Top headlines of the week, Dec. 26 2025
Here are some stories you may have missed this week in central Ohio.
- A Columbus couple was found shot to death in their Weinland Park home after concerned colleagues requested a wellbeing check.
- Police discovered the couple’s two young children alive at the residence.
- Authorities have not publicly released many details but have indicated it was not a murder-suicide.
- Spencer Tepe, 37, and Monique Tepe, 39, were identified as the victims.
Numerous questions remain publicly unanswered a day after a Columbus couple was found shot to death in their Weinland Park home.
Columbus police responded to a home Dec. 30 on the 1400 block of North 4th Street after receiving calls from the couples’ concerned friends and co-workers. Monique Tepe, 39, and Spencer Tepe, 37, were found dead at the residence. Spencer had been shot multiple times, according to a radio run log obtained via a public records request.
Police found two young children at the home. A Columbus police spokesman said Dec. 30 there were no indications a murder-suicide had occurred but could not provide further details.
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.
How police learned about the double shooting
Columbus police received the first call at 9:03 a.m., when a colleague called to request a wellbeing check on Spencer Tepe because he had not reported to work, according to recordings obtained via a public records request.
At 9:22 a.m., an officer reported there was no answer at the door and apparently left, based on the records.
Spencer was a dentist who worked at the Athens Dental Depot, which opens at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays, according to the business’ website.
The colleague told police it was out of character for Spencer to not show up and to not call. He said staff were not able to reach him or his wife.
“He is always on time and he would contact us if there was any issue whatsoever,” the colleague said in the call to police. “I just don’t know how else to say this. We’re very very concerned. It’s very out of character.”
At 9:57 a.m., a man called police, saying he was at the home and could hear children inside. At 10 a.m., another co-worker called police, saying she was so concerned for Spencer’s wellbeing that she was also heading to the couple’s home.
At 10:05 a.m., a friend called police from the home. He said he went there because Spencer was not answering the phone.
The friend told police he could see Spencer’s body inside the home, laying next to the bed. He told police he had last spoken to Spencer the day before.
Police returned to the home and found the two children. They executed a search warrant at the residence.
Who were Monique and Spencer Tepe?
Monique and Spencer Tepe were a wife and husband living on the 1400 block of North 4th Street. They had two young children.
Spencer Tepe was a dentist at the Athens Dental Depot at 80 Columbus Road in Athens. He earned bachelors degrees in Spanish and Biology from the Ohio State University, and also graduated with a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the university in 2017, according to his staff page on the Athens Dental Depot website.
“Outside of the office, Dr. Tepe enjoys golf, travel, and time with his family,” the staff profile noted.
Neighbors ‘rattled’ by homicides near Columbus police camera
Neighbors who lived nearby told The Dispatch on Dec. 31 they did not know the couple very well but expressed shock that the shooting happened in the neighborhood.
Andrew Pla, who has lived next door for more than two years, said he was away in Cleveland at the time of the shooting. Pla, 28, works as a lighting designer for music festivals and concerts and said that his job requires him to travel often.
He said the Tepes would often grab his packages for safekeeping while he was away for work, but he did not know them very well and would talk to them in passing.
Pla said he was “a little bit rattled” when he heard about the shooting.
Ethan Garcia, 25, lives across the street from with his girlfriend and also said that he didn’t know the couple very well. He said he would often see Monique leaving for work about the same time that he was leaving every morning. Garcia said the shooting concerned him and that the neighborhood was otherwise fairly quiet.
A Columbus police crime camera sits on a utility pole a few hundred feet away from the Tepes’ home at the intersection of 4th Street and East Eighth Avenue. The Dispatch has asked Columbus police if the camera is operational and captured anything related to the shooting.
This story was updated with additional reporting.
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at [email protected].
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at [email protected], at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
