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

[Serononin]

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 afraid I don't have the link handy, but I seem to remember one of the next-door neighbours being quoted early on saying he was out of town

 

[Cassie P]

115K views · 353 reactions | Detectives believe the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Tepe occurred sometime between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. on the morning of December 30th in the upstairs of their residence. Recovered video footage shows a person of interest walkin

Detectives believe the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Tepe occurred sometime between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. on the morning of December 30th in the upstairs of their residence. Recovered video footage shows a...

www.facebook.com

Probably old news but they’re suggesting that both victims were killed upstairs. Posts here have suggested that smart watches or other fitness trackers might give a time of death – true, but times would then be more precise, unless the deaths weren’t immediate. Perhaps the rigor mortis times or other medical evidence might have narrowed the estimated times of death.

We will know more if and when we see autopsy results.

 

[Sadi]

could they have made their own makeshift suppressor? I know kids can sleep through anything sometimes but it's crazier to me the kids would not have woken up, as expressed by Spencer's BIL, if the gunshots were on their same floor. Esp. looking at the listing's square footage and the fact that the bedrooms are concentrated to the second floor, it seems like the bedrooms are relatively close to each other

How would the BIL know the kids slept through the murders? What would be the evidence for this?

 

[Serononin]

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.

Do we know how old the dog is? Age-related hearing loss could potentially have had him sleeping through it, too

 

[osu]

Is this routine during a double homicide investigation or do they feel that other family members could be in danger?

“ABC 6 did see police doing guard duty at two homes belonging to relatives several miles away. The relatives didn't want to speak on camera.”

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

 

[flippyflappy]

Do we know how old the dog is? Age-related hearing loss could potentially have had him sleeping through it, too

Do we know how old the dog is? Age-related hearing loss could potentially have had him sleeping through it, too

I think the brother in law said the dog was 6 or 7. The BIL had the dog's sibling, who had died recently and they now have the Tepe's dog.

 

[Serononin]

Maybe the dog knew the gunman.

Very possible, although IME my dumbass doodle will bark at people she knows just as much as strangers

 

[Serononin]

With having a one year old, I wonder what kind of baby monitors they had? It's been a few years for me, but can you go back and save recorded data?

It's a definite possibility - if you look at the Ruby Murray thread on here (warning for very distressing child neglect in that case ), the data from the baby monitor essentially allowed police to put together a minute-by-minute timeline of the last few days of her life

 

[na19]

How would the BIL know the kids slept through the murders? What would be the evidence for this?

Baby monitor recording showed them both asleep in their rooms during the 2-5am timeframe? IMO

 

[Serononin]

I have 2 thoughts about this comment the BIL made:

Maybe he wanted to protect the 4 yr old by telling the public she never saw anything. I'd want the public to think that about my niece and nephew.

As to how he'd know---maybe the family were told that the kids were found in their rooms, and there was no evidence they had gone into the bedroom with the crime scene. There'd be bloody footprints etc, if they had gone in and touched their parents.

If he and his wife were the ones looking after the kids in the immediate aftermath, I'd also assume that one or both of them were present when the police (presumably) talked to the four-year-old

 

[Speculaytor]

Yes, I would definitely need it to be a fortress as well.

In a strange murder case like this, every tiny aspect of the victim’s life could hold a secret or a clue. Their choice to live in this area with small children strikes me as odd. Zillow showed that they could have made a nice profit, so it wouldn’t seem to be financial.

Curious choice IMO for a young family with small children and a husband with a very long commute. The park down the street has been said to be too dangerous for their children to use. Someone’s child was shot there in the period of time after their first child was born.

IMO their backyard is one that I could not let my children play in, unattended, even for a few minutes. The comment from the neighbor that he often heard gunshots is also unsettling.

I know the area has been referenced as ‘gentrified’ but it looks like 4 houses that stick out like show-off targets in a vastly different socio-economic area.

The house itself has big windows as if it looks onto a lake, instead of facing apartment windows that can possibly see in. It has a fake french door ‘balcony’ that just undermines security and privacy even more.

On the flip side, I can see that house/location being desirable to a young professional couple, walking distance to bars, restaurants, night life. But they quickly moved beyond that stage after purchase. Looks like they had their first child within the first year of living there.

I’m sure LE is looking into every aspect of this couple’s life. Was there some aspect of their life that explained their choice to stay there, with a job so far away, and children to consider? Was M taking classes where someone might become obsessed with her? Was there a bar/restaurant that they frequented as a couple? Did they still go out a lot, hire babysitters who might have the code? Did they have a friend group that they were reluctant to move away from?

Probably nothing. One person’s ‘creep out’ is another person’s idea of paradise.

Totally agree. Those homes really stood out from surrounding homes. There could be a lot of resentment from the surrounding area due to gentrification. And knowing if stashed cash, or fine jewelry was taken is not something the BIL would necessarily even know at this point. It was only 23F out at that time, I can't imagine being out on a whim, so was he on his way to their house? Did he have a car parked somewhere, or does he live in the area?

 

[TMich6811]

Baby monitor recording showed them both asleep in their rooms during the 2-5am timeframe? IMO

This is my guess

 

[academyrd]

He seems to be hitting himself in the head to get ahold of himself or sike himself up to do something maybe he knows is wrong but feels compelled to do for some other reason (money?)

 

[Inthedetails]

With having a one year old, I wonder what kind of baby monitors they had? It's been a few years for me, but can you go back and save recorded data?

Excellent point.

jmo

 

[TMich6811]

This is my guess

Which also might give a gun shot sound timeline and narrowed the timeframe down imo

 

[drdetective]

I agree. While bad debt might be a motive, I agree it is way down on the list I think.

The debt is to the dental practice, not the individual dentist.

And if the killer had an ax to grind with the dentist for some reason, why kill the wife, the mother of two young children? The dentist was on the road a great deal, alone. Why not target him there.

And yes this killer was not stupid. He successfully killed two people as they slept in their beds, apparently leaving no trace. Walked nonchalantly away.

I agree he was being very nonchalant, but haven’t we all decided that he is walking toward their house and not away from it in the video?

 

[justtrish]

115K views · 353 reactions | Detectives believe the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Tepe occurred sometime between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. on the morning of December 30th in the upstairs of their residence. Recovered video footage shows a person of interest walkin

Detectives believe the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Tepe occurred sometime between 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. on the morning of December 30th in the upstairs of their residence. Recovered video footage shows a...

www.facebook.com

Probably old news but they’re suggesting that both victims were killed upstairs. Posts here have suggested that smart watches or other fitness trackers might give a time of death – true, but times would then be more precise, unless the deaths weren’t immediate. Perhaps the rigor mortis times or other medical evidence might have narrowed the estimated times of death.

I also wonder if police think the suspect was in the house for a long time. The 2 to 5 time frame is interesting. If they have a smart watch that might give a time of death for one or both of the victims, then I wonder if they have maybe the times the door was open and closed or if they are using the video evidence they have with the guy walking in the alley as a starting point. Maybe that video was close to 2am and maybe a time of death was after that. Also, a thought if the person was in the house a while before killing the victims.

Does the key pad entry door record when the doors are opened and closed? If so they would have the exact times the doors were opened and closed.

 

[Speculaytor]

It has been assumed that robbery was not a motive. But who would know if PART of her jewelry was missing, or anything else unknown. My father had a coin collection. Had someone taken 1/4 of it, my mother would never have known.

I mention this because that would be another reason to go to the bedroom. To steal small, easy to pass valuables. (Watches, wallets, jewelry, these days phones, tablets). Shot because Monique woke up and was shot, Spencer started to get up was wounded, then a final, fatal shot (why he was on the floor).

While it looks like targeted on the surface, I have to leave robbery on the table unless someone knew everything they owned and has accounted for all of it.

Totally agree. I was burglarized years back, and even I needed time to figure out all that was taken. I know that family would not have known all my jewelry, or if I had stashed cash somewhere. It could have been a targeted burglary. The perp doesn't live far (can walk) and has thought about this a while. Go in with gun, wake homeowners and have them give the cash, jewelry, and medicine cabinet narcotics under threat of the gun. IDK?

 

[osu]

Do we know how old the dog is? Age-related hearing loss could potentially have had him sleeping through it.

Per the BIL.
The Tepe family dog is a 10-year-old Goldendoodle named Larry.

 

[Justice101]

The house on the corner of the alley has 2 cameras on the garage in the back alley. If the murderer came down the alley from the north and entered from the back alley, he would probably still be seen on one of those cameras because the angle looks like it looks back further a little past than the Tepe's garage.