NewsNation
(NewsNation) — Just two days after the ex-husband of Monique Tepe was charged with her and Spencer Tepe’s deaths, a panel says the evidence found already is making it easier for investigators working the case.
Investigators reportedly zeroed in on Michael McKee, 39, after tracking a vehicle that had been parked in the neighborhood at the time of the killings to Rockford, Illinois.
New information has emerged from authorities indicating that a Columbus police officer mistakenly visited the wrong home while conducting a wellness check on the Tepes.
Spencer and Monique Tepe’s bodies were found less than an hour after the cop’s snafu by the couple’s neighbors.
Former prosecutor Matt Murphy says “an avalanche of evidence” is coming, but one thing investigators will key in on is McKee’s footprints outside the house.
“There’s always mistakes made in cases like this, and every murder case is like a collage of evidence,” Murphy told “Banfield” on Monday. “It’s the accumulated weight of everything that they have.”
“Any shoes that he’s got, I guarantee they’re already in police custody and they’re going to be looked at by forensics. And what they’re going to look for is what’s called GSR or gunshot residue,” Murphy added.
Murphy noted that despite personnel and the forensic scientists going through McKee’s shoes, clothes, etc., the 11-day gap since the investigation began could prove noteworthy.
“This guy was a vascular surgeon, right? So he’s heard of DNA before,” Murphy said. “He’s got 11 days to clean things. But also for the vast majority of murders, it is the killer’s first rodeo. And if you think about anything you’ve done for the first time, and you think about all the mistakes, especially this is what’s known as a double. Actually, it’s a domestic violence, double homicide.”
Spencer Tepe’s name search on Google spiked before murders: Ex-FBI agent
Murphy pointed out that investigators will dig into McKee’s email and cellphone records, but even more important, his Google searches. Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer supported Murphy’s remarks, revealing to NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield that Spencer Tepe’s name spiked right before the murders.
“In other words, everyone’s flatlined and then all of a sudden he spikes in November,” she said. “So that tells me that somebody was really looking into what he was doing.”
Police said the Tepes were murdered exactly at 3:52 a.m. How did they know the exact time? Coffindaffer says it could be from the visual evidence from the video they have or from McKee’s cellphone.
“Now, this is what I find interesting, though, is they would have geofenced the property right away,” Coffindaffer said. “And I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have had his name prior to that unless he had a burner phone. And if he did, that makes sense to me that they have a precise time.”