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

[nhmemorymaker]

For those unfamiliar with the area, maybe this will help the mind’s eye.

High Street is the main artery for all of Columbus. 4th Street is three streets east of High. I’d consider High St & 15th Ave to be the center of where the OSU campus & off campus merge. So the home is 3 blocks east and 7 or so blocks south of the heart of campus. This can be a little confusing; the numbered AVENUES run east west while 4th STREET runs north south. So 4th St and 4th Ave intersect.

For argument’s sake let’s call the statehouse at High & Broad the center of downtown Columbus. The home is about 3 miles north of that. So between OSU and downtown.

In the immediate area of the home you’ll find a mix of undergrad & grad student renters, single family owner occupied, renters that are not students, and probably a couple Airbnb's. I’d say the vast majority of homes there are older duplexes or four plexes. It’s pretty dense urban so the safety can change block to block. 20 years ago the rule was not to go east of 4th, but that has changed. I used to live very close by and in the subsequent years I’ve had hundreds of renters across multiple properties, and never once have I had anyone complain about safety concerns and many students stay multiple years. That’s not to say it’s an A+ neighborhood, but this is definitely on the “right” side of interstate 71.

I've been gone a long time...
but I always felt the stretch between Broad and High and the University to be safe. While there for my undergrad years, I had various jobs scattered in that area just south of the University..and walked to them all, even late at night. But those were different times back then, I am aware.
It appears that their house and two/one on either side are relatively new.... not even present in the most recent Google maps view.

Let me ask @OhioGuy .... has there been any local news on any home invasions in the broader Columbus area recently?? I know this has been speculated... and suggested that the Tepes could have opened the door...even if a stranger.

They are not discussing what might have come from Rings and that security camera... I feel sooo confident that they do HAVE something.........

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

A friend called the police again at 9:57 a.m. to report hearing children crying inside the house and that no one was coming to the door.
The friend allegedly told dispatchers in another 911 call that they could see Spencer’s body inside the home and “he appears dead," per the outlet.

I’m wondering if someone was able to get inside the home between those two calls.

That’s my assumption. It’s been stated in some news reports, but I know early news reports are not reliable. But it makes sense.

This is not the first completely useless wellness check I’ve heard of. There needs to be a better system, especially where children are involved. Maybe they need to start working on a warrant as soon as they can’t establish wellness. Maybe you can have a voluntary system where you can opt in to LE being able to break in for a wellness check when one is called in.

I’ve also wondered about why they sent police to the home when a car accident would be the more likely answer, but I can think of various theories. Even if they couldn’t rule it out, they may have still wanted to send someone in case it was a problem in the home, given that time is of the essence in that situation. Or someone could have driven his commute if it was known, as someone suggested. Or where I live at least, you can get pretty good information on local car accidents through a combination of Waze, Citizen, and the real-time state police highway call logs that are available online.

 

[OhioGuy]

I've been gone a long time...
but I always felt the stretch between Broad and High and the University to be safe. While there for my undergrad years, I had various jobs scattered in that area just south of the University..and walked to them all, even late at night. But those were different times back then, I am aware.
It appears that their house and two/one on either side are relatively new.... not even present in the most recent Google maps view.

Let me ask @OhioGuy .... has there been any local news on any home invasions in the broader Columbus area recently?? I know this has been speculated... and suggested that the Tepes could have opened the door...even if a stranger.

They are not discussing what might have come from Rings and that security camera... I feel sooo confident that they do HAVE something.........

Those homes are definitely pretty new, built within the last five years. They are definitely on the higher end relative to the immediate area. I’d estimate the value in the high 700s or low 800s. I wouldn’t go as far to say they stick out.

I haven’t noticed any uptick in reporting about break-ins or anything like that.

I’m 100% in agreement regarding the ring cameras. The area is dense enough that everything at least in the front of the homes is going to be covered. My concern with that would be that possibly darkness covered up whatever happened. Based on the reporting, this could’ve happened anytime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. But with all those cameras, they should at the very least have audio of the exact moment shots were fired.

What I don’t know, is whether ring cameras record everything? Or are they essentially “asleep” until motion is detected from a certain distance and then they kick on to detect audio and video? If the latter is the case, then the neighboring cameras would not be of assistance.

 

[Ruby_PA]

I have a handful of properties that are all within about a mile of this home, some within just a block or so. Over the years, we’ve had family members request wellness checks for our residents so I’m a little familiar with the process for CPD. No idea if it varies by county, state, so on. Thankfully those well checks all ended fine. However, a locked and silent home isn’t a cause to go inside, so I’ve had to go to the properties with keys as the police will not enter if there is not cause. Not an expert by any means, but I believe had the police seen/heard distress at the initial call, they’d have cause to access, via force or otherwise.

They can only enter without a warrant if there are exigent circumstances, I believe. There has to be evidence of someone in imminent danger.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Years does not sound like a brand new job, so that’s a new bit of info. Just terribly

Well, the statement says "the many patients he cared for over the years." It didn't say "the many patients he cared for over the years at Dental Depot." They may have been referring to patients in general.

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

What I don’t know, is whether ring cameras record everything? Or are they essentially “asleep” until motion is detected from a certain distance and then they kick on to detect audio and video? If the latter is the case, then the neighboring cameras would not be of assistance.

It depends on your settings. You can set it to record audio or not. You can set it to record motion or not. But I don’t think any record continuously. And your access to recordings depends on whether you pay a monthly subscription fee. You’re right that if the perpetrator didn’t come through the front, a Ring doorbell will be useless. Other neighbors’ security cameras might capture more, though.

Or it can be like mine and just decoration, with the battery dead 90% of the time. I am generally not interested in opening my door to anyone who can’t text me to tell me they’re here.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

I was reading back some of the previous articles and I noticed this I missed earlier :

"Ethan Garcia, 25, lives across the street from with his girlfriend and also said that he didn't know the couple very well. He said he would often see Monique leaving for work about the same time that he was leaving every morning."
BBM

Shooting in Columbus' Weinland Park neighborhood kills dentist, wife

I thought she was a stay-at-home mum.
Does anybody know if she actually worked?
Apologies if I missed it.



This always baffles me...what wellness do they check by ringing a doorbell and accepting that no one answers?
I do understand that there is not much they can do if they see no obvious sinister signs, but in this case the kids could have been left there alone for a long time if the friends had not intervened....it's quite disturbing.

I don't know what the law actually says, but I imagine there's some nuance here. Someone being an hour late for work doesn't necessarily constitute law enforcement breaking into the home. I totally get why colleagues called for a well check, but residents have rights and police can't just break into the home just because someone is late to work or may have overslept. I would guess police called the caller back and probably said they'll make another well check at the end of the day if they don't turn up or if any other information comes to light. Really, when you think about it, if Spencer worked somewhere else where patients or customers weren't directly dependent on him, would colleagues call for a well check after only one hour? Most likely not. People oversleep, get stuck in traffic, etc. But his line of work, coupled with how reliable he likely was, is what led them to get concerned. But for law enforcement, an hour late to work is likely not a significant clue as to someone being dead or something being very wrong.

MOO.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Reminds me of the horrific Harvey family murders. The family was preparing for a New Year’s party and the front door was open IIRC. The killers just walked right in.

Man convicted of killing family of 4 is executed in Virginia - 47abc

(AP) - Virginia has executed a man convicted of killing two young girls and their parents during a New Year's Day home invasion more than 11 years ago.

www.wmdt.com

geeeez. That's quite an awful story....
Execution only took a decade. Not bad actually.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

It depends on your settings. You can set it to record audio or not. You can set it to record motion or not. But I don’t think any record continuously. And your access to recordings depends on whether you pay a monthly subscription fee. You’re right that if the perpetrator didn’t come through the front, a Ring doorbell will be useless. Other neighbors’ security cameras might capture more, though.

Or it can be like mine and just decoration, with the battery dead 90% of the time. I am generally not interested in opening my door to anyone who can’t text me to tell me they’re here.

i didn't want to leave a laughing emoji... but I still had to do a quick giggle.

 

[OhioGuy]

It depends on your settings. You can set it to record audio or not. You can set it to record motion or not. But I don’t think any record continuously. And your access to recordings depends on whether you pay a monthly subscription fee. You’re right that if the perpetrator didn’t come through the front, a Ring doorbell will be useless. Other neighbors’ security cameras might capture more, though.

Or it can be like mine and just decoration, with the battery dead 90% of the time. I am generally not interested in opening my door to anyone who can’t text me to tell me they’re here.

Makes sense. In that neighborhood if you got an alert any time someone walked by your place on the sidewalk, you’d get nothing but alerts all day. Hopefully, someone’s camera caught something. Publicly, they aren’t pleading for people to come forward with video so I’m hopeful they’re just zeroing in.

 

[keek]

Many places have rules where police officers can't walk around looking in windows, even during a well-being check. It looks like Ohio allows cops to look where a "normal visitor" would look. So they could look in your front windows near the door, but couldn't walk around the side and peer in.

Unless of course they have more indication something is wrong.
[/Quote

TERRIBLY dangerous and irresponsible. I'm sure they have their reasons for safety or so but not practical or safe for the person having the well being call made on if not SEEN. IMO

 

[maamager]

Got some front pictures and a video of me cruising down the alley behind the house. Not very illuminating, sorry about that. I have a video driving up but some people were congregating so I’m omitting that for privacy.

alley video: IMG_1820.MOV

eta: you can really see the mixed neighborhood…. and boy, cameras EVERYWHERE. a police crime camera just diagonal of them too.

eta2: removed the neighboring house images to avoid confusion

 

[maamager]

imo law enforcement knows who did this. the crime camera, the silence from LE…. THEY KNOW.

 

[Ms Scarlett]

I've been gone a long time...
but I always felt the stretch between Broad and High and the University to be safe. While there for my undergrad years, I had various jobs scattered in that area just south of the University..and walked to them all, even late at night. But those were different times back then, I am aware.
It appears that their house and two/one on either side are relatively new.... not even present in the most recent Google maps view.

Let me ask @OhioGuy .... has there been any local news on any home invasions in the broader Columbus area recently?? I know this has been speculated... and suggested that the Tepes could have opened the door...even if a stranger.

They are not discussing what might have come from Rings and that security camera... I feel sooo confident that they do HAVE something.........

I believe if you walk or drive a little ways in either direction from the Tepe house on 4th St, things get sketchy. That’s just my opinion tho.

 

[AH1122]

Local news is reporting Columbus Police are seeking information from the public (official release can also be found on the Columbus Police Department’s Facebook page)

Columbus police looking for photos, videos to assist in fatal shooting investigation of husband, wife

Investigators said no weapon was found at the scene and there were no signs of forced entry. Two children were found inside the home and were not injured.

www.10tv.com

 

[TruCrimeTime]

Those homes are definitely pretty new, built within the last five years. They are definitely on the higher end relative to the immediate area. I’d estimate the value in the high 700s or low 800s. I wouldn’t go as far to say they stick out.

I haven’t noticed any uptick in reporting about break-ins or anything like that.

I’m 100% in agreement regarding the ring cameras. The area is dense enough that everything at least in the front of the homes is going to be covered. My concern with that would be that possibly darkness covered up whatever happened. Based on the reporting, this could’ve happened anytime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. But with all those cameras, they should at the very least have audio of the exact moment shots were fired.

What I don’t know, is whether ring cameras record everything? Or are they essentially “asleep” until motion is detected from a certain distance and then they kick on to detect audio and video? If the latter is the case, then the neighboring cameras would not be of assistance.

I live in Italian Village, and our friends are actually Neigbors in that group of homes. I would agree with your description of the area. As others may have said, the capturing is a setting you can adjust to “record all the time” or by “motion” etc

 

[mom2tee]

Reminds me of the horrific Harvey family murders. The family was preparing for a New Year’s party and the front door was open IIRC. The killers just walked right in.

Man convicted of killing family of 4 is executed in Virginia - 47abc

(AP) - Virginia has executed a man convicted of killing two young girls and their parents during a New Year's Day home invasion more than 11 years ago.

www.wmdt.com

I am local to that story and this week is the 20th anniversary. So terrible. Just ... horrific. I also am in the "I don't open my door for ANYONE camp". Sigh.

 

[tlcya]

imo law enforcement knows who did this. the crime camera, the silence from LE…. THEY KNOW.

you may very well be correct, they are very very quite and haven't seemed to request much in the way of the public's help, suggesting they know a lot more than we do about the who and the why.

 

[Ms Scarlett]

Got some front pictures and a video of me cruising down the alley behind the house. Not very illuminating, sorry about that. I have a video driving up but some people were congregating so I’m omitting that for privacy.

alley video: IMG_1820.MOV

eta: you can really see the mixed neighborhood…. and boy, cameras EVERYWHERE. a police crime camera just diagonal of them too.

I think you got the wrong house. The address is 1411 N 4th St. Here’s a pic of it…

 

[maamager]

you may very well be correct, they are very very quite and haven't seemed to request much in the way of the public's help, suggesting they know a lot more than we do about the who and the why.

exactly. i would also hope CPD would flag a killer at large too if they truly had nothing…