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

[stmichael]

If you go to google street view and try to go down E 8th Ave, the new houses pop up. You can also see that the house next to theirs on the corner of 4th and 8th had multiple exterior cameras, including on their garage in the back ally.

Yes. The detached garages/separate alley access is a bit dubious. You can see all the pictures of the entire home and property still up on the Redfin etc, listings (I always advise people to claim their listing take these down from public view). There seem to be plenty of residential cameras in the area, including the police Flock cams at the intersection (three views). One tricky thing with these cases is we get a lot of imperfect footage in private cameras (wrong angle, obstructions, Ring cam not charged) and it is not unusual to see footage of a person approaching a residence with a hoodie pulled down low and a mask (you've probably even seen this is Ring cam porch pirates etc.). We've seen the inadequacy of CCTV recently in the Brown University shooting. But hoping with that critical mass of surveillance in a city scenario something will come up (I would speculate a car was not use or not in the immediate area).

 

[OhioGuy]

Yes. The detached garages/separate alley access is a bit dubious. You can see all the pictures of the entire home and property still up on the Redfin etc, listings (I always advise people to claim their listing take these down from public view). There seem to be plenty of residential cameras in the area, including the police Flock cams at the intersection (three views). One tricky thing with these cases is we get a lot of imperfect footage in private cameras (wrong angle, obstructions, Ring cam not charged) and it is not unusual to see footage of a person approaching a residence with a hoodie pulled down low and a mask (you've probably even seen this is Ring cam porch pirates etc.). We've seen the inadequacy of CCTV recently in the Brown University shooting. But hoping with that critical mass of surveillance in a city scenario something will come up (I would speculate a car was not use or not in the immediate area).

Agreed. We all want immediate answers but I’ve had to remind myself that it took awhile to find the CEO shooter last year and that was in broad daylight in Manhattan.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

She was likely the "emergency contact" listed in H R or similar records.

of course this would be the case.

 

[Stratocaster]

With regards to motive, reports say he was a big Ohio State and Bengals fan, wonder if he ended up owing on sports betting, and not paying.......jmo definitely seems targeted

 

[JaimeInLA]

Family reacts as Columbus police release timeline in dentist couple's murder case

Columbus police on Friday unveiled a timeline in the investigation of the murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe, a Columbus-area dentist and his wife, as their lo

abc6onyourside.com

Two interesting tidbits from this article:

1. They also had a dog in the house.

2. The police are currently guarding the homes of several of their relatives. Hmmm

 

[mom2tee]

We only use it for family, but I wonder if coworkers had "find my friends" or "Life 360" shared with the couple. I go back and forth about thinking that calling the cops when someone is 1.5 hours late for work is a little extreme, but if an app showed that they were both at the home, but not responding, then that is concerning.

It does seem that the bedrooms are on the top floor, or basement. I can't imagine parents of a 1 and 4 year old being two floors away from the kids bedrooms. But how does the friend see into the bedroom on the top floor unless they entered the home?

 

[OhioGuy]

Here’s something I’m interested in. The friends and coworkers that heard the kids inside but couldn’t access obviously would’ve tried both the front door and the back door. That means the door was either in the locked position (your standard bottom knob) or the perpetrator locked the door behind them. In the early pages of this thread, the picture showing their front door shows the keypad. Some styles of those keypads, all you have to do to lock the deadbolt from the outside is press the “lock” button. Meaning you need the code to unlock the door, but not to lock it. If the perpetrator went out the front door and it was locked, it stands to reason that they took this step and would’ve been captured on the ring doorbell, assuming it was functional. I’m highly interested in what type of lock was on the back door. If it was the same, they would’ve had to take the same step to lock it. Was the back door even one you can lock without a key by flipping the knob and pulling it closed? Since there were no signs of forced entry (window open, window screens missing. You typically can’t close a window or return the screen from the exterior) I think we can 99% assume the killer came and went from one of the doors.

 

[Lisbeth_S]

Here’s something I’m interested in. The friends and coworkers that heard the kids inside but couldn’t access obviously would’ve tried both the front door and the back door. That means the door was either in the locked position (your standard bottom knob) or the perpetrator locked the door behind them. In the early pages of this thread, the picture showing their front door shows the keypad. Some styles of those keypads, all you have to do to lock the deadbolt from the outside is press the “lock” button. Meaning you need the code to unlock the door, but not to lock it. If the perpetrator went out the front door and it was locked, it stands to reason that they took this step and would’ve been captured on the ring doorbell, assuming it was functional. I’m highly interested in what type of lock was on the back door. If it was the same, they would’ve had to take the same step to lock it. Was the back door even one you can lock without a key by flipping the knob and pulling it closed? Since there were no signs of forced entry (window open, window screens missing. You typically can’t close a window or return the screen from the exterior) I think we can 99% assume the killer came and went from one of the doors.

I have 2 doors, one with a keyless electronic lock and one with a normal deadbolt.
In both cases the doors lock automatically once you shut the door behind you, in both cases (with different mechanisms obviously) it's because the inside switch is always set on the lock position.

So it may not be strange that their doors were locked (if this is indeed the case).

 

[stmichael]

Micciche said he was never worried by the violence in the Weinland Park neighborhood because it often involved the drug trade, but the details of the Tepes' death trouble him.

None of the neighbors who spoke to the Dispatch heard anything before the Tepes were found dead.

"I hear gunshots all the time," Micciche said. "I heard nothing that night or the morning of."

Columbus double homicide, lack of info shakes Weinland Park community

Neighbors say they don't know why Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, were apparently gunned down in their home, and that scares them.

www.dispatch.com

Also states the police officer on the welfare check, checked both the front and back doors (so he had visuals of the lower windows, front and back).


Regarding the quote by a neighbor up-thread about seeing the wife as he went to work in the mornings, she did drop off the 4 year old to daycare. The neighbors kids also went to the same daycare. (per this article)

 

[acutename]

IMO he just doesn't sound like a people person. Or used to talking to LE.

or he really is in say, the Bahamas, and staff called him, and everything he is saying is third hand, trying to keep his office together, not local...

 

[stmichael]

May I ask if this has been stated by Spencer’s family, or was it in a local news report? I had heard it was believed to be targeted, but I hadn’t heard the part about the assailant(s) likely being known to the Tepes.

Yeah, I've only seen that they *believe* it was targeted at this time. Again, preliminary reports can be conflicting, wording can be ambiguous, information can be incomplete. From what I read the family was lead to believe by the police that they believe it was targeted due to the circumstances (no theft, no forced entry, no gun on scene etc.). We just don't know.

I shifted my initial instincts of a crime of passion towards the husband. It is reported that there were 3 spent 9mm casings on scene. The husband was shot twice, the wife once. It's not like the killer mag dumped the husband then hit the wife once. More details are coming out but the surveillance in the area including three Flock cams right across the street will be critical.

 

[acutename]

Very cool.

tree leaves should be gone now- maybe a better view

 

[stmichael]

Here’s something I’m interested in. The friends and coworkers that heard the kids inside but couldn’t access obviously would’ve tried both the front door and the back door. That means the door was either in the locked position (your standard bottom knob) or the perpetrator locked the door behind them. In the early pages of this thread, the picture showing their front door shows the keypad. Some styles of those keypads, all you have to do to lock the deadbolt from the outside is press the “lock” button. Meaning you need the code to unlock the door, but not to lock it. If the perpetrator went out the front door and it was locked, it stands to reason that they took this step and would’ve been captured on the ring doorbell, assuming it was functional. I’m highly interested in what type of lock was on the back door. If it was the same, they would’ve had to take the same step to lock it. Was the back door even one you can lock without a key by flipping the knob and pulling it closed? Since there were no signs of forced entry (window open, window screens missing. You typically can’t close a window or return the screen from the exterior) I think we can 99% assume the killer came and went from one of the doors.

They reset. One point is this home seems to be equipped with smartlocks both front and back (from the Redfin listing pics). Well, in the industry it's a open secret that a lot of these residential smartlocks are well, not so smart and give a sense of false security. Sometimes all you need is a magnet and a paperclip. There's been much discussion about this in the security community, and even common criminals are savvy to this now (heck, I've seen burglars with wifi jammer packs these days). You can check out many vids on lockpicking lawyer on YT for great examples of how easy it is. So there's that regarding the "no forced entry".

LockPickingLawyer

This channel aims to educate consumers about weaknesses and defects in security devices so they can make better security decisions. It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: do not use any of the information presented in my videos for illegal purposes. My mailing information is...

www.youtube.com

 

[OhioGuy]

tree leaves should be gone now- maybe a better view

The more I think about it, I wonder if that Flock camera is going to be of any use. The front door has a ring camera plainly visible. Even if for arguments sake we assume it isn’t functional, the killer likely wouldn't know that and it’d be pretty brazen to walk straight in front of that and access via the front door. Back door may be the more likely point of entry?

 

[maamager]

The more I think about it, I wonder if that Flock camera is going to be of any use. The front door has a ring camera plainly visible. Even if for arguments sake we assume it isn’t functional, the killer likely wouldn't know that and it’d be pretty brazen to walk straight in front of that and access via the front door. Back door may be the more likely point of entry?

when i passed by, the back area(s) had surveillance tools around as well as flood lights. hopefully they picked something useful up!

 

[OhioGuy]

They reset. One point is this home seems to be equipped with smartlocks both front and back (from the Redfin listing pics). Well, in the industry it's a open secret that a lot of these residential smartlocks are well, not so smart and give a sense of false security. Sometimes all you need is a magnet and a paperclip. There's been much discussion about this in the security community, and even common criminals are savvy to this now (heck, I've seen burglars with wifi jammer packs these days). You can check out many vids on lockpicking lawyer on YT for great examples of how easy it is. So there's that regarding the "no forced entry".

LockPickingLawyer

This channel aims to educate consumers about weaknesses and defects in security devices so they can make better security decisions. It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: do not use any of the information presented in my videos for illegal purposes. My mailing information is...

www.youtube.com

I appreciate the clarification, I wasn’t aware they were so easily breached. With a normal single family home it’s pretty tough to keep somebody out if they have ill intent.

 

[OhioGuy]

when i passed by, the back area(s) had surveillance tools around as well as flood lights. hopefully they picked something useful up!

Let’s hope so! The combo of darkness, cameras potentially not on (or being fake to give the appearance of security), not set to record audio, etc. could make it tough. If any camera was able to pick up the exact moment shots were fired that would be hugely helpful.

 

[TIGER0822]

I may be misinterpreting this statement which Spencer’s practice put out.
What immediately jumped out at me about thie statement is no soft or kind words about his wife. Not his beloved wife, or dear wife, or beautiful wife. Just ‘and his wife’

 

[TIGER0822]

Family reacts as Columbus police release timeline in dentist couple's murder case

Columbus police on Friday unveiled a timeline in the investigation of the murders of Spencer and Monique Tepe, a Columbus-area dentist and his wife, as their lo

abc6onyourside.com

Two interesting tidbits from this article:

1. They also had a dog in the house.

2. The police are currently guarding the homes of several of their relatives. Hmmm

Yes. The guarding the relatives house, and taking down the crime scene tape struck me as odd.

 

[airportwoman]

I am leaning towards his friend having a legitimate concern about a situation to be so thorough and concerned.

I agree. Just because someone phrased something the way (generic) you may not have is nothing to worry about.