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

[white rabbit]

Glad you can post again WR.
Yes I see your point. Hire someone cheap who can become invisible. It is still risky on a number of levels.
I am assuming the police are interviewing friends, neighbors, co-workers to determine who may have had a serious ax to grind regrading the Tepes. Perhaps related to the 911 calls.
I don't think either one was the target btw. I think both of them were the target?

hm...good question.

(mr. invisible could definitely be the culprit. and to the poster (sorry, senior brain) who said if the alley walker would've/should've come forward by now...even if it wasn't 'him', if you're walking drunk home from a bar the last place you'd go would be to LE. admit that to your girlfriend, wife, kids? no chance. and if LE hasn't identified him by now, he's invisible AND in the wind)

so to cassie and everyone else...can you think of a situation why BOTH parents were the target? her ex would be my only guess but he's been married since MT...i'm down my rabbit hole for sure but can't find a dayum thing...

 

[cujenn81]

Do we know with absolute certainty that there were only the 2 practising dentists working at this clinic? ST, and the boss on holiday?

The website lists 3 dentists. No telling if the owner hired a replacement for when he was away

Homepage

athensdentaldepot.com

Dr. Valrose and Dr. Tepe - dentist
Dr. Susi - endodontist

Dr. Valrose was on vacation. Dr. Susi performs root canals and handles dental trauma. Therefore, Dr. Tepe was likely the only dentist scheduled to perform routine dental work that day.

Homepage

athensdentaldepot.com

 

[OhioGuy]

If the person in that video was in fact just somebody walking down the street then I'd expect them to have come forward by now.

Have to remember that those of us on these forums are people interested in crime/mystery so what’s common knowledge to us isn’t to everyone. To us, all you have to say is Delphi or Idaho 4 and we know exactly what you’re referencing.

Yes, it’s receiving nationwide attention in the true crime sphere, but I’d still say a significant majority of people are unaware. I live in the Columbus metro area and I haven’t heard anyone bring it up in casual conversation.

 

[Voidz]

Does anyone else think the detectives will be closely watching everyone at the funeral/memorial?

 

[LittleSeaTree]

If they were as happy as they look in all of the photos and wedding video, they really had it all. They were a very good looking, all American couple, with 2 healthy children, a gorgeous house, with financial security and wealth. It isn't hard to imagine someone jealous and hating them for all of that, someone who knew them, or someone in the neighborhood.

I keep thinking this was the reason as well. Like Kohberger’s fury with the kid’s seemingly perfect lives?

 

[Moonchime]

After listening to the 911 calls numerous times I get the feeling that he told his coworkers/boss if I ever don’t show up or respond to notify authorities. I think they let someone stay with them in their home that they were helping. There was some danger surrounding this which is why the coworker said we can’t reach anybody “in that home”. Maybe this has to do with the previous unknown female who made the 911 call in April… IMO

I heard that as well. There's something about this case that they're not sharing with the public. Hopefully, they will make an arrest soon. Yet, it won't bring them back, their poor children.

 

[MesquiteO21]

If the person in that video was in fact just somebody walking down the street then I'd expect them to have come forward by now.

I strongly believe that police wouldn’t put out video of just a totally innocent potential eyewitness. I’m sure someone will say “oh they did in such and such case”, but for as long as I’ve been following true crime, that really doesn’t happen. That’s why tip lines exist and why they say “if you were In the area and saw something please reach out.” You don’t put an innocent person with no ties to the crime whatsoever on blast publicly like that.

The person in the video is either the killer or if not the literal shooter, someone involved in the homicides in some way. absolutely 100%.
moo

 

[osu]

Is Ohio BCI also helping with the investigation of this case or is it just the Columbus Police Department?

 

[Elle*Bee]

Does anyone else think the detectives will be closely watching everyone at the funeral/memorial?

I'm wondering the same.

 

[nerosleuth]

It looks like the officer went to a house that was approx 2 blocks away from the Tepe home.

My question is how did the wrong address for the first well being check request transpired?

Did someone deliberately or mistakenly gave the wrong address when the first well being check request was called in?

If it was the employer that made the call, surely they would have the employee's correct address.

Wherever a police officer is dispatched to on a call, I believe their cruiser is equipped with a pc screen that would show a street map and a street view picture of that address. They would respond to whatever address they're dispatched to by the police dispatcher.

Summit Street and North Fourth Street are two different main well known thoroughfare one way streets in Columbus.

 

[OhioGuy]

My question is how did the wrong address for the first well being check request transpired?

Did someone deliberately or mistakenly gave the wrong address when the first well being check request was called in?

If it was the employer that made the call, surely they would have the employee's correct address.

Wherever a police officer is dispatched to on a call, I believe their cruiser is equipped with a pc screen that would show a street map and a street view picture of that address. They would respond to whatever address they're dispatched to by the police dispatcher.

Summit Street and North Fourth Street are two different main well known thoroughfare one way streets in Columbus.

Initially I was thinking maybe they went to 4th Ave vs 4th St, but getting Summit and 4th mixed up is weird. It’s not even like the Short North where Summit turns into 3rd, I could see getting 3rd and 4th mixed up easier than Summit and 4th.

 

[vfl12]

My very curious questions based on catching up on this thread: Did the dental office ST worked at have any financial issues? What were the reviews of the other dentist like? Did patients like him? I wonder if they got along.

What are the odds that the other dentist at the practice (owner?) has any association with the killer?

 

[stmichael]

Columbus Oh has many educated, sucessful professional couples like this. Wealthier and more flashy. Why target the Tepes

Upcoming Gentrified Neighborhood Creates Unique Mix of Successful Professionals & Drug Addicts and Criminals

In Weinland Park? Possibly. But do those successful neighborhoods have as much interaction of local druggies/criminals with the new wave of yuppies moving in? Cause that's the volatile mix in play here. The have and have-nots. Drugs and shooting just down the road from 800K new townhouses being built up. And that's the key here I am stressing. You can have a dentist or doctor choosing to live in a shiny new townhouse while criminals walk down the road in front of their house daily to score drugs at the park. The Tepe's had a young child and lived at that address when an 8-year-old girl was shot walking distance down the road in the actual park.

Why target the dentist's shiny house (that seems like it has some nice crap in it) that you pass on a larger street everyday on your way to the park to score some fent if you're a strung out user? That's self explanatory. I know that people don't read every post and gloss over but this place, while upcoming is still far more sketchy than many areas I lived in in New York City. Neighbors saying they hear gunshots, murders and recent burglaries. This isn't some homogeneous upscale enclave. It carries a lot of risks that many "transitioning neighborhoods" face early on. It was literal gang-land just 20 years ago, with cocaine wars on the street and feds cracking down on it.

To expand I agree with you they weren't targeted outside for wealth, because as a young couple starting out with a career and family they didn't have that kind of wealth at all (house only closed for $500K which in many places is a blue collar home nowadays). But from the remaining have-nots in the area, this influx of professionals looks like shiny opportunities.

I've given plenty of factual crimes in the area and interviews with neighbors and locals describing all this unique and volatile mix. Here's some more from LA Magazine:

– it’s important to note that the Weinland Park neighborhood, while gentrified, is not the safest area in the city. When Los Angeles Magazine spoke with the Columbus Homicide Division, detectives jokingly remarked that the Tepes’ neighborhood has turned into “yuppy-ville” over the last 10 years.


According to neighborhood safety data, Weinland Park experiences approximately 36.47 crimes per 1,000 residents, with property theft and drug-related offenses among the most common incidents. The area’s overall crime rate is 152% higher than the national average, and its violent crime rate stands at 3.6 per 1,000 residents. The neighborhood ranks near the middle of Columbus communities in safety, with residents long voicing concerns about spikes in burglaries, trespassing and disturbances.

 

[Speculaytor]

I was waiting for this to come out. I could be way off, but I thought about seeing a cop at your doror, maybe the whistling was to make it seem less intimidating?
IDK you’d have to ask a cop if thats strategy, minus the acapella version of “ I was made for loving you baby “ on the way there
(ok, maybe thats not funny)

I thought just as you when I heard him listening.

 

[Speculaytor]

Upcoming Gentrified Neighborhood Creates Unique Mix of Successful Professionals & Drug Addicts and Criminals

In Weinland Park? Possibly. But do those successful neighborhoods have as much interaction of local druggies/criminals with the new wave of yuppies moving in? Cause that's the volatile mix in play here. The have and have-nots. Drugs and shooting just down the road from 800K new townhouses being built up. And that's the key here I am stressing. You can have a dentist or doctor choosing to live in a shiny new townhouse while criminals walk down the road in front of their house daily to score drugs at the park. The Tepe's had a young child and lived at that address when an 8-year-old girl was shot walking distance down the road in the actual park.

Why target the dentist's shiny house (that seems like it has some nice crap in it) that you pass on a larger street everyday on your way to the park to score some fent if you're a strung out user? That's self explanatory. I know that people don't read every post and gloss over but this place, while upcoming is still far more sketchy than many areas I lived in in New York City. Neighbors saying they hear gunshots, murders and recent burglaries. This isn't some homogeneous upscale enclave. It carries a lot of risks that many "transitioning neighborhoods" face early on. It was literal gang-land just 20 years ago, with cocaine wars on the street and feds cracking down on it.

To expand I agree with you they weren't targeted outside for wealth, because as a young couple starting out with a career and family they didn't have that kind of wealth at all (house only closed for $500K which in many places is a blue collar home nowadays). But from the remaining have-nots in the area, this influx of professionals looks like shiny opportunities.

I've given plenty of factual crimes in the area and interviews with neighbors and locals describing all this unique and volatile mix. Here's some more from LA Magazine:

I'll just add some data. At the Weiland Park Elementary School, on 7th, a block away, 100% of their students are from low income families. Demographics from GreatSchools.Org

 

[LKN NC]

Obviously, the police know way more than released. That is to be expected.

For whatever reason, IMO it seems there may be MUCH more that the public does not know. It seems their circle of family, friends, coworkers are mostly educated, community centered, middle to upper middle class people. The sadness from them is obvious, devastatingly sad, expected and normal. It seems this act truly left an emptiness in all of their worlds. The one thing that has stood out to me, that feels different than other high profile cases- I have not seen that sense of urgency and anger. It’s almost like there is not an “unknown” double murder suspect on the loose who murdered them while their children were just across the hall. There is not public outrage that this suspect is “unknown” and out there somewhere.

They have a LOT of friends. The tributes are so sad, so touching. So many times we see the rage, the plea for the public to help and give information, the anger at their loved ones being taken away. The public expression of wanting it solved and an arrest made. The questions of WHY, being publically asked.

It almost feels like there is a calm, quiet, sadness like they know way more than we do. Like there isn’t a manhunt but just a wait for information to be released. Like they have already know and have processed what we don’t.

I cannot explain it more. Just something that seems different than other “unsolved” crimes.

 

[Moonchime]

Does anyone else think the detectives will be closely watching everyone at the funeral/memorial?

I agree. This approach has been mentioned frequently in true crime books and online discussions. Investigators often observe who attends, how people interact, and any dynamics that stand out.

 

[stmichael]

Obviously, the police know way more than released. That is to be expected.

For whatever reason, IMO it seems there may be MUCH more that the public does not know. It seems their circle of family, friends, coworkers are mostly educated, community centered, middle to upper middle class people. The sadness from them is obvious, devastatingly sad, expected and normal. It seems this act truly left an emptiness in all of their worlds. The one thing that has stood out to me, that feels different than other high profile cases- I have not seen that sense of urgency and anger. It’s almost like there is not an “unknown” double murder suspect on the loose who murdered them while their children were just across the hall. There is not public outrage that this suspect is “unknown” and out there somewhere.

They have a LOT of friends. The tributes are so sad, so touching. So many times we see the rage, the plea for the public to help and give information, the anger at their loved ones being taken away. The public expression of wanting it solved and an arrest made. The questions of WHY, being publically asked.

It almost feels like there is a calm, quiet, sadness like they know way more than we do. Like there isn’t a manhunt but just a wait for information to be released. Like they have already know and have processed what we don’t.

I cannot explain it more. Just something that seems different than other “unsolved” crimes.

The neighborhood has it's marred history they are somewhat used to and the locals are dealing with it. Here's one story I posted before that covers it well.....But they are mourning their own way. The neighborhood's community civic assoc. president lost her own son in a murder a few years ago.

“I was mortified, I was deeply saddened, and I cried,” Weinland Park Community Civic Association President Tanya Long said. “The situation was horrible. It was around the holidays and the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh, those poor babies.'”

Long lost her son to gun violence in the same neighborhood a few years ago. She said the community rallied around her then, and that’s exactly what the neighbors are going to do for the Tepes.

“I know that type of loss, it’s monumental,” Long said. “I can’t even describe it any better. There’s such a hole in your heart and the grief that’s unimaginable.”

She said they won’t let this tragic incident hinder progress. As of now, she does not believe her neighbors are at risk. Long said that until they receive more information from the police, this seemed like an incident that could have happened anywhere.

“We all feel like that it was something that was just a random act of evil and that no one else is in danger,” she said.

She said until the investigation is over, she will still encourage neighbors to stay vigilant.

 

[Deleted member 372710]

I first want to say that this couple seems so wonderful, kindhearted and beautiful inside and out. I am heartbroken for their children, family, friends and the future they will never have together.

This has been a confusing case to follow, with information that seems promising only to be later refuted. I’ve been all over the map with my own personal theories and have come full circle to believe anything could be possible, and I’ll just have to be patient and see how LE solves this tragic mystery.

I did want to add some information about dentistry that might be helpful to some. My husband is an orthodontist (had to become a dentist then specialize with a residency for a few years following dental school). Most of his friends are various types of dentists- many are general dentists (like ST was) as well as dentists who have specialized (periodontists, pediatric dentists, oral surgeons, etc). He was saying it is very common when you initially sign on with a dental practice to sign a non compete agreement. Some people farther up on this thread were asking about a previous employer having a legal issue with ST, but I suspect this was simply a standard non compete agreement ST had to respect when he was looking for a practice that would offer him more doctor days. It is very common for all types of dentists to work at multiple practices to get enough doctor days. That often means a lot of time commuting.

I also asked my husband about dentists prescribing narcotics. He says at the end of dental school you can choose what type of license you want to get. You can choose to have one where you can only prescribe things like antibiotics, or you can opt for the license to prescribe narcotics. Orthodontists and pediatric dentists for example often don’t opt for the narcotic license because there is no need for it in their line of work, but most general dentists and other dental specialists get the narcotic license. I have never thought to ask his friends about their experience with drug seekers, but my husband had a strange experience with someone a few years ago. About a week after we met this individual at a neighborhood event she reached out to my husband complaining about pain and asking if he could prescribe her a certain narcotic. He was able to honestly answer her that he can only prescribe antibiotics, but it was an uncomfortable and slightly unnerving experience. I wonder if given the fairly sketchy description of where the Tepes lived if ST was ever asked by locals (or an addicted friend or family member) for a prescription. Not at the top of my list of reasons to be murdered, but perhaps it is one to consider.

One last thing to add is that from what I’ve seen through my husband and our other dentist friends is how close knit everyone becomes in a dental office- dental assistants, front desk, insurance coordinators, etc. They spend more time at work than with their families many days of the week, and they talk and share a lot. Of course this depends on the personality of the dentist and the staff- most dental staff seem to be fairly bubbly and extroverted whereas the doctor can be hit or miss in the talkative department. Sounds like ST was a super friendly, outgoing guy. I imagine the staff loved him, and they all had a great rapport with each other. I would be venture to say he told his staff things his family didn’t even know, not maliciously, but because they spent so much time together. Likewise, he probably knew a ton about the various assistants he worked with. The discrepancy in education level/pay scale can be a problem sometimes, however. My husband and his friends have experiences with assistants and other members of the staff asking for loans, asking for a place to stay, and being surrounded by a lot of drama. Looking at the bios where ST worked, the staff members in general seem deeply rooted in the practice and have worked there for a long time which is a good sign. Shows professionalism and loyalty in a profession that can have A LOT of turnover. I hope LE interviews every office member, especially hygienist and dental assistant, that ST has worked with, because chances are if something weird had been going on with a neighbor, one of the kids he was mentoring, a homeless man he had befriended or a family member, there is a good chance he mentioned it to someone. Even a patient might have important information for LE. Some of the dentists we know are so chatty with their patients as they work on them. They end up becoming good friends and inviting them to football gatherings, birthday parties, etc!

I’ll also add it’s a lot different being a dentist who is the owner of a dental practice than a dentist who is an associate. There is so much pressure on the owner. Of course the associate has a huge responsibility in terms of patient care, but they don’t have the same employee responsibility that the owner does. I think the owner handled this situation very well, especially considering they were on vacation.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it sheds light upon some of the nuances on ST’s profession!

 

[Moonchime]

Have to remember that those of us on these forums are people interested in crime/mystery so what’s common knowledge to us isn’t to everyone. To us, all you have to say is Delphi or Idaho 4 and we know exactly what you’re referencing.

Yes, it’s receiving nationwide attention in the true crime sphere, but I’d still say a significant majority of people are unaware. I live in the Columbus metro area and I haven’t heard anyone bring it up in casual conversation.

Wow! I guess that shouldn't surprise me, yet it does.