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

[su5ie]

I keep hearing that it was a targeted hit. What if it was a petty robber with a gun entering the home through an unlocked door thinking nobody is there? He encounters MT getting up to attend to the youngest. She screams and the robber grabs her as ST wakes up. The robber holding MT says don't come at me or I will shoot her. The robber then panics and shoots ST multiple times as he comes at him. Sensing trouble, the robber leaves immediately without taking anything.

Just because nothing was taken doesn't mean it wasn't an intended robbery.

I was thinking this too well similar scenario.

Monique was shot through the side of her chest

So I was thinking did a gunman hold a gun to her side while restraining her with an arm hold ,kind of like a hostage situation

Spencer is woken up or is awake and is threatened for money , drugs ,valuables in a safe etc and because the perp wasn't getting anything because there was nothing to be gained he shot spencer twice and then Monique in the side and escaped from the house.

Burglars can be very nimble and quiet and perp could have had a gun in case home owner had one beside the bed for defense

Children not disturbed because he didn't come to murder he came to steal something easily placed in a jacket pocket

It's the first time I've actually felt a targeted robbery by a stranger could be possible

 

[steeltowngirl]

When I'm suspicious of someone in a case, I'm almost always right (watts, Stauch, Merritt, etc). But I have never been fooled by someone who wound up being the killer.

There is no one here that's even given me a little bit of pause.

Are you still leaning towards a hit? Ever since you mentioned Betty Broderick upthread, a jilted lover has been in the back of my mind. Or possibly an unhinged stalker, or a short fling gone bad - a bunny boiler.

 

[Cassie P]

IMO it’s a little concerning the POI on video hasn’t come forward yet, and seems the tips r/t said POI haven’t led anywhere either as of yet.

Would we necessarily know if the POI came forward. Or if LE is surveilling the person?

Yes if innocent they may be afraid to come forward. If guilty very afraid to come forward. But sometimes a guilty person knows the walls are closing in and friends and family convince them to turn themselves in hopes of a better plea deal and/or avoiding a gun standoff situation involving the death of the killer, etc.

 

[Speculaytor]

Oh I thought you meant in the nearby area. There are upscale neighborhoods all around.

I don't think random stranger jealousy was the motive.

I don't think random stranger either. I believe it was targeted, but go between someone who knew them, and someone in the neighborhood of Weiland Park that knew of them. It is a house in the middle of a VERY low income area. As I pointed out in another thread, the elementary school a block away on 7th shows 100% of it's students are from low income families GreatSchools.Org. And there was a door banging incident, 911 call, on Dec 11, 2:30 am, just up the street on 4th.

 

[microsleuth88]

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2026/01/09/columbus-officer-went-wrong-street-tepe-house-body-camera-ohio-monique-spencer-killing-dentist-shot/88088519007/

Doesn't really change anything, but its awful to see that the police did a welfare check at the wrong address! I would hope they double check addresses better than this. No wonder they didn't find anything

 

[Cassie P]

I considered that also, but it seems that type of murder would happen during an actual argument where a person asking for money is refused, gets angry, and pulls a trigger. Done in an emotional state.

Killing the Tepes in bed in the middle of the night would serve no purpose if the end game was to get their money, unless the perp somehow was to benefit from their death (insurance, estate, etc.) Otherwise, killing them in revenge after already being denied money only adds to the person's issues - now they are also wanted for murder.

I get that murderers may not be acting logically, but this particular murder feels more planned and thought out.

JMO

Yes there could be an emotionally charged motive to the murders. But the crime was planned ahead of time in a way that did not result in quick or easy identification of the killer. So it was not impulsive and heat of the moment.

It is most likely going to be First Degree Murder. It is also unlikely to be Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGRI) due to the ability of the killer to plan ahead, no chaos at the crime scene indicative of acute psychosis, and ability to execute the plan so well.

 

[Cassie P]

I was thinking this too well similar scenario.

Monique was shot through the side of her chest

How would a killer inflict this kind of wound?

 

[fcavanaugh]

Would we necessarily know if the POI came forward. Or if LE is surveilling the person?

Yes if innocent they may be afraid to come forward. If guilty very afraid to come forward. But sometimes a guilty person knows the walls are closing in and friends and family convince them to turn themselves in hopes of a better plea deal and/or avoiding a gun standoff situation involving the death of the killer, etc.

RBBM
No probably not. It’s just what I came away with after reading the article dated yesterday that said LE told the outlet they’ve received numerous tips on the POI in the surveillance video. My thought was why would they still be talking about receiving tips if the POI had already come forward, thinking wouldn’t they announce to the public they located the person and no more tips needed. I’ve seen LE do that in a lot of other cases. Hope that makes sense.

But I know sometimes LE might not reveal things for strategic reasons and very well may be the POI has come forward or they’re surveilling them and just not telling us. I hadn’t thought of that so thanks for bringing it to my attention!

IMHOO

 

[Pyrite]

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.

Moo, but I can think of at least a few reasons he hasn’t came forward.
1. Doesn’t watch or read the news on tv the internet and hangs with people just like himself
2. Had nothing to do with the murders, thinks he doesn’t have info, so doesn’t get involved.
3. Had nothing to do with the murders but was up to no good in other ways, breaking in cars, meeting his drug dealer, etc and doesn’t want to explain why he was out there to the police.
4. Has a shady background, rap sheet, on probation, and is afraid to get involved with the law.

 

[nerosleuth]

Yes there could be an emotionally charged motive to the murders. But the crime was planned ahead of time in a way that did not result in quick or easy identification of the killer. So it was not impulsive and heat of the moment.

It is most likely going to be First Degree Murder. It is also unlikely to be Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGRI) due to the ability of the killer to plan ahead, no chaos at the crime scene indicative of acute psychosis, and ability to execute the plan so well.

I agree that this is a premeditated murder that was planned ahead of time.

I'm also thinking that it was planned to have the murders look like that it was committed by an amateur in hopes of misleading the police investigation.

 

[Sadi]

That's what struck me and made me feel like it had to be someone somewhat familiar to them. Someone that's been in the house.

They were extremely brazen and confident, breaking in in the middle of the night, not worrying about being stopped, caught by cameras or floodlights, S or M waking up or fighting back, the dog barking, finding their way around the home etc. They truly didn't seem to have a care in the world. It's so senseless and unthinkable.

The room thing is an interesting question - he could've immediately flicked on the light and caught them unaware, but again, that's another level of confidence and potential familiarity with the home. Breaking into someone's house, making your way up to their room all while assuming no one has waken up, opening their door and feeling around for the light switch etc. All an insane level of brazenness.

It seems like S and M were very generous and kind and hosted a lot of people at their home over the years so it could've genuinely been anyone vaguely familiar with them and their home.

I was thinking about this too, we have several motion sensor nightlights in our house, maybe they did too? Some questions I have that we obviously don’t know the answers to: Was the killer able to enter their bedroom unnoticed and shoot both immediately? Or enter and held the gun telling them to remain silent, maybe demanding some information? Were they able to see their face and/recognize their voice? Not sure if they had indoor security cameras, but if so they would have these details. Could the baby monitor (assuming they had one) pick up the gunshots and talking?

 

[Deleted member 372710]

I was thinking about this too, we have several motion sensor nightlights in our house, maybe they did too? Some questions I have that we obviously don’t know the answers to: Was the killer able to enter their bedroom unnoticed and shoot both immediately? Or enter and held the gun telling them to remain silent, maybe demanding some information? Were they able to see their face and/recognize their voice? Not sure if they had indoor security cameras, but if so they would have these details. Could the baby monitor (assuming they had one) pick up the gunshots and talking?

Great thinking about the baby monitor!

 

[Bigditch]

I keep hearing that it was a targeted hit. What if it was a petty robber with a gun entering the home through an unlocked door thinking nobody is there? He encounters MT getting up to attend to the youngest. She screams and the robber grabs her as ST wakes up. The robber holding MT says don't come at me or I will shoot her. The robber then panics and shoots ST multiple times as he comes at him. Sensing trouble, the robber leaves immediately without taking anything.

Just because nothing was taken doesn't mean it wasn't an intended robbery.

I've always thought that garages, although nice to have, might give off the impression that no one is home.

 

[Sadi]

Great thinking about the baby monitor!

We had a baby monitor when my kids were younger and sometimes it would pick up another monitor from another house. We knew our neighbors and no one near us had young children, so we had no clue who it was. It was creepy and we could hear their conversation in their children’s room, we only turned ours on at night from then on.

 

[clearskies1]

I considered that also, but it seems that type of murder would happen during an actual argument where a person asking for money is refused, gets angry, and pulls a trigger. Done in an emotional state.

Killing the Tepes in bed in the middle of the night would serve no purpose if the end game was to get their money, unless the perp somehow was to benefit from their death (insurance, estate, etc.) Otherwise, killing them in revenge after already being denied money only adds to the person's issues - now they are also wanted for murder.

I get that murderers may not be acting logically, but this particular murder feels more planned and thought out.

JMO

I understand. I was thinking simmering anger and resentment at their lifestyle and decision not to help. Murder is usually not logical. But I get your point.

 

[Janitor101]

I hear this frequently - the perpetrator sometimes feels a psychological compulsion to return to the scene or witness the finality of their crime at a funeral. Or someone's demeanor is off, which draws suspicion.

What's the last case we've heard of, where this produced solid intel for LE? Curious if anyone has info to share.

Just piggybacking on your post here....What is also interesting to me is the investigators zeroing in on those visitors whose behavior draws unnecessary attention or raises eyebrows in some way. It isn't unheard of that a guest will later approach LE to report something said or heard at the visitation/funeral that raised their suspicions.

 

[Cryptic]

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

I don't think the motive was robbery,

But to understand a robbery motive, I think we need to leave Columbus as a whole far behind and dial down deep into that particular neighborhood.

Criminals tend to hunt in areas that they are familiar with. The area where the Tepes lived is blended. Some parts are gentrifying. Other parts, however, retain the olde school higher crime tradition.

A local stated that the Tempe's house and adjacent homes are on the frontier of the gentrification. As a result, they stand out. A robbery motive could then be a blend of:

- We know the area, in fact, we live near by. Those houses in particular stand out as targets for consideration. We don't know what jobs the others owners have, but a doctor lives in this one. We believe that doctors are especially wealthy....

 

[su5ie]

How would a killer inflict this kind of wound?

As I described or multiple other ways

Bullets trajectory exiting one person into another asleep on their back ?

Side sleeping , close range ?

Back sleeper shot from side angle ?

Person turning / running etc as trigger is pulled

List is endless

 

[armchairagatha]

I can understand the owner of the dental practice calling 911, but why did 2 friends of ST's also show up at the scene? I think out of the 3 males, one was a co-worker's husband and the other two were his friends (or maybe one was a neighbor?) Did the dental practice call the friend as well after they couldn't reach the Tepes? Or did the friend receive a tip (anonymous or otherwise) that told him the Tepes were in grave danger and/or dead?

 

[su5ie]

I can understand the owner of the dental practice calling 911, but why did 2 friends of ST's also show up at the scene? I think out of the 3 males, one was a co-worker's husband and the other two were his friends (or maybe one was a neighbor?) Did the dental practice call the friend as well after they couldn't reach the Tepes? Or did the friend receive a tip (anonymous or otherwise) that told him the Tepes were in grave danger and/or dead?

Prehaps the friend was an emergency contact for Spencer

A lot of jobs / schools like to have at least two emergency contacts in the event one can not be reached.

I have 3 different emergency contacts