January 4, 2026 • 13 mins
Police are asking for the public’s help in trying to solve a double homicide in Columbus, Ohio. 37 year old Dr. Spencer Tepe and his wife, 39 year old Monique Tepe were both found shot to death on December 30th after Tepe failed to show up for work. Police found their two toddlers unharmed in the home, with no signs of forced entry and no weapon left behind.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, January fourth, and there
is a killer or killers on the loose in Columbus, Ohio.
And this killer or killers left a married couple dead
inside their home. Their one and four year old children
(00:33):
were trapped inside alive with their dead parents. And with that,
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. And I
guess that's the part of the story that really jumps out.
You hear about a couple shot dead. That will cause
a mystery, But part of the story is that we
can't forge out why. But there were two children who
were inside with their parents' dead bodies for a number
(00:56):
of hours. That's just one of the mysteries they're trying
to figure out.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yes, it is a mystery and a horrific tragedy because
this happened December thirtieth, and this couple who was gunned
down in their home. There are no suspects right now,
and police were very quick to say this was not
a murder suicide, that this was in fact a double homicide,
and they say they can say that with certainty. There
(01:23):
was no firearm found inside that home. And also of
note and mystery, there was no forced entry. So this
really is a full blown mystery in Columbus right now,
and residents are fearful, family members are afraid. It's puzzling
and tragic all at once.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, we're coming up on now a week, folks, and
the police aren't necessarily telling the public to be on
the lookout. They're not necessarily saying, hey, there's a danger,
don't approach to this person, or somebody's armed and dangerous.
And they're also not necessarily saying this was targeted. They
aren't saying a whole lot of anything.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
A neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, for the past almost week
knows there's somebody out there who is capable of shooting
and killing a young couple with their kids in the house.
That's all we know at this point. And Rose that
is is terrifying, certainly for this for this neighbor. Any
idea you talk about a heinous crime and the person
(02:22):
responsible is still on the loose, that will scare the
hell out of the neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Of course, seen there's plenty, of course, and for everyone
who has weighed in on the story, the neighbors, the
people who knew this couple. The other thing that's really
scary about this is they can't figure out who would
want to see them dead. They're described as this loving couple,
a beloved dentist in the community who everyone knew, a
stay at home mom who was a great baker, who
(02:46):
loved her kids, who was a part of the community.
So everyone's like, why them. This wasn't some you know,
couple who was into something dangerous or had a certain lifestyle.
This was as American as apple pie. And that makes
it all the scarier.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So you go back now and again, folks. This was
happening the day before New Year's Eve, so December thirtieth,
and there was a concern because by all accounts I mean,
is a dentists. Dentists are don't get me wrong. They
leave us waiting, sometimes in the waiting room, but as
far as their staff goes, they know they're the dentist
pretty well. And something was up because they said they
(03:23):
couldn't get ahold of this.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Guy, that's right. So when he didn't show up for work,
and then they couldn't get in touch with him on
his phone, and when they couldn't get in touch with
his wife, that's when they started to get really concerned.
So they immediately called nine one one for a welfare check.
The officer arrives pretty quickly. He looks around, nothing seems
out of sorts. He rings the doorbell, No one answers,
(03:44):
so he leaves. But then thirty minutes later, Teppi's colleagues
decide to drive to the house themselves, and that's when
nine to one one calls started coming in the first
one actually said I could hear kids inside, and I
swear I think I heard one. Yeah, but we can't
get in At this point, I don't know if I
need to break the door in to get in the
(04:05):
house or what. And then there's another nine one one
call where someone else says, I can see there's a body.
Our friend wasn't answering his phone. We just came here
and he appears dead. And that has when police returned
to the scene and found what they found.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, and what they found was these two individuals shot
dead in the home. Now the kids unharmed one and four.
We should make clear there the kids were physically unharmed
in all of this. That is part of the mystery,
at least one of the questions. You can fill in there.
But the peculiar part is there's no sign of forced entry.
(04:44):
Peculiar part, there's no firearm around. I also saw robes,
and they might keep this to themselves with no shellcasings
were found either. So what you have is a home
that seems to be still intact, locked up, if you will,
with nothing disturbed other than you have two dead bodies.
(05:05):
How did somebody get into the house. How did somebody
get out of the house. It's clear they didn't break
into the house. So who was this person? And that's
the first thing I thought was, well, maybe this was
a murder suicide situation. But I was wondering, well, why
are they calling it that, Why are they being clear
about homicide? And yes, this is probably detective one on one.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There's no fire on so it's not possible to clean
up a scene after you've already died. So the other
really interesting thing I was seeing online so many people
in the Columbias area, Columbus area are obviously concerned, but
they know this neighborhood, they know this street, and I've
seen some pictures. These houses are all right stacked up
(05:47):
next to each other. It's a nice area, but these
are houses that are cookie cutters of one another, with
pretty small properties and not a lot of in between space,
so there were no reports of gunfire. That was the
other interesting. People are confused as to how gunfire because
there are reports I don't know exactly how money, but
they say Spencer was shot multiple times and then his
(06:11):
wife had at least one gunshot wound to the chest.
So there's a question as to why no one reported gunshots.
That's very odd.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well, I mean, as far as timing goes, who knows
what time was this the middle of the night. I
don't know if a gunshot would wake me up. Well
I'm up at three, you know what I'm saying here.
But I don't know if that plays a role into
it all, how much they put into it. I just
this is an odd case and it's almost impossible. You know,
(06:42):
you're taking me down so many scenarios that you just said,
so I don't want to start speculating on what could
have been. But the facts are few and far between,
and that is probably by design. At this point. If
they think they have a killer or killer is out there,
there's a lot of information they want to keep close
to the chest to help them solve this case correct.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
And that's been another big complaint that has been online,
and you can only imagine if you are somebody who
lives on that street, if you're the neighbor, if you're
anywhere in that area. Obviously the person or person's responsible
for this in the scene we just described, have to
be on the loose. It doesn't seem possible that there
is another concept other than there is someone on the
(07:20):
loose who killed this couple for apparently no known reason.
You have every right to be concerned, and because the
police haven't been speaking a lot, there are rumors everywhere,
people are speculating. It just causes a deeper concern. And
to have a full week go by and not have
any new information or any new leads, that is disturbing.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And yeah, there just aren't a lot of scenarios as
far as the no gun being found, no force entry
that suggests they let the person in. Was it someone
they knew, Was there somebody that possibly rang the doorbell
and forced their way who? Who absolutely knows? But this
is one of those mysteries that they're trying to figure
(08:03):
out right now in Columbus, Ohio. But the police to
give you some indication of just how desperate they are
right now, will tell you what they're asking the community
to do and how they're also using technology and what
is for at least me, the first time I have
heard of a police department doing this to get help.
(08:34):
All right, folks, we continue here on Amy and TJ.
A killer or killers on the loose in the Columbus,
Ohio area after a couple young couple, thirty seven year
old Spencer Tepee his thirty nine year old wife Monica
Teppe found shot and killed in their home. They're one
and four year old kids left inside unharmed ropes. This
(08:57):
is part of it. You can't go in two feet
anywhere in this country anymore without a camera being closed
by and recording, and police are going out of their
way right now with the neighborhood. Where do we see
this At the Brown University shooting as well, they started
piecing together movements based on people's ring cameras and they're
asking for that once again. Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They want anyone with the doorbell cam, anyone with any
sort of security camera on that street or nearby in
that vicinity. They need to go and do that exact
type of police work. But we have seen this work
in ways that you know, a couple decades ago wasn't available.
But to have surveillance evidence that leads them in a direction,
they can actually find someone who could be coming or
(09:36):
going from that home at an unusual time and boom,
you've got your suspect. So if obviously they've been collecting
that over the past week. So far, no word that
there have been any leads in that area. But look,
the operating theories are one of two people, because there
was no firearm, because there was no forced entry, and
the children were left alive. Either this was just a
(09:58):
stranger at the door who decided to kill the parents
for whatever reason, or they were targeted by someone who
knew them, and it's really one of those two things.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And still nobody can figure out the why. Yeah, it's
chances are and we know this that, yeah, it's random.
Crimes like this just don't necessarily happen. Well, we see
them on TV and some truth, but generally speaking, this
just doesn't. The randomness of this is not statistically it's like.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's so extremely rare that I don't even know if
they have a statistic for us. So, yes, the most
people will tell you police will be focusing on who
knew them and what sort of relationship that went bad
or somehow turned sour could have led to this. It
seemed targeted and they spared the children. So that also
means that the two of them were the only two
(10:49):
that whoever this was wanted dead.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Statistically speaking, maybe this is the anomaly. I hadn't heard
this before, but we have, and maybe this is what
they have been doing, and I just haven't seen it
in a lot QR codes. I did not realize. And
this is just brilliant with the police they are have
set up a QR code. Just use that and you
can upload your footage right to them. What a great
(11:14):
investigative idea.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's amazing idea if you make it easy. Okay, I'll
go look at my ring camp and then ooh they
might find something that's actually exciting to know you're helping
in the investigation. And yeah, all it takes is a
QR code. That is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I also just.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Wanted to make sure we ended this with the family
statement about who Spencer and Monique were, just because obviously
this crime is riveting and it's one of those headline
grabbing crimes and people obviously are trying to solve the crime.
Because there are people on the loose, killers on the loose,
(11:51):
But there were two victims here that were loved, and
I just I thought we should read some of what
the family had to say about Spencer and Monique. They
said that they shared a beautiful, full, strong, and deeply
happy relationship bonded by a love of travel, laughter, and
a mission to build a life rooted in love. We
are heartbroken beyond words. They say they're committed to seeing
(12:12):
this tragedy fully and fairly brought to justice, and they
did want everyone to know that they are protecting those
two children, that one year old and that four year old.
They say that they are now in the care of relatives,
and I think we always want to know with stuff
like this, like what happened to the kids. It's good
to know that they're with family.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And who knows what they saw, what they heard, what
they remember, and what life will look like for them
going forward. But just awful. This is one we will
keep an eye on, and we will have to keep
an eye on this, maybe daily, because it seems like robes.
We would certainly hope for updates. When the case is
getting this much attention, A lot of resources are going
(12:56):
towards it right now.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, I think if you turn on your phone or
you're a computer now. It started to pick up steam yesterday.
But you will see this picture. It's their wedding photo
from exactly almost five years ago. In fact this month,
at the end of this month, it would have been
their fifth year wedding anniversary. And so you'll see this
very happy and loved couple just four years ago, smiling
(13:19):
holding hands. That's the image that you'll see on your
screen and that hopefully will drive police to make sure
this investigation leads to some answers for their children and
for their family. Thank you everyone for listening to us.
We always appreciate you. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ. Holmes.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
We will talk to you soon.
Hey there, folks. It is Sunday, January fourth, and there
is a killer or killers on the loose in Columbus, Ohio.
And this killer or killers left a married couple dead
inside their home. Their one and four year old children
(00:33):
were trapped inside alive with their dead parents. And with that,
welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. And I
guess that's the part of the story that really jumps out.
You hear about a couple shot dead. That will cause
a mystery, But part of the story is that we
can't forge out why. But there were two children who
were inside with their parents' dead bodies for a number
(00:56):
of hours. That's just one of the mysteries they're trying
to figure out.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yes, it is a mystery and a horrific tragedy because
this happened December thirtieth, and this couple who was gunned
down in their home. There are no suspects right now,
and police were very quick to say this was not
a murder suicide, that this was in fact a double homicide,
and they say they can say that with certainty. There
(01:23):
was no firearm found inside that home. And also of
note and mystery, there was no forced entry. So this
really is a full blown mystery in Columbus right now,
and residents are fearful, family members are afraid. It's puzzling
and tragic all at once.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, we're coming up on now a week, folks, and
the police aren't necessarily telling the public to be on
the lookout. They're not necessarily saying, hey, there's a danger,
don't approach to this person, or somebody's armed and dangerous.
And they're also not necessarily saying this was targeted. They
aren't saying a whole lot of anything.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
A neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, for the past almost week
knows there's somebody out there who is capable of shooting
and killing a young couple with their kids in the house.
That's all we know at this point. And Rose that
is is terrifying, certainly for this for this neighbor. Any
idea you talk about a heinous crime and the person
(02:22):
responsible is still on the loose, that will scare the
hell out of the neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Of course, seen there's plenty, of course, and for everyone
who has weighed in on the story, the neighbors, the
people who knew this couple. The other thing that's really
scary about this is they can't figure out who would
want to see them dead. They're described as this loving couple,
a beloved dentist in the community who everyone knew, a
stay at home mom who was a great baker, who
(02:46):
loved her kids, who was a part of the community.
So everyone's like, why them. This wasn't some you know,
couple who was into something dangerous or had a certain lifestyle.
This was as American as apple pie. And that makes
it all the scarier.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So you go back now and again, folks. This was
happening the day before New Year's Eve, so December thirtieth,
and there was a concern because by all accounts I mean,
is a dentists. Dentists are don't get me wrong. They
leave us waiting, sometimes in the waiting room, but as
far as their staff goes, they know they're the dentist
pretty well. And something was up because they said they
(03:23):
couldn't get ahold of this.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Guy, that's right. So when he didn't show up for work,
and then they couldn't get in touch with him on
his phone, and when they couldn't get in touch with
his wife, that's when they started to get really concerned.
So they immediately called nine one one for a welfare check.
The officer arrives pretty quickly. He looks around, nothing seems
out of sorts. He rings the doorbell, No one answers,
(03:44):
so he leaves. But then thirty minutes later, Teppi's colleagues
decide to drive to the house themselves, and that's when
nine to one one calls started coming in the first
one actually said I could hear kids inside, and I
swear I think I heard one. Yeah, but we can't
get in At this point, I don't know if I
need to break the door in to get in the
(04:05):
house or what. And then there's another nine one one
call where someone else says, I can see there's a body.
Our friend wasn't answering his phone. We just came here
and he appears dead. And that has when police returned
to the scene and found what they found.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Yeah, and what they found was these two individuals shot
dead in the home. Now the kids unharmed one and four.
We should make clear there the kids were physically unharmed
in all of this. That is part of the mystery,
at least one of the questions. You can fill in there.
But the peculiar part is there's no sign of forced entry.
(04:44):
Peculiar part, there's no firearm around. I also saw robes,
and they might keep this to themselves with no shellcasings
were found either. So what you have is a home
that seems to be still intact, locked up, if you will,
with nothing disturbed other than you have two dead bodies.
(05:05):
How did somebody get into the house. How did somebody
get out of the house. It's clear they didn't break
into the house. So who was this person? And that's
the first thing I thought was, well, maybe this was
a murder suicide situation. But I was wondering, well, why
are they calling it that, Why are they being clear
about homicide? And yes, this is probably detective one on one.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
There's no fire on so it's not possible to clean
up a scene after you've already died. So the other
really interesting thing I was seeing online so many people
in the Columbias area, Columbus area are obviously concerned, but
they know this neighborhood, they know this street, and I've
seen some pictures. These houses are all right stacked up
(05:47):
next to each other. It's a nice area, but these
are houses that are cookie cutters of one another, with
pretty small properties and not a lot of in between space,
so there were no reports of gunfire. That was the
other interesting. People are confused as to how gunfire because
there are reports I don't know exactly how money, but
they say Spencer was shot multiple times and then his
(06:11):
wife had at least one gunshot wound to the chest.
So there's a question as to why no one reported gunshots.
That's very odd.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Well, I mean, as far as timing goes, who knows
what time was this the middle of the night. I
don't know if a gunshot would wake me up. Well
I'm up at three, you know what I'm saying here.
But I don't know if that plays a role into
it all, how much they put into it. I just
this is an odd case and it's almost impossible. You know,
(06:42):
you're taking me down so many scenarios that you just said,
so I don't want to start speculating on what could
have been. But the facts are few and far between,
and that is probably by design. At this point. If
they think they have a killer or killer is out there,
there's a lot of information they want to keep close
to the chest to help them solve this case correct.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
And that's been another big complaint that has been online,
and you can only imagine if you are somebody who
lives on that street, if you're the neighbor, if you're
anywhere in that area. Obviously the person or person's responsible
for this in the scene we just described, have to
be on the loose. It doesn't seem possible that there
is another concept other than there is someone on the
(07:20):
loose who killed this couple for apparently no known reason.
You have every right to be concerned, and because the
police haven't been speaking a lot, there are rumors everywhere,
people are speculating. It just causes a deeper concern. And
to have a full week go by and not have
any new information or any new leads, that is disturbing.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And yeah, there just aren't a lot of scenarios as
far as the no gun being found, no force entry
that suggests they let the person in. Was it someone
they knew, Was there somebody that possibly rang the doorbell
and forced their way who? Who absolutely knows? But this
is one of those mysteries that they're trying to figure
(08:03):
out right now in Columbus, Ohio. But the police to
give you some indication of just how desperate they are
right now, will tell you what they're asking the community
to do and how they're also using technology and what
is for at least me, the first time I have
heard of a police department doing this to get help.
(08:34):
All right, folks, we continue here on Amy and TJ.
A killer or killers on the loose in the Columbus,
Ohio area after a couple young couple, thirty seven year
old Spencer Tepee his thirty nine year old wife Monica
Teppe found shot and killed in their home. They're one
and four year old kids left inside unharmed ropes. This
(08:57):
is part of it. You can't go in two feet
anywhere in this country anymore without a camera being closed
by and recording, and police are going out of their
way right now with the neighborhood. Where do we see
this At the Brown University shooting as well, they started
piecing together movements based on people's ring cameras and they're
asking for that once again. Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They want anyone with the doorbell cam, anyone with any
sort of security camera on that street or nearby in
that vicinity. They need to go and do that exact
type of police work. But we have seen this work
in ways that you know, a couple decades ago wasn't available.
But to have surveillance evidence that leads them in a direction,
they can actually find someone who could be coming or
(09:36):
going from that home at an unusual time and boom,
you've got your suspect. So if obviously they've been collecting
that over the past week. So far, no word that
there have been any leads in that area. But look,
the operating theories are one of two people, because there
was no firearm, because there was no forced entry, and
the children were left alive. Either this was just a
(09:58):
stranger at the door who decided to kill the parents
for whatever reason, or they were targeted by someone who
knew them, and it's really one of those two things.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
And still nobody can figure out the why. Yeah, it's
chances are and we know this that, yeah, it's random.
Crimes like this just don't necessarily happen. Well, we see
them on TV and some truth, but generally speaking, this
just doesn't. The randomness of this is not statistically it's like.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
It's so extremely rare that I don't even know if
they have a statistic for us. So, yes, the most
people will tell you police will be focusing on who
knew them and what sort of relationship that went bad
or somehow turned sour could have led to this. It
seemed targeted and they spared the children. So that also
means that the two of them were the only two
(10:49):
that whoever this was wanted dead.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Statistically speaking, maybe this is the anomaly. I hadn't heard
this before, but we have, and maybe this is what
they have been doing, and I just haven't seen it
in a lot QR codes. I did not realize. And
this is just brilliant with the police they are have
set up a QR code. Just use that and you
can upload your footage right to them. What a great
(11:14):
investigative idea.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
That's amazing idea if you make it easy. Okay, I'll
go look at my ring camp and then ooh they
might find something that's actually exciting to know you're helping
in the investigation. And yeah, all it takes is a
QR code. That is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I also just.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Wanted to make sure we ended this with the family
statement about who Spencer and Monique were, just because obviously
this crime is riveting and it's one of those headline
grabbing crimes and people obviously are trying to solve the crime.
Because there are people on the loose, killers on the loose,
(11:51):
But there were two victims here that were loved, and
I just I thought we should read some of what
the family had to say about Spencer and Monique. They
said that they shared a beautiful, full, strong, and deeply
happy relationship bonded by a love of travel, laughter, and
a mission to build a life rooted in love. We
are heartbroken beyond words. They say they're committed to seeing
(12:12):
this tragedy fully and fairly brought to justice, and they
did want everyone to know that they are protecting those
two children, that one year old and that four year old.
They say that they are now in the care of relatives,
and I think we always want to know with stuff
like this, like what happened to the kids. It's good
to know that they're with family.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And who knows what they saw, what they heard, what
they remember, and what life will look like for them
going forward. But just awful. This is one we will
keep an eye on, and we will have to keep
an eye on this, maybe daily, because it seems like robes.
We would certainly hope for updates. When the case is
getting this much attention, A lot of resources are going
(12:56):
towards it right now.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, I think if you turn on your phone or
you're a computer now. It started to pick up steam yesterday.
But you will see this picture. It's their wedding photo
from exactly almost five years ago. In fact this month,
at the end of this month, it would have been
their fifth year wedding anniversary. And so you'll see this
very happy and loved couple just four years ago, smiling
(13:19):
holding hands. That's the image that you'll see on your
screen and that hopefully will drive police to make sure
this investigation leads to some answers for their children and
for their family. Thank you everyone for listening to us.
We always appreciate you. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ. Holmes.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
We will talk to you soon.
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