(NewsNation) — A Chicago neighbor of Michael David McKee, 39, a doctor from Chicago, has expressed her surprise after he was charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, whom he divorced in 2017, and her husband, Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37, in their Columbus home Dec. 30.
McKee appeared in court in Winnebago County, Illinois, on Monday, where he has been jailed since his arrest Saturday, and waived his right to an extradition hearing.
A vascular surgeon in Chicago without a criminal record, McKee was arrested over the weekend after a dayslong manhunt spurred by the shooting deaths of the Tepes.
“It really was a shock to the building,” Gera-Lind Kolarik, a neighbor of McKee, told “Banfield.”
“We talked at the pool (once), and he was very friendly. We’re all barbecuing at that time, and he did not seem like somebody that would be doing something like this,” she added.
McKee’s motive remains unknown, but police zeroed in on the suspect after home surveillance video spotted a man walking in the area near the Tepes’ home around the time of the killings. According to an affidavit, police linked McKee to the crime by tracking him to his car in Rockford.
McKee and Monique Tepe divorced in 2017 and had no children together. Authorities said the Tepes’ children were home during the killings but were left physically unharmed.
“You don’t know what is in a person’s mind, what they’re obsessing about, and what they’re going through in their mind,” Kolarik added.
NewsNation’s Marcus Espinoza contributed to this report.
