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

[Cassie P]

It bothers me that he revealed that the children are staying at his house. IMO, that should have been kept a secret.

Especially since the killer is still at large.

 

[arielilane]

I suspect LE has Spencer's and Monique's phones?

 

[Cassie P]

The casing is the part of the round that holds the gun powder an primer, it is tube shaped. The bullet is the actual projectile part of the round, think the tip of the round.

With a semi-auto or automatic firearm, yes, a casing would be ejected with each round fired...unless the firearm was equipped with a brass catcher. People use brass catchers to catch the spent casing so it can be reloaded thus, saving money on buying new rounds. IMO, It would not be practical to have a brass catcher on a gun to commit a crime...too bulky. With a revolver, the casings are NOT ejected with each shot fired.

The casings might be able to be used to ID the gun but, if my forensic understanding is correct, investigators would need possession of the gun to compare it to the casings and/or bullets.

Edited to correct typos.

So what kind of gun leaves casings? Only larger guns?

The killer might have left the casings for a number of reasons?
-Time issue.
-It was dark and he didn't want to turn on the light?
-He didn't think the casings could be used against him as evidence?

 

[Moonstrawbs]

Maybe he left the casings as the gun he used belonged to someone else so they wouldn't directly connect him to the crime..who knows at this point really. Jmo.

 

[justtrish]

Can you explain the casing situation a bit more?
Are the casings automatically ejected with each shot?
Why would the killer leave the casings? Time issue?
Can the casings be used to identify the killer's gun?

@STLBlues explained this better than I could!

As for the casing yes they can be used and I don't know if the killer just rushed out, didn't want to pick them up for some other reason or what, but if LE has a gun they suspect is the murder weapon they can fire it and compare the markings left on the casings to the casings left at the scene and tell if it's a match. So let's say they find a suspect and he has a gun, or he is in a car and they find a gun in the car, they can compare and tell if that was the murder weapon. Another scenario is if the gun was used in another crime, they can also compare evidence from that crime to this one and tell if the same gun was used.

 

[Cassie P]

I suspect LE has Spencer's and Monique's phones?

I would assume LE has the phones, diaries, calendars.
Has spoken to friends, family, co-workers for personal habits, activities, schedules.

Where has the couple been, what groups, activities, hobbies?
Did they report problems or concerns about any issues. Threats, fears, etc.

Are there any other suspicious deaths, missing persons in the city or area that could be connected, etc.

The FBI has experts who can analyze video related to crime scenes. I wonder if LE can ask for this help with the video that was made public.

 

[stmichael]

Just out of interest as my awareness of guns is zilch apart from you shoot from them

What guns shoot 9mm bullets

And could the weird gait be attributed to carrying a gun on the hip or in a pocket ?

9mm is the most common/popular handgun caliber.

There are many, many handgun models including the popular Austrian Glock 19 and 17 are chambered in 9mm. This used to be a standard issue sidearm for many police departments (Glock 19) and the military (Beretta M9). Many departments have switched to 40S&W (G22/23) for more stopping power (I carried a Glock 22 for years and my personal sidearm was a Kimber 1911 in .45).

I would say a 9mm handgun is the most ubiquitous handgun on the streets and can be easily procured in some model for cheap by a criminal or by a homeowner through legal means.

You can also have long-guns (rifles) and pistol caliber carbines (PCC) which are compact rifles chambered in 9mm. I have an AR-15 rifle converted to 9mm that I take to the range, simply cause it's cheaper to shoot with less report and recoil than a 5.56.

As for the gait, a Glock 19 is 24 ounces unloaded and very concealable.

 

[justtrish]

So what kind of gun leaves casings? Only larger guns?

The killer might have left the casings for a number of reasons?
-Time issue.
-It was dark and he didn't want to turn on the light?
-He didn't think the casings could be used against him as evidence?

Most guns eject casings. I think revolvers do not and maybe muzzleloaders.

Now they do make something to catch casings, which I just call a brass catcher. It attaches to the gun and the casings go into it instead of flying out on the ground. I don't know that most criminals up to not good have those, but maybe if you were really careful and watched to make sure you didn't leave anything behind you would. I think people that want to shoot a lot like target practice maybe use them, so they don't have to walk around collecting up the casings after shooting.

 

[Pyrite]

So what kind of gun leaves casings? Only larger guns?

The killer might have left the casings for a number of reasons?
-Time issue.
-It was dark and he didn't want to turn on the light?
-He didn't think the casings could be used against him as evidence?

Size doesn’t matter when it comes to leaving casings. The type of action is what matters. A semi auto ejects the casing to load the next cartridge to the firing chamber.
A revolver has cartridges in a revolving cylinder, usually 6 cartridges, but it can be a different number. It revolves either by pulling the hammer back, or pulling the trigger (single action vs double action) and lines the next cartridge up with the barrel for firing. Casing are ejected manually by the shooter after firing is completed or the revolver is out of cartridges and needs to be reloaded. That’s kind of simplified.
There are other action types on handguns and long guns but most handguns are either semi auto or revolver.

 

[Cassie P]

@STLBlues explained this better than I could!

As for the casing yes they can be used and I don't know if the killer just rushed out, didn't want to pick them up for some other reason or what, but if LE has a gun they suspect is the murder weapon they can fire it and compare the markings left on the casings to the casings left at the scene and tell if it's a match. So let's say they find a suspect and he has a gun, or he is in a car and they find a gun in the car, they can compare and tell if that was the murder weapon. Another scenario is if the gun was used in another crime, they can also compare evidence from that crime to this one and tell if the same gun was used.

Thank you for the info. So LE will need a suspected murder weapon and casings from other crimes to make a match.

So perhaps the killer has never used this gun for any other crimes. And he knows he is going to have to destroy the gun now. If he is apprehended the gun evidence will be damning.

 

[MassGuy]

So what kind of gun leaves casings? Only larger guns?

The killer might have left the casings for a number of reasons?
-Time issue.
-It was dark and he didn't want to turn on the light?
-He didn't think the casings could be used against him as evidence?

Semiautomatic guns leave casings, unlike a revolver which stores them in the cylinder (spinny thing in cowboy movies).

Semi auto rifles and handguns leave them, but based on the round size and practicality, were certainly talking about a handgun here.

Semi auto on the left, revolver on the right.

 

[Covert Operative]

Ashley Banfield has a segment on her show and speaks to the BIL and it also shows him. There is an annoying advertisement in the middle of segment you prob have to watch to see the whole thing.

 

[stmichael]

THE KILLER LEFT THE CASINGS


In addition to the write up I wrote just upstream about 9mm handguns, long guns and pistol caliber carbines.


The spent casings left at scene would indicate someone who's not a pro. A professional or calm intelligent killer with a suppressor (which I still maintain is more far fetched) would have picked up 3 spent casings. This is crucial. They are the only ballistic link to the murder weapon and a big deal. Some hitmen prefer shotguns for this very reason (smooth bore no matching rifling for ballistic match). Casings can also have fingerprints on them though these are easier to get off longer rifle rounds with more circumference (though a pro wouldn't leave prints on rounds).

The three spent common 9mm rounds found on the scene along with 2 shots to the husband and one to the wife leads me towards a sudden shooting and hasty, sloppy retreat.

In fact many of us who reload our own ammunition, when we go to the range pick up our own brass casings. When I shoot outdoors I often do this out of habit. No pro with the proficiency to make a suppressor would leave 3 shiny casings that link him definitively to the murder weapon.

 

[Cassie P]

Size doesn’t matter when it comes to leaving casings. The type of action is what matters. A semi auto ejects the casing to load the next cartridge to the firing chamber.
A revolver has cartridges in a revolving cylinder, usually 6 cartridges, but it can be a different number. It revolves either by pulling the hammer back, or pulling the trigger (single action vs double action) and lines the next cartridge up with the barrel for firing. Casing are ejected manually by the shooter after firing is completed or the revolver is out of cartridges and needs to be reloaded. That’s kind of simplified.
There are other action types on handguns and long guns but most handguns are either semi auto or revolver.

Thank you for the info.

Since the killer was on foot or in a vehicle parked on the street or ally, he would have chosen a gun he could conceal under his coat.
A long gun doesn't make sense.

Unless he thought he could quickly exit in a vehicle with no one seeing him. Or perhaps he hid the gun or disposed of it soon after the murder.

 

[MassGuy]

THE KILLER LEFT THE CASINGS


In addition to the write up I wrote just upstream about 9mm handguns, long guns and pistol caliber carbines.


The spent casings left at scene would indicate someone who's not a pro. A professional or calm intelligent killer with a suppressor (which I still maintain is more far fetched) would have picked up 3 spent casings. This is crucial. They are the only ballistic link to the murder weapon and a big deal. Some hitmen prefer shotguns for this very reason (smooth bore no matching rifling for ballistic match).
The three spent common 9mm rounds found on the scene along with 2 shots to the husband and one to the wife leads me towards a sudden shooting and hasty, sloppy retreat.

In fact many of us who reload our own ammunition, when we go to the range pick up our own brass casings. When I shoot outdoors I often do this out of habit. No pro with the proficiency to make a suppressor would leave 3 shiny casings that link him definitively to the murder weapon.

Not just the ballistics, but DNA as well. There are now really effective methods at obtaining DNA from spent casings, which was successfully used in the Brown University shootings case.

 

[STLBlues]

Semiautomatic guns leave casings, unlike a revolver which stores them in the cylinder (spinny thing in cowboy movies).

Semi auto rifles and handguns leave them, but based on the round size and practicality, were certainly talking about a handgun here.

Semi auto on the left, revolver on the right.

View attachment 635479

Completely agree that a semi-auto handgun was used in this crime.

 

[stmichael]

Sure, I edited to include fingerprints. But again, a pro would not load a firearm with his fingers touching the brass.

And we've even seen messages scribble/etched on spent casings in recent school shooters and the Charlie Kirk assassination.

 

[stmichael]

Not just the ballistics, but DNA as well. There are now really effective methods at obtaining DNA from spent casings, which was successfully used in the Brown University shootings case.

^

 

[Sadi]

Glock and Sig Sauer are very popular and reliable and have huge followings.

Yes, a firearm has to be modified to accept a suppressor (if it wasn't factory built that way).

To be honest, and in my experience, I don't think suppressors are as common as people think they are. I'm in my late 50s and have been around firearms my whole life. In that time, I've only seen 2 suppressors in person.

Dbm

 

[stmichael]

Thank you for the info.

Since the killer was on foot or in a vehicle parked on the street or ally, he would have chosen a gun he could conceal under his coat.
A long gun doesn't make sense.

Unless he thought he could quickly exit in a vehicle with no one seeing him. Or perhaps he hid the gun or disposed of it soon after the murder.

Handguns make up the majority of crime, especially in cities. A 9mm handgun is like a honda civic in terms of commonality,
Any burglar, gangbanger or druggie in Columbus would likely have a 9mm (good chance it's a Glock or some cheapo clone). It's practically a meme.