Brian McKay was convicted of murder, stalking, burglary and violating a protective order.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Monica McKay was a longtime Topeka health care administrator before prosecutors said her estranged husband killed her in the home they co-owned during a divorce marked by stalking claims and surveillance.
A Shawnee County District Court jury convicted Brian McKay, 55, on May 14 in Monica McKay’s Nov. 27, 2024, death. The verdict brought a legal answer to a case that drew relatives, friends and other observers into court to hear evidence about marriage, money, monitoring devices and violence.
Monica McKay, 50, had worked since 2023 as director of physician clinics at the University of Kansas Health System’s St. Francis Campus in Topeka. Before that, she was director of primary care there from 2018 to 2023. Her death shifted attention from a professional life in medical administration to a criminal case centered on the collapse of her marriage. Prosecutors said she and Brian McKay separated about four months before the killing. They had married in 2009, divorced at one point, then remarried. By October 2024, Monica McKay was again seeking a legal end to the marriage.
She filed for divorce on Oct. 19, 2024. Five days earlier, she applied for and received a protection from stalking order against Brian McKay. He was notified of the order on Oct. 17 and served the same day. Prosecutors told jurors the divorce was hurting Brian McKay financially and that he had become increasingly obsessed with Monica McKay. They said the protective order, the divorce filing and the monitoring evidence showed the months-long separation had grown dangerous before the killing at 2333 SE Tecumseh Road.
Jurors heard that one of Monica McKay’s adult sons had discovered devices inside the home before her death. An arrest affidavit said family members believed she was being monitored through those devices. They were described to investigators and to the court as covert cameras, microphones and possibly an Amazon Echo device. Investigators also said Brian McKay placed a GPS device on a vehicle Monica McKay used. The tracker, according to the affidavit, followed routes from her home to her workplace and recorded other movements that matched normal routines.
The violence described in court was direct and severe. Prosecutors said Monica McKay was beaten, stripped, strangled and drowned in a bathtub. The initial autopsy finding listed drowning as her cause of death. Authorities also reported injuries consistent with strangulation. Her final autopsy said the cause was drowning with strangulation and multiple blunt force trauma as contributing factors. The defense questioned the sheriff’s investigation and the way authorities built their case, but jurors found Brian McKay guilty on every count filed against him.
Investigators interviewed Brian McKay after Monica McKay’s death and asked when he had last seen her. He said he had not seen her since she got what he called a “stupid restraining order.” Officers also saw a red mark on his left cheek and a scratch on the back right side of his neck. Brian McKay said the mark on his cheek was from skin cancer removals and the scratch was from a twig while he was clearing brush with his tractor. Those statements were placed before jurors as part of the evidence surrounding the final days of Monica McKay’s life.
The courtroom reflected the case’s local weight. More than 60 people watched as the jury returned the verdict. Monica McKay’s aunt, Deanna Compton, said she felt “happy, happy, happy” that Brian McKay had been convicted. Jay Spiegel, identified as a close friend of Monica McKay, said he felt relieved and “glad that the system worked the way it was supposed to.” His words pointed to the feeling among some of her supporters that the verdict recognized both the violence of her death and the warnings that came before it.
The jury was made up of seven men and five women. It deliberated several hours after the close of evidence and arguments. Brian McKay had chosen not to testify, telling District Judge Maban Wright that he made that decision after advice from his attorneys. The panel convicted him of premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree murder in the commission of an inherently dangerous felony. It also convicted him of aggravated burglary, stalking and violating a protective order. The two murder convictions reflected different legal theories tied to the same death.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said after the verdict that his thoughts were with Monica McKay’s family and loved ones. The next hearing will shift from proof to punishment. Wright scheduled sentencing for 2 p.m. July 20. Until then, the case remains in the trial court, with the guilty verdicts entered and the sentence still pending.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.