McKee Pleads Not Guilty Despite Overwhelming Evidence — Here's Why That Matters
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Michael McKee entered a not guilty plea to two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe. On paper, this might seem routine — defendants plead not guilty every day. But when you look at what investigators say they have, the psychology behind that plea becomes the story.
According to court documents: surveillance footage tracking McKee's vehicle arriving in Columbus before the murders and leaving after. A firearm recovered from his Chicago condo that police say matches crime scene evidence. A cell phone that showed zero activity during the exact hours prosecutors allege the Tepes were killed. Footage from weeks earlier reportedly showing McKee in the Tepes' yard while they attended the Big Ten Championship. And witness statements describing years of alleged threats — including that he could "kill her at any time."
So why fight?
Today we examine the "game player" psychology — a pattern seen in defendants like Scott Peterson, Chris Watts, and Ted Bundy who faced crushing evidence but approached their trials as competitions rather than reckonings. For these defendants, other people were never fully real. The courtroom isn't punishment. It's the final level.
If McKee fits this profile, his not guilty plea isn't denial. It's the only move left for someone who allegedly spent years believing he was smarter than every system designed to stop him.
The trial will determine guilt or innocence. But the psychology may have been visible all along.
McKee is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
#TrueCrimeToday #MichaelMcKee #TepeHomicide #SpencerTepe #MoniqueTepe #NotGuiltyPlea #CriminalPsychology #ColumbusOhio #AggravatedMurder #DomesticViolence
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/
Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod
This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruske. Here now, Tony Bruske. |
| 0:07.2 | The evidence against Michael McKee isn't thin. According to court documents, investigators have |
| 0:13.5 | surveillance footage showing a vehicle linked to McKee arriving in Columbus before Spencer and Monique Tepe were shot to death and leaving shortly after. |
| 0:24.6 | They trace that vehicle to his former address and his workplace in Rockford, Illinois. |
| 0:29.7 | Not exactly where you want a vehicle to be traced to if you're trying to get away with murder. |
| 0:35.3 | According to Columbus Police and Chief Elaine Bryant, |
| 0:38.8 | a firearm recovered from his condo in Chicago showed a preliminary match to evidence |
| 0:43.7 | from the crime scene through a national ballistics database. |
| 0:46.8 | His cell phone went dark during the exact hours of the prosecutors claiming that the murders occurred, |
| 0:52.4 | and they have footage from nearly a month earlier showing someone police believe is McKee walking through the Teppies yard while the couple was at a Big Ten championship came in Indianapolis. |
| 1:03.0 | So there's all that. All of that. |
| 1:09.0 | So here's the question. |
| 1:14.7 | If you're looking at that kind of evidence, |
| 1:19.8 | why enter the not guilty plea? |
| 1:20.9 | I guess why not? |
| 1:23.6 | Because it's pretty damning. |
| 1:30.8 | So why waive your bail hearing but reserve the right to revisit it later a move that suggests strategy? |
| 1:33.0 | Not desperation? |
| 1:37.0 | Because for a certain type of defendant, this was never about winning. |
| 1:39.3 | It's about playing. |
| 1:48.3 | There's a psychological profile that emerges in cases where evidence is overwhelming, but the defendant refuses to fold. |
| 1:52.2 | Narcissistic grandiosity. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tony Brueski, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Tony Brueski and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.