Story perspectives

Couple Charged with Elder Abuse After Two-Year Investigation

1/11/2026

Summary

Bates Couple Charged

A couple in Pawnee County, Kansas, faces charges of financial mistreatment and elder abuse after a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
Jeffrey S. Bates, 64, and Sandi Bates, 62, are accused of conspiring to exploit a dependent adult.
Allegations date back over a decade.
Jeffrey S. Bates also faces a charge of physical mistreatment from a November 2022 incident.
A preliminary hearing is set for January 21.

Summary

McKee Charged with Murder

Michael David McKee, 39, is charged in Columbus, Ohio with two counts of murder in the deaths of Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, found shot in their home on December 30.
Police identified McKee via surveillance footage of a vehicle linked to him in Rockford, Illinois, where he was arrested.
The couple's two young children were found unharmed.
Authorities believe the murders occurred between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
McKee is awaiting extradition to Ohio with a January 12 court hearing.

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Bates Couple Charged

A couple in Pawnee County, Kansas, faces charges of financial mistreatment and elder abuse after a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
Jeffrey S. Bates, 64, and Sandi Bates, 62, are accused of conspiring to exploit a dependent adult.
Allegations date back over a decade.
Jeffrey S. Bates also faces a charge of physical mistreatment from a November 2022 incident.
A preliminary hearing is set for January 21.

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