Ex-Husband Taps in High-Profile Help for Ohio Double Murder

First case before the court, state of. Ohio versus Michael McKe is 26 CR253. There are five counts. Four counts of. aggravated murder, unclassified. felonies, and one count of aggravated. burglary, felony one. Each of these. counts come with a three and a six-year. firearm specification. >> Thank you, Castle. Please make your. appearance. >> Thank you, your honor. Diane Mashing on. behalf of Michael McKe. Thank. >> you, >> your honor. With with respect to the uh. allegations, we would acknowledge. receipt, wave reading, enter not guilty, plead to all counts contained therein.

>> Michael McKe, the man accused of killing. a [music] dentist and his wife, was back. in court, this time in the state where. he is charged with their murders. And it. has been announced that he has hired a. very highprofile, [music] highpowered. attorney. Diane Manashi, somebody we. have spoken to before here on Law and. Crime. What do we know about her? But. more importantly, are there any clues. from her past successful [music] cases. that can give us clues as to how she. might defend this guy? Let's talk about.

it. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law. and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. They were [music] a successful beloved. couple, a dentist and his wife found. shot to death in their own home in the. first light of the new year. And for. weeks, the question became who? Who. could have done this? And that is when. the spotlight turned to the ex-husband, the ex-husband of the wife, a Chicago. surgeon named Michael McKe. There was a. manhunt. There was an arrest. There was. an extradition. And now he's here.

sitting in the Franklin County Jail. His. first Ohio court appearance happened. today. We're going to play a little bit. of as well. But really, what we want to. focus on on this sidebar is something. different. Because this case took a turn. into very familiar territory for us here. at Law and Crime. Why? Because he hired. a lawyer that we know very well. It is a. name that you've heard before on this. show, Diane Manashi, a 27-year veteran. who has covered a lot of big cases. In. fact, she's been with us here right on. Sidebar. Let me bring in Diane Manashi.

She is a trial attorney in Ohio. Diane, so good to see you. Uh it's been a. minute since we have a chance to talk. Unfortunately, these are the. circumstances. Uh before we even get. into all of the legal components of it, what is just your overall reaction uh. when you heard about this? Because this. is from your home state. See, we know. her. I wasn't lying. Now, Manashi is a. very high-profile defense attorney. You. call on when the stakes are life and. death. She has fought in some of the. biggest murder trials that we've seen. recently. So, as I mentioned, 27-year.

veteran, okay, she filed an official. notice of appearance in this case on. January 22nd. She has defended about. three dozen people that have been facing. the death penalty. Again, very. high-profile cases in Franklin County. She's also somebody who is apparently. opposed to the death penalty. To give. you an idea of who we're talking about, by the way, she grew up in Seattle. She. attended Purdue University. She got her. law degree at Tulain University in New. Orleans. She worked in the Ohio Public. Defenders Death Penalty Unit. She's. actually an instructor in Harvard Law. School's trial advocacy workshop. She's.

a fellow in the American College of. Trial Lawyers, the International Academy. of Trial Lawyers. She is very very. accomplished and in fact we have covered. cases before where she was representing. the defendant in very high-profile. cases. I mean do we remember the cases. of former Mount Carmel Dr. William. Husel? How about Matthew Moore? And now. she is building the defense for Michael. McKe. So the question is is there. anything from those past cases, her. tactics, the way she fought those that. will give us an idea, a clue as to how.

she might defend Michael McKe. So, as we. ask, what fight are we about to see? Because with Diane Manashi on board, it's not just about what happened that. night. It is about how every single. piece of evidence is presumably going to. be challenged, how the police. investigated this from the start. Because remember, the defense doesn't. have to prove that Michael McKe didn't. do this. Their job is to raise. reasonable doubt. Their job is to say. the prosecution cannot meet their. burden. They can't dot all the eyes.

They can't cross all the tees. Now, before I break down what we've seen from. Dian Minashi, Michael McKe, he did. appear in court earlier today for his. arraignment. And through his new. attorney, Dian Mashi, he was read the. formal charges and he pleaded not. guilty. Here's what went down with this. crucial first legal showdown. >> First case before the court, state of. Ohio versus Michael McKe is 26 CR253. There are five counts. Four counts of. aggravated murder, unclassified. felonies, and one count of aggravated. burglary, felony one. Each of these.

counts come with a three and a six-year. firearm specification. >> Thank you, Cass. Please make your. appearance. >> Thank you, your honor. Diane Manashi, on. behalf of Michael McKe. >> Thank you, >> your honor. With with respect to the uh. allegations, we would acknowledge. receipt, wave reading, enter not guilty, please to all counts contained therein. We would also wave bond at this time, although we certainly reserve the right. to raise that at a later date. The plea. of not guilty form has been executed and. signed on behalf of my client. Nothing. further. Thank you, council. I have.

signed the not-uilty plea. I'm signing. the uh bond form indicating the bond has. been waved. >> Anything further? >> No, your honor. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Judge. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so now let's get back to Dian. Minashi, the driver of the defense's. side. So, what are we expecting in terms. of strategy? I want to briefly reset the. table to look at the details that. Manashi is going to be attempting to. chip away at in this case. So, let's. start there. Michael McCabe. He's. accused of entering the home of his. ex-wife Monnique Tepee and her husband. Spencer Teppy in the early hours of. December 30th where prosecutors allege.

he shot and he killed both of them. The. charges, four counts of aggravated. murder. We're going to break it down. Two for allegedly killing with prior. calculation and design. You're talking. about premeditation and two for. allegedly killing while committing an. aggravated burglary. It's kind of like a. felony murder rule. So, two different. theories to get him on the hook. There's. also a major specification in this case. that a silencer, a suppressor was used. Now, to be clear, if the allegations are. true, this wasn't a random act of. violence. Michael McKe and Monique Tepee. had a past. They met and married in.

August of 2015. The marriage was. short-lived. By March of 2016, just 7. months later, Mon'nique had filed for. divorce. But the court filings site. incompatibility, and at the time, McKe. was finishing his medical residency in. Virginia. The divorce was finalized. Mo'Nique moved on, eventually marrying. Spencer Teppy, and they were approaching. their 5-year anniversary. And by all. accounts, again, the divorce didn't seem. to be very hostile, didn't seem to be. filled with animosity, which makes the.

allegations just even more confusing and. chilling. But for years, they apparently. led separate lives. McKe building his. career as a surgeon in Chicago, the. Teepy's building their livelihood in. Columbus, and on the surface, it was a. clean break, years in the past. But. prosecutors are now alleging that. history formed the motive for a. premeditated calculated attack. This all. brings us back to Diane Mashi. If we. look at her past high-profile defenses, we can maybe maybe see how she'll likely. approach this case. So, for example, 2023, Dian Minashi defended Rodney.

Vanata, who was accused of murdering his. own wife, Heidi Duda, in their car. And. the prosecution had a circumstantial. case. They were together. He was the. only one there. He made the 911 phone. call. But you know what Manashi did? Manashi's defense was built on two. powerful pillars. First, there was an. alternative theory of the crime. So, she. pointed to another man, someone the. victim had a relationship with who had a. violent past. And second, she. relentlessly accused police of tunnel. vision of locking onto Vanata from the.

start and failing to investigate anybody. else. And you know what? The jury. acquitted him in just hours. Now, maybe. difficult in this case from what we've. seen, right? There doesn't appear to be. any alternative suspects. There doesn't. appear to be anybody else that would. have had a grudge or animosity towards. the tepies. And if you couple that with. what we've seen so far from the. prosecution, right? So there's been. evidence that they have tracked McKe's. car from being in that area all the way.

back to the other side in Illinois. The. idea that they found a weapon that was. potentially linked to the homicides. We. don't know what other digital evidence. they have, forensic evidence they may. have, but that's what could be. challenging about an alternative theory. Now, could she possibly argue tunnel. vision? Maybe, but we'll see where it. goes. This brings us to the case that I. would say arguably made her a household. name in legal circles. It was the. defense of Dr. William Husel. Now, here. the state had charged him with 14 counts.

of murder, alleging he intentionally. overdosed ICU patients. and Minashi and. the defense team, they focused entirely. on causation and reasonable doubt. So, they argued that the patients died of. their catastrophic illnesses, not the. medication. Their entire case was about. redirecting the story away from intent. and toward complex medical uncertainty. >> I want to talk about turning now to. patient James Allen.

Um, again, states exhibit 30, view your. report. Um, tell me if there's ever anything. that you need to look at. By the way, uh, this is a patient we already covered as. well. >> You know what? It's it's. sometimes it happens, sometimes it. doesn't, but I'm not covering uh. territory that I already have. So, I. just want to go here with respect to. your mention of DNRCC.

Um, you would agree with me that in. terms of code status, DNR, CCA. mean do not resuscitate comfort care. arrest. Correct. >> Yeah. I don't use those terms CCA and. CC. That's pretty specific to this. hospital. >> Okay. So then based on your review and. work on behalf of the state of Ohio, did. you come to know that within the. hospital system CCA meant comfort care. arrest? >> Yes, I did. And did you also then learn.

through your work with the state of Ohio. that CC means comfort care? >> Yes. >> Yet I just note in your report and DNRC. is not some and not something you use at. Vanderbilt. >> Correct. >> Um because I note in your report that. you indicate that the goal of DNRCC. is symptom management for best quality. of life. Do you see how you write that? Yes. >> And fair to say you write that almost in.

every patient's review, do you not? >> Yes. >> Something you kind of repeatedly state. >> That's right. >> Um, and putting aside what codes you use. at Vanderbilt or what codes you might. know other hospitals use, Mount Carmel. West, when you saw CC, it meant comfort. camp. >> That's right. Also.

want to talk to you about this sentence. right here where you said that Mr. Allen. remained stable in the ICU and his body. accepted the treatment provided up until. his death. Do you see that number seven? >> Yes, I did. >> Okay. We have, as you I'm sure recall. because you reviewed his medical. records, Mr. Allen had four organs that. were shutting down on him. Correct. >> That's right. He was on vase. suppressors, >> correct? >> Right. >> He's on a ventilator.

>> Yeah. >> Um, and your conclusion with respect to. seven was that his he was stable. >> Well, I was referring You want me to. explain what I meant by that? >> Well, I'll lead with yes or no. Yes or. no? With respect to number seven, you. indicated, did you not? Mr. Allen. remained stable in the ICU and his body. accepted the treatment provided up until. his death. That's what. >> Yes. >> Okay.

>> And then I want to go down here where. you indicate there is no clinical basis. to remove Mr. Allen's breathing tube. Do. you see that sentence? >> Yes. Uh you would agree with me that separate. from one another are indication and. consent? >> Yes. >> Uh indication is on the physician side. Consent is on the durable power of. attorney kin side.

>> Right? Putting aside indication. if the family next to kin durable power. of attorney makes the decision to. palatively extate an individual. >> Yes, >> that's what has to happen. >> Yeah, I agree and I disagree with the. sentence that I wrote. >> Now, there may be some difficulty here. because I don't know if there's going to. be a dispute as to what happened to the. tepies. I mean, it seems to be clear. that they were killed in their house,

right? This is not a dispute about cause. of death. It does become a question. about adding the pieces together, right? So, with regards to McKe, perhaps Diane. Mashi's defense will try to shift the. focus. Could the forensic evidence have. another explanation? You know, that's. something to take into account. Yes, you. know, investigators say, "We have the. evidence of the car. Maybe I have. evidence of this. We have evidence of. that." But it is going to be questioning. those experts to determine, was there. another DNA sample? Are we 100% sure the. ballistics matched up? How do you know.

that was McKe's car? Maybe it was a car. that a lot of people had. So these are. going to be ways to strike at the actual. digital technological forensic. ballistics evidence. Could there be. other possibilities? And the idea here. is to make the jury question the origin. of the entire narrative as she did. successfully here. relative to count 11. We the jury in this case being duly. panel and sworn find the defendant not. guilty as to count 11 of the indictment. for murder and not guilty of any lesser.

offense signed by each and every juror. This the 20th day of April 2022. The 12. signatures are present along with the. four prison designation. >> Okay, so now let me tell you about. another case, Matthew Moore. This was a. big one and I will tell you it was a. tragic story. We actually covered it on. Prime Crime, my other show as well. But. May of 2020, a woman named Emily Noble. was reported missing from her home in. Westerville. She was a forager, someone. who loved nature. And then four months. later in September, her remains were.

found in a wooded area near her home. She was in a kneeling position. She had. a USB cord tied around her neck. There. was a water bottle nearby. And her. husband, Matthew Moore, was the one who. reported her missing. There was no. confession. There was no eyewitnesses. There was no direct physical evidence. like blood or DNA tying him to the. scene. So, you talked about Diane. Manashi for a second, right? As of right. now, are there eyewitnesses to what McKe. is accused of doing? If he's been silent. since he's been picked up, maybe no.

confession. What about the physical. evidence? Again, we haven't heard a ton. about forensic evidence yet. But the. prosecution's case, going back to Moore, it hinged on a theory that he had killed. her and then staged the scene to make it. look like she did something to herself. That was the heart of the case the jury. had to decide. Obviously, we're dealing. with a different situation here. Maybe, maybe, unless Diane Manashi, I have no. evidence to say this whatsoever. This is. purely speculation. Unless she would. maybe say that the scene is not what it.

appears to be, that perhaps it was a. case of homicide and self harm. But. again, that could be a stretch. I. there's no evidence to suggest that is. where they're going. So, but going back. to this case, here became the. alternative. Was it a homicide or a. tragic alternative by a woman who had. apparently suffered profound trauma, including the tragic loss of her stepson. just months before? So, two theories. here. And this was a case, the Moore. case, that was built on forensic. interpretation. And Diane Manashi.

defended Matthew Moore. Okay. Manashi's. defense was built on creating a. plausible alternative to the murder, focusing on experts who testified that. the injuries could be consistent with. Noble being responsible for her own. death. And she highlighted Emily's. history of trauma, her known habit of. going into those very woods. She argued. the police had tunnel vision. Again, focusing only on the husband from the. start. And you can hear her entire. strategy in her opening statement. >> We also expect Dr. Mock will explain to. you that based on the scene, based on. the injuries, based on his opinion, this.

was a stage suicide, something that made. to look like a suicide. Again, if you read the end of that book. and saw the pictures and saw Miss Noble. the way she was, you may think one. thing. But when you get a chance to hear. about the characters and see the. timeline of events and see the injuries. and hear all this testimony, the ending. is not what it seemed maybe at first. glance, but it's far more complicated. and far more real than that.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, we expect. that what you'll hear during. [clears throat] the testimony as well is. that. Mr. Moore from the beginning. was trying to control the situation that. he continued to stage this scene other. than the physical scene that you saw or. that you'll see occurred in those woods. And we expect that you'll hear during. the testimony. that Mr. more the night of the 24th.

going into the early morning of the. 25th, that very important time frame in. this case. that. between 1 and 4 in the morning, he's. sending messages to friends, stating he's taking a sleeping pill and. that probably going to sleep in. Again, believe the evidence will. demonstrate that from the beginning, Mr. controlling the scene and trying to. stage what eventually will be located in.

those woods. That becomes of paramount importance. when you we believe you'll hear. testimony today of Mr. Mo in comparing. Mr. Moore's original statements to law. enforcement about when he woke up, roughly 10 or 11:00 a.m. and that that's. inconsistent with some of the activity. that occurred on his phone, demonstrating that he was awake far. earlier than that about 8:30 in the. morning and that he was. awake.

even further in the earlier morning up. until about 4 in the morning. So, we. expect that when you hear the testimony. that there's a major discrepancy in the. time frame. Uh, you'll hear part of that. today when you hear the initial. statements as well as when looking at. the cell phone forensics. Ladies and gentlemen, we expect you'll. find out during the testimony that. that's not all. that the defendant. sent a text message to Emily just before.

noon on the 25th, used the uh Find My iPhone app, which is. an application designed to try to find. where someone else's phone maybe. and that he did that in the around noon. hour on the 25th. instead of leaving the room that he was. laying in, instead of walking through. the house to see if Miss Noble was. there. And again, we expect to hear testimony.

that it wasn't for at least 6 hours. after that. before Mr. Moore finally. called someone and said, "My wife is. missing. Ladies and gentlemen, you'll see body. camera footage from Officer Hollis. today. Again, Officer Hollis is the. responding officer on the scene. uh he. came had the initial conversations with. Matthew Moore and we expect that you'll. see during that body camera footage.

that there's a specific area noted in. the back of the garage that after some. period of time almost 2 hours after the. report Mr. or more points to and says, "This is weird. Something some this cord doesn't belong. here." And what we expect you'll see. during the body camera footage is that. there have been things moved during the. pendency of when Officer Hollis. originally first comes on scene to when.

the defendant points this area out. Following that conversation and during. that conversation, you'll hear that Mr. Moore says, "This area is weird. This I. haven't touched it, but. this this this seems out of place to me. Somebody must have done this.". But what we expect you'll hear is that. this is just another example of the. defendant controlling the scene, staging.

the scene to make this look like. something other than what it was. Now, ladies and gentlemen, after two. weeks of testimony, you're going to hear. evidence about cell phones, physical. evidence. You're going to hear about the. parties, everyone involved. And we ask. you to be diligent in your review. Diligent in your review of the timeline, how things go together, and diligent. when reviewing this case and discussing. And at the end of this two weeks, we're. going to ask you to see this for exactly. what this is.

And we're going to ask you to make a. finding of guilty. of the charge of murder. Thank you. As I introduced myself yesterday, Diane, on behalf of Matt Moore, my co-consel, Alexander Petrell, the state, I just listened to them for about 30. minutes and they told you their theory. Their theory is is that Matt Moore. killed his wife. Don't know when, but.

Matt Moore kills his wife and then. somehow gets her body into the wooded. area where you walked yesterday and. stages her death. And then I heard the. state go on to say that their evidence. will show how not just was he that. sophisticated to figure out those two. things. But he then also uh took great. efforts to control the situation after. May 24th and May 25th of 2020.

Members of the jury, the the evidence. will show that the state's theory is. based on speculation and inferences. It is not supported by the evidence. and simply members of the jury, their. theory doesn't make sense. Now, I know you were listening to the. state's opening just as well as I was. And the judge has already told you that. our opening statements are are not. evidence. They are just how we believe. the evidence will unfold. But I say this.

that in my 30ome minutes of listening to. the state's argument, I noted that they. didn't mention reasonable doubt. That is their burden. Their burden is. proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And we. talked about that in Wardear. It's their. burden and their burden alone. And the. judge has already given you the. instructions of law and he will again. which say if the state fails to meet. their burden then the only appropriate.

verdict as to each of the three counts. in this case is not guilty. And here's. why I mentioned reasonable doubt and. that they didn't mention it is because. as the judge has told you and as I. talked about in VAR, reasonable doubt. is a doubt based on reason and common. sense. And so I want to talk about this morning. during my opening statement as to why it. doesn't make sense that Matthew Moore, and I'll call him Matt, that Matt killed.

his wife Emily and then staged her. suicide. First, members of the jury, the evidence. will show there's no physical evidence. You will hear evidence the state will. put on. We anticipate that law. enforcement extensively searched the. area. of 46 Abby Cross. Not just Westerville. Police Departments, but the Ohio Bureau.

of Criminal Investigations was brought. in. A unit whose sole job, members of. the jury, is to look for forensics. They're there, too. And it's not just. the house. And when I say the house. members of the jury, the evidence will. show that they searched the entire. parameter area. But the evidence will. also show that exhaustively and. extensively. they searched the Ultima.

They searched the Subaru. They searched the attic. With Matt's permission, by the way, did. they do all these searches? They. searched the bedding, the sheets that were in Joey's bedroom. where Matt Moore told the police the. evidence will show he slept. Members of. the jury, there's also no evidence of. staging.

I certainly listened to the states. opening that their theory is that Matt. kills her, takes her to the wooded area, and then stages her death. And this is why as you listen to this. evidence, I ask you members of the jury. to really use your common sense because. the evidence will show that Emily. is found in the position where you stood. yesterday under that branch. She's found. with her water bottle next to her. Her.

hair is down. We know that because the. way her hair is matted when she's found. Her hair is down. Hair tie around her wrist. She's in her. walking clothes. And hair tie around her. wrist. I just say is because we know. that the last person that saw her saw. her leaving for a walk. She's in. clothing that as you look closely, right, it's clothing that you would wear. when you're walking. And you don't even. need to look closely because the. evidence will show her tennis shoes on,

not the shoes or the clothing that she's. seen in the night before. And the. evidence will show there is no question. as to what Matt and Emily were wearing. on the night of the 24th on her birthday. because we have pictures, selfies that. they took of themselves at the bar as. they're celebrating her birthday. And guess what happened? Matthew Moore. was acquitted by a Delaware County jury. on August 26, 2022 for the murder of his.

wife, Emily Noble. You know, it was. notable because the judge in that case, uh, Green County Judge Stephen A. Wolves. had said that while everybody was. looking for justice for Emily Noble, he. says, "I think the jury also said that. justice for Emily is not injustice for. you and they reaffirmed that." And so. that was also a case built upon. alternative theories. There was an. argument that the investigation was a. bit sloppy, that they didn't properly. secure the scene. Those are the bread. and butter of defense attorneys. who. question every aspect of an.

investigation. And if there's any part. that doesn't appear to be 100% reliable, that is room for reasonable doubt. Now, what will we see in the Michael McKe. case if it eventually goes to trial? I. don't know. But this is kind of a. preview of Diane Minashi, what she's. done in the past. She has a successful. track record in high-profile cases. We. shall see. 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 should get your podcast. We're also on NBC's Peacock as [music]. well. Hopefully, you can check us out. there, too. If you want to follow me, X. Instagram, I got my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live. I hope you can check. that out, too. I'll [music] catch you. next time, everybody.