OH - Spencer and Monique Tepe found shot to death at home 2 children unharmed, Columbus, 30 December 2025 *ex-husband arrested*

[kwins]

This is all fun to discuss the merits of various professions …but it’s taken on kind of a “Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be…Surgeons” kind of vibe….lol. To each his own and let the paychecks roll…lol

Things will be better when we have more actual evidence used to indict in this case!

Same with discussing motive. No evidence, no motive. Unfortunately, evidence will not start rolling in until he is indicted and a bail application is made.

 

[Charlot123]

It may have been something as trivial as failing to reach a personal milestone. If he had a goal similar to board-certified vascular surgeon by the age of 38, he might have started ruminating when he failed to meet his self-imposed goal. If he had another goal of being married at the age of 32, well that got blown out of the water, and as far as he was concerned his troubles started when the woman on whom he bestowed the honor of marriage abandoned him after seven months and returned home.

Some birthdays hit harder than others, and it isn't always the ones that end in zero. It can depend a lot on what one thinks one should have achieved by a certain age.

But logically, all of us failed to reach a personal milestone at a certain time, if only because of COVID! Milestones can be moved or changed.

But just because MM didn’t reach something by 33 or 34, or moved slower in life because life around had changed, he could have added 1-2 years. The truth is, he is rigid, obstinate, vain and unrealistic. Probably, paranoid, too. The way he acted, it seems that he didn’t care about own life. But he chose to take two others instead. And it wasn’t murder-suicide. He just casually killed two people and left. And we have to be thankful that he didn’t kill the children and the dog!

 

[connie9030]

Retired FBI Special Agent was on Banfield/NewsNation discussing these google search spikes BEFORE the murders.

 

[bearfossils]

Not victim blaming but we know that Monique picked a surgeon and a dentist to marry. The latter she found on a dating app according to sources, which means she had probably set a filter looking for a doctor. Why was this? Because of the prestige and money that a doctor brings in? A doctor works long hours and their work-life balance is not great. Not even after they start practicing. We know that even Spencer was commuting 3 hours each day, so pretty much gone for 12 hrs each day. But a surgeon’s life is even harder and they deal with life and death situations every day. So it is conceivable that MM had no personal life to speak of after they were married and he was doing his residency. It was the worst of both worlds - no personal life and no money as a resident. Maybe he lashed out at her when she complained. She was always outgoing, liked to throw parties and had no friends in VA and her husband was always busy. There may have been no real abuse other than verbal fights. And then she left him abruptly and he had to figure out the reasons. Maybe he thought it was the lack of money and the really long hours as a resident. He would fix both once he started working and woo her back. Put his heart and soul into his work, and became a successful surgeon earning maybe ten times of what he was making as a resident. He could also control his working hours a little now and even move back to Columbus. But Monique completely moved on. He had fixed what he thought were the reasons she had left him, but he didn’t consider she would move on completely. That broke and enraged him. There is a fine line between love/obsession and hate/madness and I think he crossed that. JMO.

There’s no way to know what, if any, “filter” she had set on said dating app. Being attracted to intelligent and hard-working men isn’t a crime, and dating professional men doesn’t make her a gold-digger <modsnip>. Even if that was her goal, she certainly wouldn’t be the first — and male doctors certainly don’t go out of their way to dissuade beautiful young women from giving them attention or using their “prestige” and wealth, or the possible promise of it, from getting dates.

<modsnip: Removed personalizing comments> The fact that their marriage ended relatively soon, she left “abruptly”, and MM, y’know, came back years later to murder her and her new husband, leads me to believe the opposite: once they were married, MM dropped the facade, she saw and experienced who he truly was, and got out.

Obsessing over an ex-wife for such an extended period of time and executing her in her own home is not an indicator of a stable individual who was merely prone to verbal arguments. MM seems like a classic abusive male who believes women should be grateful to be with him, and deserve to be punished for leaving.

 

[wibbleflea]

There's a lot of talk (mostly elsewhere) about the divorce and whether it was really re-opened, or whether this is a mistake or the result of some automated procedure.

The site for searching court records is here:
Case Information Online

The case number (17 DR 001691) has to be entered completely. There's a text box for the '17', a pop-up for the 'DR' and another text box for the '001691'.

I've attached a screenshot of what I see. To me, the 2025 entries look like the result of a mistake – this continuance has been added to the wrong case file. Note: I am not familiar with Ohio court records.

The attached screenshot shows the last regular entries in 2017, with some apparently automated entries in 2018.

Then, on 17 June 2025, there's a new entry: continuance, which mentions a court date of 26 September 2025 and a previous hearing date of 16 June 2025 at 11 am. But there is no record of a previous hearing on this date in this case. This is what makes me think this is a mistake, and this continuance was meant for another case.

Also on 17 June 2025, there was a 'copy of hearing notice filed'. The court date remains 26 September 2025.

A day after that, 18 June 2025, 'strike schedule date', which I take to mean the court date of 26 September 2025 has been struck without the court appearance ever having occurred.

I think this was an administrative mistake – an update on the 17th, struck on the 18th. Anyone here experienced with Ohio court records?

 

[academyrd]

There’s no way to know what, if any, “filter” she had set on said dating app. Being attracted to intelligent and hard-working men isn’t a crime, and dating professional men doesn’t make her a gold-digger <modsnip>. Even if that was her goal, she certainly wouldn’t be the first — and male doctors certainly don’t go out of their way to dissuade beautiful young women from giving them attention or using their “prestige” and wealth, or the possible promise of it, from getting dates.

<modsnip: Removed personalizing comments> The fact that their marriage ended relatively soon, she left “abruptly”, and MM, y’know, came back years later to murder her and her new husband, leads me to believe the opposite: once they were married, MM dropped the facade, she saw and experienced who he truly was, and got out.

Obsessing over an ex-wife for such an extended period of time and executing her in her own home is not an indicator of a stable individual who was merely prone to verbal arguments. MM seems like a classic abusive male who believes women should be grateful to be with him, and deserve to be punished for leaving.

Agreed. First it was they were swingers. Then it was she started dating ST while still married to MM. Now it's she's a gold digger who had a doctor filter on her dating app search results.

How about... MM was a controlling narcissistic monster who is 100% to blame for this tragedy and he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

 

[Inthedetails]

Agreed. First it was they were swingers. Then it was she started dating ST while still married to MM. Now it's she's a gold digger who had a doctor filter on her dating app search results.

How about... MM was a controlling narcissistic monster who is 100% to blame for this tragedy and he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

Yes, the murder is a reflection of the character of the person who committed it, not the victim sleeping in her bed.

jmopinion

 

[Knitpicker]

Malpractice is paid by the employer, and not all hospitals/employers are willing to pay an insanely high one. So MM might have been looking towards the situation that would be uneasy for a while, but 100% not impossible to deal with.

All depends on how one looks at the situation. My friend was facing a divorce during that time, and while being upset, managed the impossible. (“You need the money. So don’t prevent me from making it. Let us negotiate what you need, and what I need, and do it the fastest way”). They kept a normal relationship, and years later, he offered a mature assessment of their divorce: it helped them both move forward and develop as people.

When I am reviewing these stories, I am thinking that the ability to move on, to explain to oneself that this door is closed, walk away, means a lot. A normal person would say, “married once = I am marriage material. Let me process the mistakes on my side, and move forward. I’ll find another woman and be happy”.

The divorce of Monique and MM was so easy. No children, no vast property to divide, nothing.

He chose to get upset, to hold on to his grudge, to not search for ways out, to cut off people who loved him and finally, choose the worst ever way to deal with it.

We can discuss it all, and choose to believe gossips or not, but it doesn’t change the net end. I always remember the words of the poem by Leigh Hunt, “not love, but vanity sets love a task like that”.

Monique and Spencer were happy together. No one had the right to take their lives from them. And to me, ultimately is the story of MM’s vanity.

The media might make a case out of it, but honestly, it doesn’t change the net end.

ETA: MM being a doctor means nothing. He could be a programmer or an engineer recently laid off. His human traits were impossible.

Many times (like Betty Broderick as an example) women will work hard to put their husbands through med school, and then the husband leaves them when he becomes successful. Here we have the opposite. He may not have seen it coming and was blindsided, or as some suggest, it was an abusive relationship.

 

[sprightly]

Yes, the murder is a reflection of the character of the person who committed it, not the victim sleeping in her bed.

jmopinion

1,000 percent cosign this and the post above it by @academyrd. I know we all want to live in a world where cause and effect exist and justice is served and bad things don't happen to good people -- but as we should know all too well by now, it doesn't always work that way. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that the Tepes did a single thing to bring this on themselves.

 

[stmarysmead]

0ne thing I admire and respect about this forum is the ‘victim friendly’ rule. Social media is full of so much fantasized garbage about strangers none of us knew and cases we have the barest facts about. . I think it honors those who died so tragically to presume they lived idyllic lives of perfection….because we respect the grief of the survivors and we admit to not know the inside knowledge of the case.

However, we know the actual detectives tasked with preparing this case for trial will look with an unsympathetic eye at the human sides of all, living and dead. Sometimes someone touches on a possibility that may be one LE is looking into …not out of disrespect…just out of the knowledge we all are human and we have followed enough cases to know anything is possible.

That does not undermine the tragedy of this awful crime or demean in the victims IMO. But by rules here, we must leave those avenues of investigation about the victims to the professionals .

 

[bearfossils]

Agreed. First it was they were swingers. Then it was she started dating ST while still married to MM. Now it's she's a gold digger who had a doctor filter on her dating app search results.

How about... MM was a controlling narcissistic monster who is 100% to blame for this tragedy and he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life.

Seriously. MT’s character isn’t in question, nor are her dating habits relevant. Nothing she did—even if you believe the gross and misogynistic yet expected rumors about her romantic/sex life—justifies what happened to her, her husband, and her children.

MM is solely responsible for his choices, his actions, and what ultimately sounds like another crime which has its roots in domestic violence. Every woman on this planet has the right to start or end a relationship for what reason she chooses, “justifiable” or otherwise. No man on this planet has a right to murder a woman and/or her current partner, regardless of his inability to get over it.

 

[Sheila Terranova]

I think that the world has become so dangerous that we have to revise many traditions and attitudes to things. However, I suspect that he lurked in the darkness, and the Tepes lived their lives openly. The saddest part, unless he did anything extraordinary, restraining orders would not have helped much.

And he did have a restraining order back then.
Of course so did she. But as an ex wife of an abusive dentist I know medical wives make weird concessions being manipulated into thinking it’s more essential for the guy’s career than it is for other people. So I bet she did it to be polite and make him look less abusive for professional reasons.

 

[bearfossils]

And he did have a restraining order back then.
Of course so did she. But as an ex wife of an abusive dentist I know medical wives make weird concessions being manipulated into thinking it’s more essential for the guy’s career than it is for other people. So I bet she did it to be polite and make him look less abusive for professional reasons.

BBM, and I agree.

Unfortunately, domestic abuse and violence is woefully underreported, and a lot of women are willing to move forward while not making “a big deal” out of situations with men they are married to, especially when those men are professionals, well-respected, or have money/power on their sides. Many women fear (sadly, rightfully so) that reporting or sharing instances of abuse with others, or damaging the social or professional lives of their abusers, will make their situation much worse.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all to find out that MM was controlling, cruel, or violent in ways that few, if any, knew about, besides MT.

 

[Cassie P]

There's a lot of talk (mostly elsewhere) about the divorce and whether it was really re-opened, or whether this is a mistake or the result of some automated procedure.

The site for searching court records is here:
Case Information Online

The case number (17 DR 001691) has to be entered completely. There's a text box for the '17', a pop-up for the 'DR' and another text box for the '001691'.

I've attached a screenshot of what I see. To me, the 2025 entries look like the result of a mistake – this continuance has been added to the wrong case file. Note: I am not familiar with Ohio court records.

The attached screenshot shows the last regular entries in 2017, with some apparently automated entries in 2018.

Then, on 17 June 2025, there's a new entry: continuance, which mentions a court date of 26 September 2025 and a previous hearing date of 16 June 2025 at 11 am. But there is no record of a previous hearing on this date in this case. This is what makes me think this is a mistake, and this continuance was meant for another case.

Also on 17 June 2025, there was a 'copy of hearing notice filed'. The court date remains 26 September 2025.

A day after that, 18 June 2025, 'strike schedule date', which I take to mean the court date of 26 September 2025 has been struck without the court appearance ever having occurred.

I think this was an administrative mistake – an update on the 17th, struck on the 18th. Anyone here experienced with Ohio court records?

Seems quite coincidental that a paperwork error occurs in an old divorce at the same the
ex-husband kills his ex-wife and her new husband. What are the odds? I bought the paperwork snafu theory when it was first discussed a couple of week ago. I am not buying it so quickly now.

 

[OhioGuy]

It’s ridiculous to me that the victims dating preference would be brought up. By all accounts, Monique and MM began dating in/around the early 2010s. Sure, he may have been “on the track” to becoming a successful surgeon, but he was far from it at that point. MM is from a lower income area; not like she was marrying into money. Their Virginia house was bought and sold in the 200s.

Spencer had an excellent career ahead of him but they lived in a middle class home. Purchased 487k, worth high 700s or low 8s now. Nice for sure, but not a life of boundless luxury and she absolutely does not deserve to be questioned.

 

[stmarysmead]

Seems quite coincidental that a paperwork error occurs in an old divorce at the same the
ex-husband kills his ex-wife and her new husband. What are the odds? I bought the paperwork snafu theory when it was first discussed a couple of week ago. I am not buying it so quickly now.

Yes, you were first to mention it…and it does seem too coincidental!

I agree 100%.

 

[Mitch1]

Was this the penthouse he purchased-sale date is July 2025 just a month after the activity on divorce began

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2100-N-Lincoln-Park-W-60614/unit-12DS/home/191522790

 

[ttjo]

Seems quite coincidental that a paperwork error occurs in an old divorce at the same the
ex-husband kills his ex-wife and her new husband. What are the odds? I bought the paperwork snafu theory when it was first discussed a couple of week ago. I am not buying it so quickly now.

Was it the only file that had the clerical error or were there others? Like it was a software thing? If it was the only one, that would seem odd/coincidental.
We dont even know if he was notified of that, he seemed to be moving around , (malpractice server couldnt find him)
Besides, If it wasnt a software glitch I wouldnt want the person who made that error to feel like they had any part.

 

[ttjo]

Was this the penthouse he purchased-sale date is July 2025 just a month after the activity on divorce began

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/2100-N-Lincoln-Park-W-60614/unit-12DS/home/191522790

Im not 100% on the date of the sale, I checked and thats what it said on Zillow, but someone else checked somewhere else and it gave a sept date, either way it’s pretty close in time, which is why I wonder if he even got notice of it. Where would it have been sent? An address from 2017? or a current one?

 

[mfmfan77]

Not victim blaming but we know that Monique picked a surgeon and a dentist to marry. The latter she found on a dating app according to sources, which means she had probably set a filter looking for a doctor. Why was this? Because of the prestige and money that a doctor brings in? A doctor works long hours and their work-life balance is not great. Not even after they start practicing. We know that even Spencer was commuting 3 hours each day, so pretty much gone for 12 hrs each day. But a surgeon’s life is even harder and they deal with life and death situations every day. So it is conceivable that MM had no personal life to speak of after they were married and he was doing his residency. It was the worst of both worlds - no personal life and no money as a resident. Maybe he lashed out at her when she complained. She was always outgoing, liked to throw parties and had no friends in VA and her husband was always busy. There may have been no real abuse other than verbal fights. And then she left him abruptly and he had to figure out the reasons. Maybe he thought it was the lack of money and the really long hours as a resident. He would fix both once he started working and woo her back. Put his heart and soul into his work, and became a successful surgeon earning maybe ten times of what he was making as a resident. He could also control his working hours a little now and even move back to Columbus. But Monique completely moved on. He had fixed what he thought were the reasons she had left him, but he didn’t consider she would move on completely. That broke and enraged him. There is a fine line between love/obsession and hate/madness and I think he crossed that. JMO.

I know you didn't mean this to come across as victim-blaming, but I've seen this line of argument all over social media about Monique, and I don't see how it isn't (accidental, in your post...but intentional in many others) victim-blaming.

In my opinion at least, it's pretty obvious what happened. Monique met a guy in college who seemed charming and on a good track. She fell in love and married him, only for him to do what so many narcissistic personalities do as soon as they have their victims firmly within their grasps: move her away from her friends and family and turn controlling and violent once he has her isolated.

Once Monique finally escaped, she just so happened to meet an actual nice guy on a dating app. Why anyone would make the gigantic leap that she would filter based on "doctor" on dating apps is absolutely lost on me. That thought literally never even entered my mind, and I have a hard time seeing how it isn't rooted in some subconscious attempt to try and make Monique somehow responsible for what happened to her and Spencer. So she married a med school student and a dentist -- who cares? The accusations that she was somehow a clout/paycheck chaser or whatever are so, so weird to me.

My college roommate had an extremely similar situation to Monique, but luckily she was successful in getting away. She dated a guy (pre-med, ironically) in college who seemed nice and charming to everyone, but eventually showed his dark side to her. He let his mask slip once or twice in front of me, and I'm not lying when I say I'm still scared of him, all these years later. He isolated her and became abusive on a very similar timeline to MM and Monique. My roommate was one of the lucky ones who got away. But too many women end up like Monique instead.

Can we retire the "she married two doctors?!?!?!!?!?!??!???!" discussion and instead focus on how she did everything she could to get away from an abusive relationship, but, like so many women, sadly couldn't escape a man who set his sights on getting his revenge?

This is one of the most heartbreaking cases I've heard of, and I hate that Monique is somehow being portrayed in a negative light, no matter how well-intentioned. JMO