A Kansas jury heard about hidden devices, a GPS tracker, and a protective order then Brian McKay was found guilty.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Hidden monitoring devices and a GPS tracker became key evidence before a Shawnee County jury convicted Brian McKay in the killing of his estranged wife, Monica McKay, who was drowned in a bathtub in 2024.
The May 14 verdict followed testimony about what prosecutors called an escalating pattern of surveillance during a divorce. Brian McKay, 55, was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder, felony murder, aggravated burglary, stalking and violating a protective order. Sentencing is set for July 20 in Shawnee County District Court.
Before jurors heard about the bathtub where Monica McKay died, they heard about the devices that prosecutors said showed Brian McKay was watching her movements. An arrest affidavit said one of Monica McKay’s adult sons had found devices inside the home that family members believed were being used to monitor her. The devices were described as covert cameras, microphones and possibly an Amazon Echo device. Prosecutors also pointed to a GPS device on a vehicle used by Monica McKay. The affidavit said it tracked trips from her residence to her workplace and captured other patterns that fit her normal daily movements.
The surveillance evidence connected to a court order issued in October 2024. Monica McKay applied for and received a protection from stalking order five days before she filed for divorce. Brian McKay was told about the order on Oct. 17, 2024, and served with it the same day. Prosecutors argued the order showed Monica McKay had already sought legal help before she was killed. They also said it made Brian McKay’s later conduct more serious because he was accused of violating a protective order while the divorce was moving forward.
Monica McKay filed for divorce on Oct. 19, 2024, after a separation that had lasted about four months. Prosecutors said the divorce was damaging Brian McKay financially and added to his anger. They said he had both emotional and economic motives to kill her. The defense challenged the state’s conclusions and questioned whether investigators had fully tested other possibilities. Brian McKay did not testify. He told District Judge Maban Wright, after consulting his attorneys, that he would exercise his right not to take the stand.
The killing occurred on Nov. 27, 2024, at 2333 SE Tecumseh Road, the home Monica and Brian McKay co-owned. Prosecutors said Monica McKay was beaten, stripped, strangled and drowned in a bathtub. The medical evidence moved in stages. A preliminary autopsy said the cause of death was drowning. Investigators later reported injuries consistent with strangulation. The final autopsy said the cause of death was drowning, with strangulation and multiple blunt force trauma as contributing factors. Jurors had to weigh that evidence alongside the surveillance claims and the court order.
After Monica McKay’s death, police asked Brian McKay 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 recorded visible marks on him. A red spot on his left cheek, he said, came from repeated skin cancer removals. A scratch on the back right side of his neck, he said, came from a twig while he was clearing brush with a tractor. Prosecutors presented those statements as part of the evidence jurors could consider, while the defense argued the investigation should not have rested so heavily on Brian McKay.
The trial also put Monica McKay’s work and life before the jury. She was 50 and worked as director of physician clinics at the University of Kansas Health System’s St. Francis Campus in Topeka. She had held that post since 2023 and previously served as director of primary care from 2018 to 2023. She and Brian McKay married in 2009. They later divorced, then remarried. By November 2024, their second marriage was again in court, and prosecutors said the final weeks were marked by monitoring, money conflict and legal orders.
The jury included seven men and five women. They deliberated several hours before convicting Brian McKay on every charge. The first-degree murder convictions came under two theories: premeditated murder and murder in the commission of an inherently dangerous felony. Jurors also convicted him of aggravated burglary, stalking and violating the protective order. The verdict meant jurors accepted the state’s central claim that the killing was not sudden, accidental or unexplained, but tied to a course of conduct that began before the day Monica McKay died.
More than 60 people were in the courtroom when the verdicts were read. Monica McKay’s aunt, Deanna Compton, said she was “happy, happy, happy” after the conviction. Jay Spiegel, a close friend, said he was glad the system worked. Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said his thoughts were with Monica McKay’s relatives and loved ones. Those reactions closed the trial’s public phase, but the court process remains unfinished.
Brian McKay is scheduled to return to court at 2 p.m. July 20 for sentencing before Wright. The convictions stand unless changed by a later court ruling, and the case is now moving from trial verdict to punishment and possible post-trial review.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.