the. divorce file and it apparently states. the divorce, which by the way was.

reportedly amicable, was on grounds of. incompatibility, which is interesting. because apparently in a wedding video. between Mo'Nique and Spencer that was. obtained by the outlet, she said in her. vows, quote, I had quite a journey to. get to you. Countless bad bumble dates, wrong relationships, and waterfalls of. tears. Now, on one hand, you have McKe's. neighbor, Geralind Kolaric, telling WLS. TV, "He didn't seem like somebody who. would do something like this." "I sat.

down with this man and talked with him. at the pool barbecuing about what a. beautiful day it is, and then he turns. out to be a killer." It's kind of. shocking. On the other hand, according. to the New York Post, reportedly the. tppies, the family expected McKe to be. arrested. that an anonymous relative. apparently told the Daily Mail, quote, "It was absolutely not a shock to. anybody. We had all expected it, but we. weren't saying that because we didn't. want to compromise the investigation.". Now, my colleague Anette Levy over at.

Crime Fix actually interviewed Spencer. and Monnique's brother-in-law, and. listen carefully to what he had to say. about any suspicions of McKe. From the. moment that this happened, it sounded. like uh from what I'm hearing from you. that you all thought immediately that. this was Dr. McKe that that this was the. guy. Um did the family obviously say to. law enforcement, to the detectives that. you've got to go talk to this guy?

>> Yeah, absolutely. and and not just the. family. I know friends um former. co-workers of Mon'nique um a lot of. people. were aware uh and she she wasn't. something I really loved about Monique. is she she wasn't shy about talking. about these experiences I think um kind. of as just maybe a therapy. I can't. imagine how many tips they got that were. leading to him for us. We we met. Mo'Nique in in 2018 when Spencer first.

introduced her to us, but we were fairly. certain because of just what Mo'Nique. had told us stories-wise of her. She she. never called him by name. She would just. call him her ex-husband. Um, and just. how much of a monster he was to be. honest. Um, and you know, she did. everything she could to extricate. herself from that situation. um and you know met Spencer and and. lived a very happy life. >> Also, I should tell you during the press.

conference today, authorities announced. that they didn't have any reports of. abuse regarding Mon'nique and McKe. There are some things that they can't. share as part of the investigation that. maybe we'll learn over time. Key. question is what was there? Was there. any communications? Was there any. actions of the defendant leading up to. this? Was he reaching out in any way? Was he expressing any kind of views. towards Mo'Nique and Spencer? That's. going to be a big question in this case. as well. I will say this, this is a new.

piece of information that we learned. when we think about what was maybe going. on in McKe's life. People magazine is. reporting that he was being sued for. medical malpractice for an alleged botch. surgery out in Las Vegas where. reportedly an almost 9in catheter broke. off in a patient's leg. You know what's. weird about that? After the suit was. filed against him in September of 2025, or at least he was added to the suit, there was an effort to serve the. complaint on him. But based on a. conversation with a coworker, it.

appeared that McKe just couldn't be. found, that he quote disappeared. Now, let me also say this. According to. Columbus Dispatch, there doesn't appear. to be any prior history of disciplinary. records or actions with respect to. McKe's medical license. He doesn't seem. to have a criminal record. He apparently. had a hunting license at one point in. time out in Ohio. So, as we await McKe's. appearance in Franklin County Court on. the murder charges, where, by the way, I. believe the evidence will have to be. reviewed by a grand jury for a formal.

indictment, we got to get into the. theories. The theories on motive, defense, evidence, any speculation. That's what I want to get into right. now. Okay. So, now I want to bring on. friend of the show. We haven't seen him. in a while. A renowned criminal defense. attorney, Brian J. McMonagle from. McMongle, Perry, McHugh, Mshachack, and. Davis. Davis, thank you so much uh for. taking the time, Brian. It's really, really good to see you. Um, this is a. massive case. This is a massive case. I. mean, first I have to ask, why haven't.

authorities said much about the. evidence? I mean, even today, they had. to confirm that they believe McKe is the. person in the surveillance footage. It. seems to me the only definitive piece of. evidence they may have, A, maybe the. surveillance footage, B, uh, the car, which we'll talk about, and now they're. reporting that they recovered a weapon. that was potentially tied to the. homicides. Why are they not revealing a. lot of evidence right now? >> You know, I asked the same question to. myself when I looked at the affidavit of.

probable cause uh, justifying um, his. arrest. uh it was absent uh any facts. that would suggest there's enough. evidence to support a charge. Uh a lot. of times it it's because there's going. to be a grand jury in place and they're. trying to keep that information. undercover. Sometimes they want to make. sure that there's only going to be. information out there that the killer. would know in the event that they're. going to try and talk to him or. interview him. And sometimes it's. because it's developing. Uh they may not. have DNA yet. They may not have.

fingerprints yet. They may not have done. the kind of searching and investigating. that they they're going to need to do in. the months and uh weeks and months. ahead. Um but it's a good question. I. mean, usually they're going to give you, hey, listen, we have the smoking gun, we. have the video, and here it looks like. they can put him at the scene and that's. about all. >> And I'll get to that in a minute. I I do. have to say the fact that they have. moved forward and upgraded this to. aggravated murder. So, you're saying. under Ohio law, prior calculation and. design, you're saying this was.

premeditated, you're saying this was. planned to me, and by the way, they're. trying to do that to get life in prison. without the possibility of parole. It. seems to me, you know, on its face, yeah, somebody shows up to that place, that home, no forced entry, um, allegedly kills them, then goes away. Yeah. In that stuff, I could say, yeah, that that shows premeditation. Or is. there something else that they have? Some evidence of planning, some evidence.

of forethought, some evidence that he. knew he was going to take this trip or. planning this trip if the evidence is. true that they haven't revealed yet that. would support aggravated murder that. would support prior calculation and. design. I feel they have something else. >> I can guarantee that. Um, you know what. they've done and they're probably still. doing doing is calling through phone. records. Um, they're looking for text. messages. They're looking for phone. evidence that will support their finding. of motive. Um, they'll be tracking his. phone. You know, they'll check all of.

his cell tower information to see how. long he was in Columbus that particular. day, whether he had been there on. previous days to surveil the area. And. all of that's going to be on his phone. I can guarantee that this case is going. to be um completely circumstantial. Uh. but it'll be circumstantial evidence. that may be really a guillotine for him. if it provides the kind of motive. evidence um that one would think would. have led up to this horrible tragedy. >> And do you think that there are online.

activity messages, chat, social media to. try to connect to see what his movements. are, but also to see if he had any. communication with Mo'Nique, any, you. know, his ex-wife, any communication. regarding her because that's a big. question, right? like after they were. divorced and they're I mean he was out. of their lives by all accounts. I do. wonder in the months and the weeks and. the days leading up was there some sort. of connective tissue between him and the. tappies. >> They're clearly looking at that and I.

would assume they have that and if they. don't then what they'll do is they'll. look at him. Has there been a. deterioration of his mind? Has he gone. into depression? They'll talk to people. around him. They probably already have. um why after seven or eight years of a. divorce suddenly is there the kind of. anger and animosity that would lead to. this atrocious killing? Um and my guess. is um you know, as I said before, um. this kind of conduct usually leads to.

situations where law enforcement aren't. going to have a hard time finding it. Um. you know, he he got a car, he brought it. there, he returned to Ohio. um what. whatever he was thinking, whatever was. in his mind wasn't well thought out at. all. Um and my guess is there's going to. be a just a der of clues that they're. going to find in his phone is in. computer. He may have even googled, you. know, what did he search? What was he. looking for? Uh did he recently purchase. a gun? How long did he have the gun?

They've already probably matched caliber. to any gun that was in his ownership at. the time. So, um, again, going to be a. heavily laden circumstantial evidence. case by a prosecutor's office in. Franklin County that is very good at. what they do. And look, you could, if. the allegations are true, you can have. somebody attack an ex- spouse a month. after a divorce or eight years a. divorce. Sometimes it bruises. And. sometimes you have no idea what's going. on in somebody's mind, which is why. prosecutors don't have to prove motive, right? They don't have to prove the why.

It helps tell the story, but a big. question here is going to be the why. I. mean, that's so strange. Um, and when. you're hearing reports from family. members who who or you know, you have at. least this account from the. brother-in-law and then some reporting. about what the family in general may. have known that it wasn't unexpected. that McKe may have been responsible, that McKe was going to be arrested. I. imagine the family is deep in this. investigation and are being questioned.

by uh authorities. Sounds like they knew. from the jump. Um, and it it read like. that. It certainly wasn't a forced. entry. So then why is this does this. assassination occur? Um, and the family. the family from the beginning must have. been pointing the finger in his. direction. Um, what's his explanation. for being there on the night of the. murder uh in in a in a town that he does. not live in and then returning right. away? Um, so you know, there's there's a. there's a lot of problems that he's.

going to have to solve and his defense. team is going to have to solve. But I. think you're right. I think the family. pointed law enforcement right away in. this direction. Well, the no forced. entry, if that is true, does that mean. he was invited in? Does that mean there. wasn't a conflict at first? Does that. mean that the expected him to be there. or that he shows up and they invite him. in? Because it'd be it'd be very. different if someone had broken a window. or charged through the door. No forced. entry. Is that something that will. complicate the case for prosecutors,

help the defense in any way? Talk to me. about that. >> I I think it helps the prosecutors quite. frankly because if it's not forced. entry, then why are you letting somebody. in? You know, it's it's always a friend. It's somebody you know, here it's an. ex-husband. What are you doing here? And. then does he start blasting immediately. when he comes in the house? So, the lack. of forced entry from the beginning told. me that they were looking right away for. somebody that he or she knew. Is it a. former spouse? Is it a lover? Is it. somebody that could do the unthinkable.

here? So, I I I think the lack of forced. entry helps the prosecution far more. than the defense, I will tell you. >> And it's so early in this investigation, but you do wonder if if there's an. admission, I did show up to their place. I did come in and then there's a debate. about what happened in that house and. what the evidence would would bear. That's going to be uh interesting. I do. want to go to the evidence that we seem. to have. Um you talked about how there's. not a ton of details with respect to the. surveillance footage or how they were. able to track the car to him and track.

it all the way back to Rockford, Illinois. But if that is in fact the. same car and it was there in the during. that critical time period and then it's. all the way back in Illinois and they. track it to him. I mean, I guess what. are some ways the defense can attack. that kind of evidence because it seems. seems pretty strong. >> Yeah, it's a headache for them. Um, and. um, I'm guessing that there's probably. no real ID from the video that I saw. So, they'll attack identification. They'll attack the fact that there's no.

real proof that he he himself was. driving the car or he himself ever. entered the dwelling. They'll attack the. lack of DNA if there's a lack of DNA. And I'm sure that they've gone all over. that house and tried to find DNA. Uh. they'll check the car. Is there DNA in. the car? And again, what's the defense. going to do? I mean, we remember the. Simpson trial at the very inception. There was no way he could win this case. Um now, I'm not saying he's going to. have the dream team defending him. But. they will look at DNA. They will look at. the lack of evidence that he was.

actually in the home. Being there and. being in the general proximity of the. dwelling isn't enough to get a. conviction. um did he make any statements? Again, they're going to look at that phone. Um. you know, they they'll be able to track. that phone. Now, was he smart enough if. he did do it to leave the phone home. when he went? Because if he didn't, uh. that phone tracks him every step of the. way. And I think what you said. previously, Jess, is they're going to be. looking for motive evidence. Why did he. suddenly do this after seven or eight.

years? What what triggered it? Um was. there some kind of an argument? Was. there some issue? Did something happen. at his employment? Did he lose. employment? Was he losing employment? Did he lead did it lead him to a dark, dark place? These are going to be the. questions that are going to have to be. answered. And in the absence of those. answers, again, the defense is going to. say it's proof beyond a reasonable. doubt. Don't tell me he was in Columbus. Tell me more. >> And do you think that that this is. something that authorities already know?

Because they won't address motive. They. won't address it at this point in the. investigation. You you clearly explain. why they don't want to compromise in any. way, particularly if there isn't a grand. jury indictment yet. Do you think they. have an idea of what the motive is here. and how you talk about the search for. it? It is important for the prosecutors. to tell that story to jurors. 100%. I mean, you you know, you don't. have to prove motive, but juries want a. motive. Believe me, they want a motive. I mean, I've been doing this for 40. years, and I've never met a jury that.

didn't want a motive, particularly in a. murder case. >> Um, and I do think they know. Um, I. don't think they would have indicted. this fella if all they had was the car. Uh, you mentioned a gun. Um, that's a. big piece. I mean, if they can get a gun. that matches caliber uh to whatever they. took out of the body or any of the the. bullets that that that uh that they. found there at the scene, um, that's. games that match. Um, if you have that, I don't know that they do, but if they. have him recently purchasing a firearm.

of the same caliber or ownership of a. firearm of the same caliber and he's. there and it's not forced entry, you got a rough road. What about this. reporting that what was going on in his. life? Aside from the fact that he was. going to multiple states, I mean, again, no criminal record, no disciplinary. action uh with respect to his medical. license. You heard authorities earlier. on say there was no uh reports of any. abuse between him and Mon'nique, but he. was apparently facing this lawsuit.

regarding medical malpractice. He was. added to a lawsuit uh in September. You. try to get into the mind of what of the. this suspect and what has been going on. He is innocent until proven guilty, of. course, but how much is that going to be. relevant? How much is that going to be. part of this story? How much is that. going to make its way into a potential. trial? >> Yeah, I think it's huge. I mean, you're. going to have to explain not only. motive, but but what brought him to that. dark place. And I and just looking at. some of the footage I've seen in terms. of his affect, etc. Uh they're going to.

paint him as a guy who who literally. became broken in his life, who became. desperately depressed because of a lack. of success and failure that was. happening in his life, and that he at. some point attributed all of that to. her, and that was his motive. Uh, if I'm. if I'm a prosecutor right now, that's. exactly where I'm headed. It cause the. bow to break. And when the bow breaks, you do things that are incomprehensible. And I'm assuming that that's the. direction they're going to take.

>> I also think, and this is purely based. on the reporting, the injury sustained. by these two, the idea that he was. apparently shot multiple times and she. was shot right in the chest. Does that. do those kind of injuries tell you a. piece of the story and give you an. indication about who might have done. this? >> Well, I mean I I it not necessarily. I. don't think it necessarily tells you who. did it, but what it tells you is um. one of two things. One that he wanted. that that trigger man wanted both of.

them dead or um that somebody tried to. come to somebody's aid um in the course. of the killing and got killed. themselves. Um, you know, it it it. they're not really going to worry about. that. Um, because, you know, whether it. he he wanted to kill them both or wanted. to kill one and the other got in the way. or tried to save her or or she tried to. save him, whatever the case may be, um, if they can put him inside that. residence, if they can tie a gun to him. and if they can string along enough.

circumstantial evidence of motive, um, it's going to be a very difficult case. for him to win. And. >> I think you're 100% right. It shows. intent to kill. Intent to kill. The. placement of the bullet, the placement. of the bullets, the placement of the the. wounds. Right. That's that's the key. there. Um I imagine in Ohio, and I. believe they have a preliminary hearing. process where the prosecution would have. to present the evidence that they. believe sufficient to show that there's. probable cause to support the charges. for this case to move forward towards. trial. Isn't a preliminary hearing the.

time when we learn a lot more. information about the case? we learn a. lot more about the evidence in a case. >> there. There's no doubt about that. Um. even though it's a primapacious. standard, they will certainly put. evidence on. Now, Ohio is, as I. understand it, a grand jury state. So, sometimes when you have a grand jury. indictment, there won't be a preliminary. hearing. >> Many states that have indictment by. grand jury, uh unlike the state I'm in. in Pennsylvania, um you don't get. preliminary hearings. Uh they say,

"Listen, a grand jury indicted you, you're going to trial." uh and they'll. turn over grand jury transcripts and. you'll get discovery and you'll get. evidence. But if a grand jury indictes. them, I'm not always sure and I'll check. this whether Ohio compels a preliminary. hearing or not. But you are right. If. there is one, it's really your first. chance at testing proof. It's your first. chance at cross-examining uh and. examining the evidence they have. >> Ryan McMonagle, thank you so much for. taking the time. Um this is a rapidly. developing case. We are learning. information as it comes in and and.

really always appreciate you coming on. and breaking it down for us. Thank you. so much. >> It's my pleasure. It's good to see you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your. podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak. to you next time. [Music].