Columbus Horror — Dentist and Wife Gunned Down

(RightwingJournal.com) – A tragic Ohio double murder is now colliding with sloppy “domestic dispute” labeling and media spin, raising hard questions about how easily innocent families can be smeared while a real killer still walks free.

Story Highlights

Ohio dentist Spencer Tepe and his wife Monique were found shot to death in their Columbus home, with their young children left alive but orphaned.
A months‑earlier 911 call from the same address, logged as a “domestic dispute,” came from a party guest arguing with her own partner, not from Monique or Spencer.
Family members are pushing back against attempts to paint the couple as domestic‑violence suspects instead of homicide victims.
Police say this was not a murder‑suicide, found no forced entry and no weapon, and have released video of a person of interest.

Unusual Double Homicide Shakes a Columbus Neighborhood

On December 30, 2024, Columbus officers arrived at the north‑side home of dentist Dr. Spencer Tepe after he failed to show up for work, something his employer said was completely out of character. Inside, police discovered Spencer, 37, and his wife Monique, 39, dead from apparent gunshot wounds while their two small children were found alive. Investigators reported no forced entry and no firearm at the scene, and quickly stated the case did not appear to be a murder‑suicide.

That combination of facts immediately raised disturbing possibilities for many observers: someone likely entered a seemingly secure home, killed both parents, and left two young children behind. For a conservative audience already wary of rising crime and lax prosecution in many cities, the unanswered question is straightforward and chilling: who pulled the trigger, and why? Columbus police later released surveillance footage of a person of interest walking near the home around the time of the murders, appealing to the public for help.

The April 911 Call: How a Party Guest’s Argument Became a “Domestic Dispute” Headline

Months before the killings, at about 2:45 a.m. on April 15, 2024, a crying woman at the same address briefly called 911, hung up, then told a dispatcher she and “my man got into it.” She insisted nothing was physical, apologized, and asked to cancel any police response. Dispatchers logged the event as a “domestic dispute” and later changed the coding to “assistance no longer needed,” with no names attached to the call.

When Fox News Digital later obtained the audio and records, the bare label “domestic dispute” at the future murder scene quickly took on a life of its own. To many casual readers, that phrase signals an abusive home, not a tense argument that never turned physical. In a culture already conditioned by left‑leaning media to expect a domestic‑violence angle whenever a married couple is killed, the shorthand code risked smearing two homicide victims as potential abusers.

Family Pushes Back Against Domestic‑Violence Narrative Creep

After Fox published the April 911 audio, the Tepe and Khosla families issued a detailed statement that cut through the speculation. They explained the caller was not Monique, not Spencer, and not a household member. Instead, the call came from a female guest who had attended a social gathering at the home and was upset over an argument with her own partner. The dispute did not involve the couple, and there was no domestic incident between Spencer and Monique that night.

For a conservative audience that values personal responsibility and due process, their point matters. A bureaucratic dispatch label, detached from context, had started to morph into an implied history of domestic trouble in the Tepe home. The families’ statement is an effort to protect the couple’s reputation and keep public focus where it belongs: on catching whoever entered a family’s house and left two parents dead. It also exposes how bureaucratic shorthand can fuel narratives that erode basic fairness.

Media Framing, 911 Coding, and the Risk to Honest Families

Across the country, conservatives have watched progressive prosecutors downplay real crime while media outlets obsess over preferred narratives. In this case, the “domestic dispute” label fit neatly into a ready‑made storyline that could overshadow other leads, even though the 911 center’s code was simply an administrative category for an emotional argument between intimate partners. It was never proof of violence, never proof that the homeowners were involved, and never a conviction in any sense.

Yet once such a label appears in public records, it is easy for headline writers and social media voices to imply more than the facts support. That kind of framing not only disrespects the dead, it can misdirect tips and attention away from an outside perpetrator. For readers who distrust big institutions, this case underscores how a combination of government coding and media shortcuts can damage innocent people and confuse the search for truth.

Ongoing Investigation and What It Says About Public Safety

Police have not named any suspects publicly, and their early conclusion that this was not a murder‑suicide—combined with the lack of forced entry and missing weapon—strongly suggests they are focused on third‑party involvement. Investigators are reviewing neighborhood surveillance and asking for help identifying the person of interest seen walking near the Tepes’ home, a reminder that community cooperation is often crucial when authorities keep key forensic details confidential to protect the case.

For many conservative families, the Tepe murders highlight twin concerns. First, that even inside a quiet Midwestern neighborhood, evil can penetrate a locked front door. Second, that in the aftermath, institutions we are supposed to trust—dispatch centers, major newsrooms, and big‑city agencies—can stumble into narratives that cast suspicion on victims instead of zeroing in on the real threat. The best response is vigilance: demand accurate reporting, insist on due process, and support law enforcement in pursuing facts, not storylines.