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

[fsngruv]

Doesn’t matter much to me what you do for a living, how responsible you are or what you are responsible for-I still find it very odd that you call 911 before an employee goes to the home 1st.

From my understanding wasn't the office a 3 hour commute? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Butterscotch29]

Right now I'm leaning towards
1. Random killer, possibly meant to rob the place but got spooked/things escalated much further than expected
2. Romantic interest of someone who was staying at the house - maybe the killer was mad that the Tepes provided a way out for his ex?
3. Romantic interest of the Tepes in a swinger type situation - I don't think they had anything planned for the night of the murder (weeknight, kids home), but maybe the killer had been to the house before and knew the code?

I've seen the "swinger" theory bounce around these threads and I want to clarify that I don't mean that with any judgment. I'm single and in my early 30s and you'd probably be shocked by how many young (or old!) well-off/professional married couples are seeking a casual third. In my experience, most are seeking a woman. In that case, maybe the murderer isn't a lover, but a lover's spouse or boyfriend?

I'm still leaning towards 1 or 2, but 3 has been in the back of my mind.

MOO and total speculation. And again, no judgement on two consenting adults getting up to mutually agreed upon antics, if that was the case.

I don’t know why but swinger activity crossed my mind too.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Doesn’t matter much to me what you do for a living, how responsible you are or what you are responsible for-I still find it very odd that you call 911 before an employee goes to the home 1st.

If you find it "odd" ... it is in a vacuum, not in relation to all that we have learned in this case.
It has been discussed hudreds of times--- and explained extremely well hundreds of times how medical offices operate, and more specifically how this medical office operates.

 

[fsngruv]

Monday night football although it wasn’t a very big game

Right, it was like Appalachia State and some other not so big team. But maybe another sport? From what I understand, even small teams can have big bets and wagers. So I wonder. If someone is into gambling it easy to get addicted. I also know many who bet on football games and it doesn't affect their life too much, and some are a bit more into it than others and it can really affect them. Just my personal experience with co-workers and the such.

 

[Butterscotch29]

Usually in cases where the police are this quiet early on it’s because they know who did this and they are working round the clock to gather as much as they can before they make that arrest. It’s like they’re in stealth mode.

 

[armchairagatha]

If you find it "odd" ... it is in a vacuum, not in relation to all that we have learned in this case.
It has been discussed hudreds of times--- and explained extremely well hundreds of times how medical offices operate, and more specifically how this medical office operates.

I don’t find one 911 call odd. I do find four 911 calls and 3 or 4 coworkers and friends showing up at the house odd.

 

[Butterscotch29]

Right, it was like Appalachia State and some other not so big team. But maybe another sport? From what I understand, even small teams can have big bets and wagers. So I wonder. If someone is into gambling it easy to get addicted. I also know many who bet on football games and it doesn't affect their life too much, and some are a bit more into it than others and it can really affect them. Just my personal experience with co-workers and the such.

I don’t see anyone shooting these two over a Monday night football gambling debt.

This is giving affair, swinger love triangle vibes to me. JMO though

 

[fsngruv]

I don’t know why but swinger activity crossed my mind too.

No offense, and I don't mean this in a personal way but I think it says more about the mind it crosses than a young attractive couple. But I guess it's a cool thing to think about?? I'm not sure, but I'm not seeing the relevance. Just my opinion

 

[armchairagatha]

Good summary of events so far:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/07/us/spencer-monique-tepe-killings-timeline

 

[wibbleflea]

I don’t find one 911 call odd. I do find four 911 calls and 3 or 4 coworkers and friends showing up at the house odd.

If there'd been any news from the first 911 call (or from the wife), perhaps. But the longer the silence, the more worrying. They lived in a very nice house but it wasn't in the best or safest of areas. MT was known to not leave the house for work. They had children. I completely get the escalating panic.

 

[Butterscotch29]

No offense, and I don't mean this in a personal way but I think it says more about the mind it crosses than a young attractive couple. But I guess it's a cool thing to think about?? I'm not sure, but I'm not seeing the relevance. Just my opinion

Not because they’re young or attractive but because there’s no obvious motive, family and friends say they were lovely, so I just get a vibe something that was hidden led to this. triangle or swinging etc.

I’m not judging or attacking their character just thinking outside the box since we don’t know anything concrete at this stage

 

[alexwood]

More news statement from police chief:

Columbus officer called to perform welfare check at Tepe house originally went to the wrong address, police chief says

Chief Bryant spoke Thursday afternoon for the first time about the deaths of Spencer and Monique Tepe.

www.10tv.com

Even if the officers had initially responded to the correct address, they still would not have seen anything. The bodies were on the second floor in the master bedroom. Now, maybe they would have heard the voices of the children while knocking on the front and back doors. That would have alerted them to the fact that they had to get into the house. But, by the time they went to the correct address, Spencer's co-workers had already entered the house.

 

[lg2019]

I don’t find one 911 call odd. I do find four 911 calls and 3 or 4 coworkers and friends showing up at the house odd.

I have to agree. They knew something. They were aware of some danger/threat. Esp if coworker drove from that far away- that early in the morning.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

How did the friend who found the body get into the house? TIA

 

[sunflowermomma]

I'm surprised that anyone finds this odd. He doesn't call or text. He's a dentist and has patients waiting. On that day, he's the lead dentist, with the owner away in Florida. He's responsible and known for being on time, and the people he works with find this completely out of character and inexplicable. He doesn't respond to texts or calls when it becomes obvious that he's late. His emergency contact is his wife, who also doesn't respond. And he's an hour and a quarter from the dental office. What are the options?

Also isn't the dental office an hour away from his house? If you're down one dentist you probably can't have another staff member leave to go investigate. It's the police's job to do welfare checks so it makes sense they called the police

 

[Mitch1]

i had been thinking along these same lines (if someone was an hour late for work i wouldn't just jump to the conclusion that both they and their spouse are dead/dying), but seeing comments from dental and medical professionals my mind has changed a bit. in some cases, with no call no show, it could be considered patient abandonment and the clinic risks getting in trouble. many medical clinics do have a policy to call for a welfare check if someone is no call no show. i still think everyone at this point is a suspect, but him not being just a regular desk worker does make more sense why it seemed to escalate to authorities so fast.

MOO

I'm surprised that anyone finds this odd. He doesn't call or text. He's a dentist and has patients waiting. On that day, he's the lead dentist, with the owner away in Florida. He's responsible and known for being on time, and the people he works with find this completely out of character and inexplicable. He doesn't respond to texts or calls when it becomes obvious that he's late. His emergency contact is his wife, who also doesn't respond. And he's an hour and a quarter from the dental office. What are the options?

From my understanding wasn't the office a 3 hour commute? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you find it "odd" ... it is in a vacuum, not in relation to all that we have learned in this case.
It has been discussed hudreds of times--- and explained extremely well hundreds of times how medical offices operate, and more specifically how this medical office operates.

Sounds like we are gonna have to agree to disagree

 

[fsngruv]

I don’t see anyone shooting these two over a Monday night football gambling debt.

This is giving affair, swinger love triangle vibes to me. JMO though

Right. There were much bigger games the night after, with higher stakes. But In my experience I've seen guys make huge bets for underdogs in the hope an upset will give them a huge gain. Maybe someone has been borrowing money for gambling from ST and they got in over their head. And developed a gamblers fallacy, believing they were going to win big and be able to pay him back? Crazy, I know! But that's where my head goes. I think it's a worthy consideration, as much a love triangle or affair. It might be a jealous lover as much as it could be random. All "theories" of conjecture are worthy of consideration, even if we don't see it ourselves, because we simply don't have enough info, and even if we do we still may have questions about things.

 

[fsngruv]

Sounds like we are gonna have to agree to disagree

Agree to disagree over the location of his dental office?

Okay.

 

[justtrish]

Doesn’t matter much to me what you do for a living, how responsible you are or what you are responsible for-I still find it very odd that you call 911 before an employee goes to the home 1st.

I recall on that first 911 call, the person did ask about accidents or things like that. I also know that Spencer worked a long distance from his home so it's unlikely anyone from his office would leave and drive the hour and a half to get to his house, when police could stop by much sooner and he was asking if there had been any accidents also. He seemed genuine and like he was not in the area, but trying to make sure an employee was okay. It's exactly the type of person I would want to work for. IMO

 

[Mitch1]

Agree to disagree over the location of his dental office?

Okay.

Works for me