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

[katydid23]

So in your clinic

I want to make sure I understand what you are saying as I think it is important to this case.

Are you saying that in dental clinics if an employee is late to work, at the one hour mark you would call 911 in a panicked state and drive an hour and a half to do a wellness check?

I didn't see any one say they'd call 911 in a 'panicked state.' I think it was just a call for a wellness check if the doctor had not called in, was not responding , their emergency contact was not responding, and there were young kids in their home. It is more like a state of concern than a state of panic.

I am not disputing your comments. Every profession has a different style and personality.

It is just odd even to those of us who have worked in other kinds of medical clinics and have patients also waiting in a waiting room for clinicians to show up. We might begin to get worried at the three hour mark but we would assume a car accident or family emergency.

Three hours? That's a long time for the office manager to wait for answers. Should the patients be sent home, should we bring in another doctor , or just have them wait in case the doctor arrives?

I am not sure a group of staff would get into a car to drive an hour and a half away. This leaves the clinic even more understaffed and possibly put them in harm's way driving in winter weather, etc.

I've seen staff drive an hour to do a wellness check, out of safety concerns. But you don't send one of the other doctor's. There are other staff members that can go. Or there are often mutual friends that can be called.

We might try to call a family member of the employee. The parents or siblings, etc. Most co-workers are aware of family members. Then call the police non emergency line. Someone might stop by the house later that day.

I agree about calling the family members. Often they can do the check. But 'stopping by later that day' is not really sufficient if there is concern that something dangerous or serious happened.

I think most employees would be taken aback if they were one hour late to work for a family emergency and 911 was called and co workers and the boss rushed to their home.

I don't think they'd be taken aback. I think every doctor knows that they are responsible to their patients. They would not just shrug and be an hour late without calling in to the office with a head's up. If they have a family emergency, they'd send a quick text. imo

Edit to add: I am not being judgmental, just trying to understand the clinic dynamics as it pertains to this case. As I said, every profession has its idiosyncratic traits.

My experience in the workplace, in a medical office and in a school, fits more with Little Jack's description.

Within the first hour, if the doctor or teacher did not call in, did not answer calls, and their emergency contact was also unreachable, there would be an immediate visit to their home or a call to their friends or family or to LE for a wellness check.

It would be unexpected that the doctor would have an emergency situation that would prevent them from calling into the office. Their patients are sitting in a full waiting room. They know they have to check in so the office manager can deal with the tense situation.

It's hard for me to believe that the office manager would wait for 3 hours for a doctor to call in and explain why they didn't come to work.

 

[getthefax]

The timing was convenient (deliberately or coincidentally) based on what I can only imagine to be lots of fireworks in the area since it was nearing New Years. My idiot neighbours were setting off fireworks at all ungodly hours leading up. I personally don’t believe the gun was silenced.

Same. Silencers are just not that common, and in a newly updated house, as this one appears to be from the pictures, insulation and double-paned windows would probably dampen the sound enough— it only needed to be quiet enough to not awaken the neighbors.

Years ago I heard what turned out to be a gunshot in my apartment building, and when the police came knocking the next day after a wellness check, I told them I thought I’d heard the dumpster lid slam the day before. Sadly, my neighbor had done himself in with a handgun. We neighbors would never have known it had been a gunshot had the police not come round to our doors

 

[avalonisland]

Welcome to Websleuths!

it could very well be someone they knew who thought the dentist could help him out. When he didn't have a scrip or pills, acquaintance lost it.

But, they were killed upstairs, which feels like whoever did this got in to the house on their own in the wee dark hours and went upstairs.

I believe this was targeted. But why? Did he go in for the sheer purpose of killing them, perhaps for revenge or silencing? Or did the perp actually want something from them, or from the

 

[airportwoman]

Hi I'm a long time reader first time posting.... But with that being said, I'm not certain if theories are allowed?
He was a Dentist... He had access to prescription pads... He hales from the heroin capital of the world when it comes to overdose deaths due to opiates (imo)... Could he have had an old friend that he would occasionally give a scrip to that maybe showed up demanding some and ST told him no or was confrontational because of the nature of the visit?

I'm a retired pharmacist. With the opiate prescription tracking that states do nowadays, and the fact that ethical dentists do not prescribe large amounts of them at a time AND NEVER HAVE, unless he was running a secret pill mill, this is unlikely.

Prescription pads were also closely guarded. Most prescriptions nowadays are electronically transmitted.

 

[marloweclover]

From the department of wild theories, moo, could someone have thought the house would be uninhabited for burglarizing because they were mistaken about which dentist from the practice was on vacation? I don't personally believe this is very likely, but people have made, imo, dumber mistakes.

 

[MSU24]

Hi I'm a long time reader first time posting.... But with that being said, I'm not certain if theories are allowed?
He was a Dentist... He had access to prescription pads... He hales from the heroin capital of the world when it comes to overdose deaths due to opiates (imo)... Could he have had an old friend that he would occasionally give a scrip to that maybe showed up demanding some and ST told him no or was confrontational because of the nature of the visit?

I just don't buy that they would be woken up at 2:00am+ and answer a knock on the backdoor of their fenced in yard, especially when he had to be up in 4 hours, to find an old friend. Let's say they did though. Instead of a confrontation occurring elsewhere in the house, they're walked up to their master bedroom on the 3rd floor to be executed?

I think a dentist and his wife probably wore a smart watch/ring and investigators probably know whether they were shot in their sleep or woke up, went downstairs, back upstairs and were killed a brief time later. I'll put my money on them being surprised in their bedroom though.

 

[lawyerlurker]

Welcome to Websleuths!

it could very well be someone they knew who thought the dentist could help him out. When he didn't have a scrip or pills, acquaintance lost it.

But, they were killed upstairs, which feels like whoever did this got in to the house on their own in the wee dark hours and went upstairs.

I believe this was targeted. But why? Did he go in for the sheer purpose of killing them, perhaps for revenge or silencing? Or did the perp actually want something from them, or from the house?

I've thought a lot about this theory too, but it can't be common for a dentist to carry prescription medications for patients at their own home, right? Especially sought-after narcotics? I'm trying to fathom why someone would assume this/the disconnect, although maybe I'm uninformed. I would think if it was a patient they would not know the layout of the house or where medications were stored, so in looking for pills, would create some kind of obvious disarray (though this thought doesn't address the theory that he could have supplied an old friend/acquaintance)

 

[avalonisland]

I didn't see any one say they'd call 911 in a 'panicked state.' I think it was just a call for a wellness check if the doctor had not called in, was not responding , their emergency contact was not responding, and there were young kids in their home. It is more like a state of concern than a state of panic.

Three hours? That's a long time for the office manager to wait for answers. Should the patients be sent home, should we bring in another doctor , or just have them wait in case the doctor arrives?



I've seen staff drive an hour to do a wellness check, out of safety concerns. But you don't send one of the other doctor's. There are other staff members that can go. Or there are often mutual friends that can be called.


I agree about calling the family members. Often they can do the check. But 'stopping by later that day' is not really sufficient if there is concern that something dangerous or serious happened.

I don't think they'd be taken aback. I think every doctor knows that they are responsible to their patients. They would not just shrug and be an hour late without calling in to the office with a head's up. If they have a family emergency, they'd send a quick text. imo

My experience in the workplace, in a medical office and in a school, fits more with Little Jack's description.

Within the first hour, if the doctor or teacher did not call in, did not answer calls, and their emergency contact was also unreachable, there would be an immediate visit to their home or a call to their friends or family or to LE for a wellness check.

It would be unexpected that the doctor would have an emergency situation that would prevent them from calling into the office. Their patients are sitting in a full waiting room. They know they have to check in so the office manager can deal with the tense situation.

It's hard for me to believe that the office manager would wait for 3 hours for a doctor to call in and explain why they didn't come to work.

Perhaps office staff had location of Spencer's iphone and knew he was still at home. Many dental offices are using cellphones just like office phones and since the owner of dental company was on vacay in Florida, maybe Spencer was only dentist in office which would make sense for an immediate welfare check. Spencer lived 1 1/2 hours from office, so if office staff saw that around 9AM or so his phone location was still at home and he was not answering phone, definitely call 911. The office relied on dentist to be there to conduct business.

 

[flippyflappy]

I think people mention suppressors because it seems very shocking that no one in the close houses nearby claims to have heard anything. I find this also puzzling, as someone who has trained and used firearms for decades and lived in a city, suburban, and rural settings.

I find it quite far-fetched that this is some assassination but stranger things have happened, and an assassin would not purchase a NFA tax stamp to get theirs despite Ohio being a suppressor-friendly state (you can own, use and hunt with suppressors). And sure, it's not like Hollywood, suppressors only suppress (not silence) shots and indoors there would still be an echo chamber and significant report.

I also would imagine this would wake a 4 year old. We don't know that it didn't. We also don't know for a fact that any of the neighbors didn't hear something that night. I think some of these gaps will be explained better down the line, as in many cases inconsistencies are cleared or simply corrected. Much of the police verbiage has some tolerances built in like (doesn't *appear* that anything was taken etc. ) and I think some of this initial reporting is mudding the water for sleuthing.

I'm not surprised it didn't wake a 4 and 1 year old. Parents have all sorts of noise control happening for kids rooms, sound machines, sleeping with stuffies, etc. There is actually studies of young kids sleeping through smoke alarms for this reason. They sleep more deeply than us adults AND parents will do anything to make sure their kids stay asleep. Which usually means white noise, insulations and more.

What I"m MORE surprised by is that a dog didn't go berserk-o about this whole thing.

 

[airportwoman]

I would really like to know if Monique was sexually assaulted. That would answer so many questions about the “why.”

This is probably one of the things they're keeping very quiet until they have a suspect in mind. (Whether he was SA'ed, too.)

 

[Charlot123]

Ok just showed her. She said she hadn’t noticed the boots at first, and had assumed they were hiking style sneakers. But now that you mention it, as he passes the camera and is walking away, you can see that they have a bit of a heel. Almost like a square toed cowboy boot with the jeans outside the boot. She said college boys at OSU “would never.” Haha. This confirmed her initial impression that this is a man in his 30s.

Several things come to mind:

- heels and platforms add height
- someone here said that the person looked as if they had “low back pain”. Indeed, heels increase lumbar lordosis (curvature of the lower spine) so it may look like “low back pain gait”, although there is no pain, just some strain related to shoes.
- at the same time, if he indeed wears such shoes, he walks very surely. I already thought that the person had some athletic prowess, now I wonder if they also dance well.

Are we sure that it is a “he”? Seems “likely, him”, but I am not 100% sure. The size of the shoe might be an indicator. JMO.

 

[Voidz]

Same. Silencers are just not that common, and in a newly updated house, as this one appears to be from the pictures, insulation and double-paned windows would probably dampen the sound enough— it only needed to be quiet enough to not awaken the neighbors.

Years ago I heard what turned out to be a gunshot in my apartment building, and when the police came knocking the next day after a wellness check, I told them I thought I’d heard the dumpster lid slam the day before. Sadly, my neighbor had done himself in with a handgun. We neighbors would never have known it had been a gunshot had the police not come round to our doors

Another locksmith story sorry, but he had to do a job for the police to gain access to a house. A welfare check after the neighbours noticed the mailbox was overflowing. The person inside had shot themselves in the head MONTHS prior and no one in the neighbourhood heard or reported or remembered hearing anything. Suburban, near to a school. Neighbours very close on both sides and to the back of the house.

 

[flippyflappy]

I'm a retired pharmacist. With the opiate prescription tracking that states do nowadays, and the fact that ethical dentists do not prescribe large amounts of them at a time AND NEVER HAVE, unless he was running a secret pill mill, this is unlikely.

Prescription pads were also closely guarded. Most prescriptions nowadays are electronically transmitted.

Exactly, I can't even get my kids Adderall a day early! Lots of shady stuff happens with prescriptions still, but addicts have much easier ways to get fentanyl or whatever they're looking for than killing some dentist. They can just walk down the road.

 

[steeltowngirl]

I've thought a lot about this theory too, but it can't be common for a dentist to carry prescription medications for patients at their own home, right? Especially sought-after narcotics? I'm trying to fathom why someone would assume this/the disconnect, although maybe I'm uninformed. I would think if it was a patient they would not know the layout of the house or where medications were stored, so in looking for pills, would create some kind of obvious disarray (though this thought doesn't address the theory that he could have supplied an old friend/acquaintance)

You are right. I'm sure there are a few out there that are unscrupulous, but no way this dentist had drugs laying around, especially with small kids in the house. But an addict in withdrawal doesn't think logically. He sees a dentist in a nice house and assumes he has drugs.

 

[TIGER0822]

That is interesting isn’t it, a Tuesday night - December 30th. Their fifth anniversary was January 30th. Trying to find a pattern with limited information is maddening.

Dbm

 

[Voidz]

Several things come to mind:

- heels and platforms add height
- someone here said that the person looked as if they had “low back pain”. Indeed, heels increase lumbar lordosis (curvature of the lower spine) so it may look like “low back pain gait”, although there is no pain, just some strain related to shoes.
- at the same time, if he indeed wears such shoes, he walks very surely. I already thought that the person had some athletic prowess, now I wonder if they also dance well.

Are we sure that it is a “he”? Seems “likely, him”, but I am not 100% sure. The size of the shoe might be an indicator. JMO.

Reminds me of Missy Beavers which is still not solved…

 

[flippyflappy]

Several things come to mind:

- heels and platforms add height
- someone here said that the person looked as if they had “low back pain”. Indeed, heels increase lumbar lordosis (curvature of the lower spine) so it may look like “low back pain gait”, although there is no pain, just some strain related to shoes.
- at the same time, if he indeed wears such shoes, he walks very surely. I already thought that the person had some athletic prowess, now I wonder if they also dance well.

Are we sure that it is a “he”? Seems “likely, him”, but I am not 100% sure. The size of the shoe might be an indicator. JMO.

Almost looked like those Dansko type clogs to me that chefs wear the way the pants were coming over them at the hem.

 

[TIGER0822]

dbm

 

[getthefax]

Hi I'm a long time reader first time posting.... But with that being said, I'm not certain if theories are allowed?
He was a Dentist... He had access to prescription pads... He hales from the heroin capital of the world when it comes to overdose deaths due to opiates (imo)... Could he have had an old friend that he would occasionally give a scrip to that maybe showed up demanding some and ST told him no or was confrontational because of the nature of the visit.

Assassinating a couple In the middle of the night for a paper prescription pad would be a very 1980s kind of crime, wouldn’t it? . Imagine trying to get a paper script filled from a doctor who had just been infamously murdered along with his wife inside their home… I’m inclined to think this was a bit more personal

Another locksmith story sorry, but he had to do a job for the police to gain access to a house. A welfare check after the neighbours noticed the mailbox was overflowing. The person inside had shot themselves in the head MONTHS prior and no one in the neighbourhood heard or reported or remembered hearing anything. Suburban, near to a school. Neighbours very close on both sides and to the back of the house.

So sad he had no one to check on him . We are accustomed (kind of) to hearing guns fired outside, but when fired from inside the home the reports are very different. RIP to these poor souls in our respective tales

(Edited by me because I had too many replies going at once! )

 

[Knox]

obnoxiously replying to myself (lol) just to add a visual to illustrate where the nest camera was to the Tepe home, attaching my relevant video above ^

Thanks for this!!