Why McKee Pleaded Not Guilty: The "Game Player" Psychology Explained

Michael McKee has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe. Given what investigators have made public — surveillance footage, ballistics evidence, witness statements documenting years of alleged threats, and a cell phone that went dark during the murder window — that plea raises a critical question: What kind of mind fights when the evidence looks this strong?

Forensic psychologists have a term for defendants who treat overwhelming cases as intellectual challenges rather than moral reckonings: game players. These are individuals with narcissistic grandiosity and antisocial features who view other people as pieces on a board, prosecution as competition, and trial as the championship round.

This episode breaks down the psychological profile and applies it to the McKee case. According to the unsealed affidavit, witnesses told investigators McKee threatened Monique for years — saying he could "kill her at any time," that he would "find her and buy the house next to her," and that she would "always be his wife." Surveillance footage allegedly shows him in the Tepes' yard weeks before the murders while they attended a football game in Indianapolis.

If accurate, the game didn't start with the not guilty plea. It started years ago.

We examine why defendants like Scott Peterson maintained detachment through crushing evidence, why Chris Watts negotiated even after confessing, and why Ted Bundy turned his trial into theater. The pattern is consistent: the same detachment that enables someone to view a murder trial as a game may be the same detachment that enabled the alleged crime.

McKee is presumed innocent. All information is sourced from court records and official statements.

#SpencerTepe #MoniqueTepe #MichaelMcKee #TepeCase #ColumbusHomicide #WeinlandPark #GamePlayerPsychology #AggravatedMurder #OhioTrueCrime #JusticeForTepes

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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.