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

[Allabouttrial]

In Ohio, what grounds are there to reopen a divorce? Failing to fully disclose assets?

Just googled your question and AI provided a detailed list.

 

[Sadi]

I agree. If a call to police for a wellbeing check was all it took for LE to breach the door of homes it would be an infringement of people's rights. They can only enter if there is exigent circumstances. Same with pinging a phone. I wonder if the dentist's phone was pinged and it showed it to be in the home.
It is odd that a call to police was done so early. As a coworker I would assume they slept in or they had gotten into a collision on the way to work. After a few missed calls I would call LE to ask whether there were any collisions in the area. Then a wellbeing check request. So police go to the home and do a door knock and nobody comes to the door. Did they look through the windows? Try and see if vehicles were in the garage or parked outside?

I don’t think it was too early to call the police, if he’s always been on time and due to his schedule of patients, it would be concerning he wasn’t there or called to let them know he was going to be late etc. My dental office is busy and unless it’s an emergency, it takes over 4-6 weeks to get an appointment.

 

[lastkiss]

A concerned neighbour could have loaned them one.

 

[ttjo]

Just googled your question and AI provided a detailed list.

Which means there are limited reasons. Not saying this could be related. Just wondering what would be a big enough deal to motivate someone to reopen it. ( new info)

 

[stmarysmead]

In my imagination, I picture a busy dental practice. The ‘boss’ is on vacation. Patients begin arriving but the dentist they are scheduled with, does not.

. I’m not sure how much time they allot to each patient, but if I were the 8am appt and was told the Dr wasn’t even there yet, I’d be asking questions of the staff. If more than one patient was there, waiting..it could become very uncomfortable to the staff trying to field their questions.

At that point,not wanting the responsibility for this mess to be on them…the staff starts calling the ‘boss’ on vacation…and when every avenue they had for contact came up empty…I can see why he’d call the police.

Another thought…I wonder which of the ‘exes’ re-opened the divorce case? Could have been either…

 

[drdetective]

In my imagination, I picture a busy dental practice. The ‘boss’ is on vacation. Patients begin arriving but the dentist they are scheduled with, does not.

. I’m not sure how much time they allot to each patient, but if I were the 8am appt and was told the Dr wasn’t even there yet, I’d be asking questions of the staff. If more than one patient was there, waiting..it could become very uncomfortable to the staff trying to field their questions.

At that point,not wanting the responsibility for this mess to be on them…the staff starts calling the ‘boss’ on vacation…and when every avenue they had for contact came up empty…I can see why he’d call the police.

Another thought…I wonder which of the ‘exes’ re-opened the divorce case? Could have been either…

Totally agree. Especially with only one dentist in for the day. They have no way to finish the appointments without him. It would be incredibly concerning.

 

[steeltowngirl]

The murders likely happened early AM 12/30 so I am not sure what this is about in USA Today and Columbus Dispatch.

A police dispatcher report obtained by the newspaper on Dec. 31 includes a mention of the police code for a robbery, though the department hasn't shared any further details.

Hunt for killer is on after Ohio couple found shot dead in home; 2 young children unharmed

Spencer and Monique Tepe were found shot dead in their home in Columbus on Tuesday, Dec. 30. Their children, ages 1 and 4, were unharmed and found crying.

www.usatoday.com

A police dispatcher report obtained by The Dispatch Dec. 31 includes a mention of a 41A, which is code for a robbery report.

Police have not returned calls from The Dispatch on Dec. 31.

Shooting in Columbus' Weinland Park neighborhood kills dentist, wife

Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, were found dead at their home on North 4th Street after concerned co-workers called police.

www.dispatch.com

 

[Simply Caustic]

To me it looks like there are standard fields for ech type of case . The line items with a 00 indicate the listed field was not applicable to the case e.g. child abuse / domestic violence. What I did notice was a continuance was filed in June , no reason listed.

^ this is correct. There is no mutual restraining order/child abuse/domestic viol box ‘checked’ in the prior divorce case; that’s an error on the part of whomever misread the data, and we shouldn’t perpetuate it (I’m seeing it everywhere, obvs not here at WS.)

Edit: I don’t have the ability to look right now, darn it, but I think I’m incorrect on the mutual restraining order selection; however, the child abuse/domestic violence/sections are 100% not filled in/selected. My apologies!

Edit, the Sequel: Franklin County requires that the mutual restraining order be filed by the Plaintiff (in this case, Monique) when filing for divorce. The actual text of the boilerplate mutual restraining order is available on the Franklin County site here

 

[Bree1950]

Is this link showing photos for anyone else? I'm only seeing the standard google earth pics.... interesting if they had it taken down so quickly

Trulia has pics of the inside of the house.

 

[technicallymissing]

Ohio police search for suspect after dentist, wife found murdered at home

Ohio authorities are searching for a suspect after a dentist and his wife were found murdered inside their home earlier this week.

abcnews.go.com

According to this article it looks the Tepes had a Goldendoodle, same type of dog as Murphy, Kaylee Goncalves from Idaho’s pup. Murphy was barking like crazy when BK was inside the Idaho house. I wonder if the Tepes’ dog was too. Not to read into it too much (as we learned in Idaho) but always interesting to note whether there was a dog present in the house for a case like this

 

[Stunned]

In Ohio, what grounds are there to reopen a divorce? Failing to fully disclose assets?

Could it be for something as simple as custody of a dog?

 

[stmarysmead]

Ohio police search for suspect after dentist, wife found murdered at home

Ohio authorities are searching for a suspect after a dentist and his wife were found murdered inside their home earlier this week.

abcnews.go.com

According to this article it looks the Tepes had a Goldendoodle, same type of dog as Murphy, Kaylee Goncalves from Idaho’s pup. Murphy was barking like crazy when BK was inside the Idaho house. I wonder if the Tepes’ dog was too. Not to read into it too much (as we learned in Idaho) but always interesting to note whether there was a dog present in the house for a case like this

That’s interesting. My dogs bark like crazy when someone comes to the door and even after I let them in. But then they settle down.

If they let the killer in, the period of barking might have been short and not indicated any trouble that would concern those close neighbors.

 

[LittleSeaTree]

That report came only from WSYX ABC 6 Columbus based off the 911 call (and was repeated by People etc.) It stated:


1. We don't know it's accuracy. I've heard the dental practice's 911 call but have not heard a link to this one.
2. We don't know if the friend had access into the residence/crime scene.
3. We don't know if the basement was used as say a guest bedroom and that for whatever reason is where they ended up and that's the location cited (you can see into the basement through the large egress window). I doubt this because reports of the wellness check said the officer checked both the front and back door, so he would have seen the same thing and had probable cause to immediately enter.
4. It is possible that he like @OhioGuy suggested procured a ladder and checked the second story windows, though seems a bit more far fetched. There are actually not that many windows and the sides of the houses between are minimized for privacy. Maybe they had an extendable pole cam or a drone even, yes far-fetched but who knows?


The wedding video that they are keeping up on YT, though heartbreaking from a human perspective, provides a lot of layout from a clinical web sleuthing angle, including the inside of the house and a hovering drone shot of the entire neighborhood/back alley/yard, adjacent streets etc.

This will be unbelievable for their kids to have. Cannot imagine when, etc….gosh

 

[ErinC]

I skipped several pages so forgive me if this has been posted- I wonder if the perpetrator showed up dressed as/purporting to be LE and got the Tepes to open the door that way. "CPD!! We just chased a prowler through your yard [happens often enough to be plausible] Is everyone ok in there?" And...that would be that. MOO

 

[ttjo]

Could it be for something as simple as custody of a dog?

I dont think so, I dont think thats grounds to re open, Usually its newly discovered info. They were divorced at least 5 years by now, seems a little late in the game for a lot of things.

 

[annpats]

The area is pretty gentrified. Like very expensive homes. Like all cities you walk a ways and find bad areas.

Really?! It looks low-end and sketchy to me.
This is the corner outside their house.....25 year old cars, wires and poles all over the place, a wild west looking store.

If I were a doctor of dentistry on a great salary looking to raise my family in a nice area, this wouldn't be it.

But maybe Columbus just has that 'look' about it? I don't know.

Photo courtesy of Google Street View.

MOO.

 

[drdetective]

In my imagination, I picture a busy dental practice. The ‘boss’ is on vacation. Patients begin arriving but the dentist they are scheduled with, does not.

. I’m not sure how much time they allot to each patient, but if I were the 8am appt and was told the Dr wasn’t even there yet, I’d be asking questions of the staff. If more than one patient was there, waiting..it could become very uncomfortable to the staff trying to field their questions.

At that point,not wanting the responsibility for this mess to be on them…the staff starts calling the ‘boss’ on vacation…and when every avenue they had for contact came up empty…I can see why he’d call the police.

Another thought…I wonder which of the ‘exes’ re-opened the divorce case? Could have been either…

Totally agree. Especially with only one dentist in for the day. They have no way to finish the appointments without him. It would be chaos for sure.

 

[TIGER0822]

LE are guarding two relatives homes. Either they are concerned for their safety, or they are keeping a very close watch on someone.

 

[TIGER0822]

Totally agree. Especially with only one dentist in for the day. They have no way to finish the appointments without him. It would be chaos for sure.

It is common to do a welfare check on an absent employee . What is not common is a group of friends and co-workers doing a welfare check.

 

[drdetective]

It is common to do a welfare check on an absent employee . What is not common is a group of friends and co-workers doing a welfare check.

Elaborate more? Are you saying LE dropped the ball?