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

[Mayor Perk]

I would assume 911 geolocation tracking is extremely accurate given the stakes. Is it possible it could ping a location next door or across the street? I don't know anything about that technology.

 

[osu]

I posted up thread that I have the same Yale electronic locks installed on my home. Someone asked if there is an ongoing log available showing when the door is opened, closed and locked? There is a log available in the settings function on the Yale app. It shows the dates/times, which of the codes were used to open the door, if the door locked automatically or if it was manually locked or unlocked.

 

[marloweclover]

Dogs are all different imo. Mine (pit-Weimaraner) doesn't bark about loud noises, even of the gunshot type, or the front door opening, but gets very agitated about perceived altercations, and will growl and monitor the window if people are merely walking by outside with "angry" voices. Still no barking though. Barking is extremely rare, mostly for extra disrespectful squirrels running the fence line.

But also, what was the dog barking supposed to do anyway? JMO, if someone was being murdered every time I heard a dog barking a lot at 3 am, my neighborhood would be a ghost town.

 

[Bodhi]

No, it doesn't look like he is running a Go Fund Me. A cousin to Spencer set up a Go Fund Me. I'm not sure why a Go Fund Me campaign would be suspect.

Can we please refrain from speaking negatively about the brother-in-law?

I'm with you. Monique's brother is a victim. This is a victim-friendly forum.

Extend this man some grace. He's traumatized. He is doing what he thinks is right. He's taking care of his sister's children. His interviews are keeping the search for who killed their parents in the news. He is not profiting off the murders. He is not even organizing the . His deceased brother-in-law's cousin is. Money raised will support the children and their caregivers. This man's personality and actions are being dissected by commenters who come to opposite conclusions.

A former partner has also been identified by name and discussed as if relevant by commenters who doxed the individual and a different person with the same name and who don't understand restraint clauses are standard in divorce cases in Ohio.

The day after the mass shooting at Brown, the name of a person being interviewed was leaked by law enforcement. Both he and a completely unrelated man with the same name were smeared in the media and social media. The individual police questioned was released; he was not involved. In the week after the shooting, national media outlets identified and targeted a Muslim student at Brown as the shooter. His physical safety was in jeopardy. He had no involvement either.

You ranted unring a bell. The innocent young men identified and targeted as the Brown shooter will be dealing with the followout for decades.

Let's take it slowly here. Absent substantiation or any indication of involvement, let's show compassion for the people close to this couple. They're hurting and coping as best they can.

 

[stmichael]

Dogs are all different imo. Mine (pit-Weimaraner) doesn't bark about loud noises, even of the gunshot type, or the front door opening, but gets very agitated about perceived altercations, and will growl and monitor the window if people are merely walking by outside with "angry" voices. Still no barking though. Barking is extremely rare, mostly for extra disrespectful squirrels running the fence line.

But also, what was the dog barking supposed to do anyway? JMO, if someone was being murdered every time I heard a dog barking a lot at 3 am, my neighborhood would be a ghost town.

This.

When I lived in New York City I was so desensitized to loud bangs and noises at all hours. When I moved to a wooded suburb, duck hunting on the nearby river wakes me up at 7 am. And neighbors dogs bark at all times of the night, probably a deer or coyote. Ignore it.

I wouldn't put too much into the published neighbor quotes. I would not be surprised if they expanded their statement to the police in actual interviews (i.e. "I did hear something but thought it was fireworks and went back to sleep" etc.) At this point I'm assuming the golden doodle barked and maybe the kids yelled (though I pray they slept through it). It would not make a difference in this case.

 

[calmdownjudy]

The dog could have been crated JMO.

 

[white rabbit]

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.

i've been here for a really long time...the honda civic reference made me laugh (which we all rarely do here for obvious reasons)...because it's spot-on and so true.

what bothers me most about this discussion is the assumption that the perp cared about the children hence leaving them alive...if the perp cared about the children, he/she/they (and IMO it's 'he', close to the family and knew the keycode) wouldn't have murdered their parents.

it's someone the family knows, IMO...also why LE is present at two relatives' homes.

i too saw the "face" in the blurry video. IMO the perp was leaving a crime scene calmly and coolly given the freezing temperatures and the crazy time of night. IMO he wasn't a pro, or a family member but was definitely hired by a friend or family member...

 

[Cassie P]

That's exact;ly what I would expect from my experience in a robbery gone wrong with some tweaker not thinking straight. Got in easy due to opportunity (poor security IMO major walking traffic in front of house, prob notice it a lot). Walked up quietly like a robber would in the middle of the nigh and panicked when confronted and shot quickly and ran. Only 3 shots (2 to male, 1 to female) consistent with reactionary shooting, cases left hastily behind, Fits with a lot of botched robbery cases I've seen over the years with some Skell or young gangbanger doing incredibly stupid things with no value for life.

We don't know if they awakened the kids, how quickly it went down, or if the goldendoodle was locked up in another room. Could have woke the kids and the dog was barking and they ran. Very possible the police have interviews suggesting this that they did not leak. Anything we do know doesn't contradict this plausible outcome, but of course there is so little to go on it could be a million things still.

In this theory, what was the tweaker robber looking for? Cash, jewelry, etc?? He does this with sleeping adults in the house and thinks they won't notice? Or thinks he can do a smash and grab?

Or he doesn't think this far ahead? I am trying to understand the mindset of the tweaker robber in this theory.

 

[calmdownjudy]

I posted up thread that I have the same Yale electronic locks installed on my home. Someone asked if there is an ongoing log available showing when the door is opened, closed and locked? There is a log available in the settings function on the Yale app. It shows the dates/times, which of the codes were used to open the door, if the door locked automatically or if it was manually locked or unlocked.

ETA: Screenshot of my Front Door log.

Thank you for sharing this! I have a quick question. When it says "auto lock" does that mean that the door locks by itself when closed?

 

[osu]

Thank you for sharing this! I have a quick question. When it says "auto lock" does that mean that the door locks by itself when closed?

Yes, the door automatically locks after it’s closed. I have mine set to lock at 30 seconds after the door closes but you can set it to lock shorter or longer than that.

There’s also a manual dead bolt latch that if I want to lock it immediately I just turn the latch to lock.

 

[stmichael]

In this theory, what was the tweaker robber looking for? Cash, jewelry, etc?? He does this with sleeping adults in the house and thinks they won't notice? Or thinks he can do a smash and grab?

Or he doesn't think this far ahead? I am trying to understand the mindset of the tweaker robber in this theory.

"He doesn't think this far ahead" describes 99% of methheads, crackheads and other fine criminals. I'm sure you've read many "Florida man" stories in the news and had a hard time believing they are true. They are.

The house is on a very walkable street down the way from a park that has known drug activity and crime. There have been burglaries in the area and murders in recent years. It is one of the "fancier" new houses in an upcoming gentrified area with a visible presence, large windows and the appeal of "hey there's probably something nice there". Maybe they knew he was a dentist and made assumptions. Many dumb criminals make assumptions and even hit the wrong houses. Maybe it was someone who they helped out or a distant connection. Again, this is just one plausible scenario but I see it as very plausible. Could still be a lot of other things including an affair, ex, or some really crazy random scenario.

 

[armchairagatha]

I'm with you. Monique's brother is a victim. This is a victim-friendly forum.

Extend this man some grace. He's traumatized. He is doing what he thinks is right. He's taking care of his sister's children. His interviews are keeping the search for who killed their parents in the news. He is not profiting off the murders. He is not even organizing the . His deceased brother-in-law's cousin is. Money raised will support the children and their caregivers. This man's personality and actions are being dissected by commenters who come to opposite conclusions.

A former partner has also been identified by name and discussed as if relevant by commenters who doxed the individual and a different person with the same name and who don't understand restraint clauses are standard in divorce cases in Ohio.

The day after the mass shooting at Brown, the name of a person being interviewed was leaked by law enforcement. Both he and a completely unrelated man with the same name were smeared in the media and social media. The individual police questioned was released; he was not involved. In the week after the shooting, national media outlets identified and targeted a Muslim student at Brown as the shooter. His physical safety was in jeopardy. He had no involvement either.

You ranted unring a bell. The innocent young men identified and targeted as the Brown shooter will be dealing with the followout for decades.

Let's take it slowly here. Absent substantiation or any indication of involvement, let's show compassion for the people close to this couple. They're hurting and coping as best they can.

A small correction - isn't he Spencer's sister's husband? Not Monique's brother.

 

[ttjo]

FYI, surviving the survivor is doing another show on this subject, Im not trying to promote them , but they do always have expert guests if anyone is interested and
a family member is supposed to be on to talk about that previous 911 call from April. ??

 

[Gabry L]

All this talk about the possibility of a suppressor is because we think no one heard the gunshots, right?

My question is - do we KNOW no one heard the gunshots? Has LE publicly said no one heard the gunshots? If so, could someone point me towards the article? If it’s just a matter of us not having a public report of someone hearing the shots, it doesn’t necessarily mean no one did. What’s that quote, an absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of absence…

Suppressors are rare. It’s more likely, IMO, that someone DID hear the shots, and that’s just not public information.

 

[calmdownjudy]

Yes, the door automatically locks after it’s closed. I have mine set to lock at 30 seconds after the door closes but you can set it to lock shorter or longer than that.

This could be why LE is considering that the killer had been let into the house earlier in the evening or was already in the house "lying in wait" (per the LA magazine).

News Network and the LA Magazine reported that LE believes the window that the crime took place was between 2 AM and 5 AM.

I'm wondering if there wasn't an entry time recorded between the hours of 2 and 5, but there was an exit time recorded. MOO.

EBM

 

[academyrd]

You have to look at precedent. There are many incredibly sad random cases of stupid young criminals with no value for life reacting this way. This doesn't need to be anything more exotic. With all the information present in this case I see it as a very possible scenario. The way the police are proceeding leads me to think this is what it was (more of a random or quasi random interaction), especially with the location and history of the area.

Of course, we have very little to go by. I originally was leaning to a scorned ex/someone having an affair (when the preliminary info was saying the husband was shot disproportionately and the wife once. Then it turned out a standard double tap and single tap that any surprised strung-out burglar might react to). It can still be that but I don;t have the crime scene configuration, the personal interviews (that would paint a picture of a red flag or nothing there), the surveillance footage. etc.

There are still many plausible scenarios. Even far-fetched scenarios are plausible because they happen. Maybe this is that rare case, but it's also likely this is what I listed above.

Agree. Do you think the aforementioned skell was the same guy in the alley video? Could have been a druggie that said I’m going to solve my money problem right now once and for all and as you said, not thinking straight does something like walk into the master bedroom and panic.

 

[Bodhi]

A small correction - isn't he Spencer's sister's husband? Not Monique's brother.

He could be. Thanks for pointing that out. I've read he's her brother and that he is "a brother-in-law". He could well be Spencer's sister's husband. The reporting seems mixed. I looked for an obituary to clarify, but I didn't find one published yet. Whatever the exact relationship, by blood or by marriage, he's close enough to have custody of the children. I hope he gives the children a happy, stable home.

 

[drdetective]

FYI, surviving the survivor is doing another show on this subject, Im not trying to promote them , but they do always have expert guests if anyone is interested and
a family member is supposed to be on to talk about that previous 911 call from April. ??

Really appreciate you sharing! Just popped on to see RM chat with the host. Super interesting.

 

[drdetective]

He could be. Thanks for pointing that out. I've read he's her brother and that he is "a brother-in-law". He could well be Spencer's sister's husband. The reporting seems mixed. I looked for an obituary to clarify, but I didn't find one published yet. Whatever the exact relationship, by blood or by marriage, he's close enough to have custody of the children. I hope he gives the children a happy, stable home.

Are we sure he’s the custodian? I read that they had been with multiple relatives. If so, I think he lives out of town which honestly seems like it could be good for the kids. A fresh start.

 

[MassGuy]

All this talk about the possibility of a suppressor is because we think no one heard the gunshots, right?

My question is - do we KNOW no one heard the gunshots? Has LE publicly said no one heard the gunshots? If so, could someone point me towards the article? If it’s just a matter of us not having a public report of someone hearing the shots, it doesn’t necessarily mean no one did. What’s that quote, an absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of absence…

Suppressors are rare. It’s more likely, IMO, that someone DID hear the shots, and that’s just not public information.

Yes, that's the logic.

But suppressors don't lower the decibel level very much, and while loud indoors, those shots would likely not be loud outdoors.

Most people would be sleeping, and if they woke up they probably wouldn't have even recognized what they heard - especially if these three shots were fired in quick succession.