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

[alexwood]

From my understanding wasn't the office a 3 hour commute? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think it was a 2.5 hour round-trip commute. So, 1 hr. 15 min. one way.

 

[ttjo]

Even if the officers had initially responded to the correct address, they still would not have seen anything. The bodies were on the second floor in the master bedroom. Now, maybe they would have heard the voices of the children while knocking on the front and back doors. That would have alerted them to the fact that they had to get into the house. But, by the time they went to the correct address, Spencer's co-workers had already entered the house.

Agree, Im wondering more about the fact that they entered the house. (Im sure there will be plenty of people that will talk about what could have happened,) Im thinking more about a future trial. I guess it depends on who the killer ends up to be,

 

[fsngruv]

If there'd been any news from the first 911 call (or from the wife), perhaps. But the longer the silence, the more worrying. They lived in a very nice house but it wasn't in the best or safest of areas. MT was known to not leave the house for work. They had children. I completely get the escalating panic.

Exactly this. Can you imagine being told that someone who had such disciplined schedule like a dentist does, just simply didn't answer the door? I would be freaking out if they were my friend.

Anyway, I see a lot of dateline episodes start with welfare checks that weren't taken so seriously at first. After all, cops have protocol, but your family, friends and close business partners who have been friends for years know what's out of the ordinary...

Never mind the cops went to the wrong house at first!

 

[Cassie P]

i think it might help for those of us not in dental/medical fields to realize that there can be serious consequences for what could be considered "patient abandonment". so this isn't just an office where if you're late/no show your co-workers have to pick up the slack; licensure and the business could really be at stake. it makes more sense it would be the boss/owner to call in and rather quickly because if it ever did come up as "patient abandonment" they'd at least have record of them taking action to show that patient abandonment wasn't the intent.

EDIT to say: i also wouldn't expect a call to 911 to explain that 'hey we're worried about possibly getting reprimanded for patient abandonment'; it's easier to just say this is completely out of character for him and he had an appointment

MOO

I have been in the medical field for over 40 years. I never heard of a medical professional losing their license because one time they were late to work. Nor did the clinic owners have any threat of loss of license.

Patient abandonment is a much more serious issue. Patient abandonment is when a healthcare provider ends the patient-provider relationship without giving proper notice or arranging for alternative care resulting in harm to the patient.

 

[wibbleflea]

How did the friend who found the body get into the house? TIA

Pure speculation, based on things published in other places but entirely unconfirmed: an unlocked back door to the house. Haven't read anything official. The last-but-one 911 caller mentioned the possibility of breaking down a door. But there was no later report of a damaged door so perhaps he gained entry without the need to break a door down.

I'm curious about the bedroom door. It's said (again, unofficially) that it was locked but again, this isn't confirmed. We know from the 911 calls that the kids were up because the callers heard them. The BIL (RM) has suggested that the kids knew nothing about what had happened. If the bedroom door was locked, was it locked from the inside of the bedroom?

 

[MesquiteO21]

I have been in the medical field for over 40 years. I never heard of a medical professional losing their license because one time they were late to work. Nor did the clinic owners have any threat of loss of license.

Patient abandonment is a much more serious issue. Patient abandonment is when a healthcare provider ends the patient-provider relationship without giving proper notice or arranging for alternative care resulting in harm to the patient.

i don't have any knowledge of how it works, just had someone else tell me that so maybe it varies depending on state or something

MOO

 

[ttjo]

Pure speculation, based on things published in other places but entirely confirmed: an unlocked back door to the house. Haven't read anything official. The last-but-one 911 caller mentioned the possibility of breaking down a door. But there was no later report of a damaged door so perhaps he gained entry without the need to break a door down.

I'm curious about the bedroom door. It's said (again, unofficially) that t was locked but again, this isn't confirmed. We know from the 911 calls that the kids were up because the callers heard them. The BIL (RM) has suggested that the kids knew nothing about what had happened. If the bedroom door was locked, was it locked from the inside of the bedroom?

Meaning someone could have locked it on their way out, as in to prevent kids from getting in? If thats true , that says something. Why else would it be locked , (if it was? ) that does speak volumes doesnt it?
and how did the friends open it? If it was locked, unless it was the kind you just need a pin for. ( just thinking about the no obvious signs of forced entry, but if you only need a pin …I can open those in 3 seconds lol
Im curious why on the 911 calls after he said he saw a body he was saying Oh my god, like he was startled? Maybe he just got back to his friends and was reporting ?

 

[wibbleflea]

Meaning someone could have locked it on their way out, as in to prevent kids from getting in?

Yes, if it was locked, it would have been to prevent the kids from getting in. But how it was locked/lockable would be significant. We'll know eventually from official sources.

 

[MesquiteO21]

I have been in the medical field for over 40 years. I never heard of a medical professional losing their license because one time they were late to work. Nor did the clinic owners have any threat of loss of license.

Patient abandonment is a much more serious issue. Patient abandonment is when a healthcare provider ends the patient-provider relationship without giving proper notice or arranging for alternative care resulting in harm to the patient.

from the ADA--
2.F. Patient Abandonment. Once a dentist has undertaken a course of treatment, the dentist should not discontinue that treatment without giving the patient adequate notice and the opportunity to obtain the services of another dentist. Care should be taken that the patient's oral health is not jeopardized in the process.

it's rather broad language, so i absolutely can see a dentist no call no show one time possibly falling into this, depending on what the appointment was for.

Nonmaleficence

This principle expresses the concept that professionals have a duty to protect the patient from harm.

www.ada.org

 

[fsngruv]

I agree and I actually find it odd that so many think it's odd to call so soon.

Imagine you are the patient waiting for a dental procedure. You arrive at 745 for an 8am appointment and it's now 9am and you have work or some other obligation to get to at some point and nobody knows where the dentist is. It's one thing for a dentist to be running behind on patients, but a dentist who isn't even at work yet and isn't ansering a phone and neither is his wife.

What were they going to tell the patients? Sorry we will reschedule, what if he walked in 5 minutes later?

Now imagine the office is full of people that need to see that dentist and there is no other dentist to see patients in his place. The entire office is now at a standstill because patients are there and nobody can see them.

IMO

You make great points! It also reminds me, many dental procedures like extractions, crowns and root canals are paid mostly up front, require insurance approval and involve more than one visit or are hours long. I'm also sure insurance requires things to be done in a certain manner/time period. Also, people fear the dentist, it's hard for patients to jump from dentist to dentist and I think insurance companies require the dentist who started the work on a claim to be the one who finishes it unless it's a referral? I'm really not sure, but at any rate, I can see why the people in the office were so concerned. Maybe it points to guilt but maybe not.

 

[Cassie P]

The timeline is interesting. There is a good ten minutes between the time the friends arrived and the police arrived the 2nd time. Enough time for someone to dispose off the murder weapon (if it was murder-suicide). The police are tight lipped about what they have found so far so we have no idea what forensics found. But MOO, murder suicide is more likely than swingers and other wild theories people are now proposing. Hopefully the police release the investigation report once they have all the reports in. It does look like they have a theory they are working on and collecting evidence on since they don’t appear to be asking for new public help or even answering any questions about the POI.

Just getting rid of the gun would not change the rest of the forensic evidence pointing to how the crime was committed. So if someone tried to stage the crime to protect the Tepes only by removing the weapon, it would be easily discovered once forensic data came in.

If the police believe it is a M/S why ask the public for help, why release a POI video, etc.

 

[armchairagatha]

Just getting rid of the gun would not change the rest of the forensic evidence pointing to how the crime was committed. So if someone tried to stage the crime to protect the Tepes only by removing the weapon, it would be easily discovered once forensic data came in.

If the police believe it is a M/S why ask the public for help, why release a POI video, etc.

They haven’t asked for help or released any new videos for the past few days. It may have taken a couple of days to get that initial forensic data.

 

[calmdownjudy]

Dbm

 

[Cassie P]

from the ADA--
2.F. Patient Abandonment. Once a dentist has undertaken a course of treatment, the dentist should not discontinue that treatment without giving the patient adequate notice and the opportunity to obtain the services of another dentist. Care should be taken that the patient's oral health is not jeopardized in the process.

it's rather broad language, so i absolutely can see a dentist no call no show one time possibly falling into this, depending on what the appointment was for.

Nonmaleficence

This principle expresses the concept that professionals have a duty to protect the patient from harm.

www.ada.org

Most healthcare professionals are responsible and show up for work on time. But emergencies occur which may result in being a bit late. This is not TERMINATING a patient's care.

If you are in the healthcare field, have you heard of any healthcare related professional subjected to state of Ohio licensing board action for being late to work one time?

Ohio licensing boards are strict, but I have never heard of this happening to any medical professional.

I am willing to give the dentistry field a pass on what looks to be odd behavior. But the twists and turns to defend the behavior is puzzling to me.

As we have witnessed in other aspects of this case, the more people try to explain things, the more puzzling it looks.

 

[armchairagatha]

The bedroom door did have to be broken down. It was locked. That was the quickest way to get in at that time.

As for the back door to the house, I believe it has been posted, on this thread somewhere, that the back door was either ajar, or that someone had a code to get in. I have never seen that anywhere in MSM, so can't confirm it.

Why did the friends need to break down the bedroom door? Could they not have waited for LE to get there? The kids were already secure and the police were on their way.

 

[alexwood]

Why did the friends need to break down the bedroom door? Could they not have waited for LE to get there? The kids were already secure and the police were on their way.

You'd have to ask them that.

 

[Cassie P]

They haven’t asked for help or released any new videos for the past few days. It may have taken a couple of days to get that initial forensic data.

Some of it might be readily apparent? Position of bodies, blood spatters, etc. At least enough to give LE a basic idea of what happened.

 

[armchairagatha]

Some of it might be readily apparent? Position of bodies, blood spatters, etc. At least enough to give LE a basic idea of what happened.

Perhaps. But without a weapon at the scene?

 

[Ms Scarlett]

so they didn't even send an officer to canvass the area after the person had been banging on the woman's door for half an hour??? i thought it was pretty standard procedure to send an officer out for stuff like that? i don't think i've EVER heard of 911 being like oh they left? oh ok case closed *shrug*

That is a huge red flag in DV cases and he just took her word for it and didn't send an officer.
exactly! not sending for that call doesn't make any sense either. as others have pointed out, someone could've been standing right there intimidating her to tell the dispatcher she was fine and an officer wasn't needed. someone should've been sent regardless of what she was saying, that's crazy to me.

MOO

I thought they HAD to send an officer out for a 911 call even if the person on the phone said it wasn’t necessary…that’s the impression I got from my cop friends.

 

[getthefax]

1

From my understanding wasn't the office a 3 hour commute? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

hour and 15 minutes, each way.