Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Eerie Door Banging Riddle In Murders Of Dentist Wife At Home Tot Kids Asleep

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

When Dr. Spencer Tepe doesn't show up for work at Athens Dental Depot in Columbus, Ohio, coworkers are shocked. They call their boss, the owner of Athens Dental, Dr Mark Valrose. Valrose is on vacation in Florida, but Spencer not showing up is so unusual that coworkers felt they needed to let Valrose know. Valrose tries to contact Spencer, and failing at that, Tepe's wife, Monique, is even more predictable than her husband. Unable to reach either Tepe, Valrose calls 911 in Columbus, Ohio, at 9:03 a.m., requesting a wellness check. Joining Nancy Grace: Derek Smith - Criminal Defense Attorney Dr. Joni Johnston - Forensic Psychologist and private investigator, performs risk and threat assessments on violent offenders, Author: “Serial Killers: 101 Questions True Crime Fans Ask;" Also Author of  "CONTROLLING ANXIETY (The Complete Idiot's Guide)," "FIGHT YOUR FRIGHT: A Holistic Approach to Understanding & Overcoming Anxiety," and "APPEARANCE OBSESSION Learning to Love the Way You Look" Tom Smith - Former NYPD Detective for 30 years - Narcotics, Robbery Squad, Gang Investigations - was also assigned to the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force. Co-Host of the GOLD SHIELDS Podcast; FB & Instagram: @thegoldshieldshow  Dr. Priya Banerjee - Board Certified Forensic Pathologist and Anatomic Pathologist, Anchor Forensic Pathology Consulting   Susan Hendricks - Journalist, Author: “Down the Hill: My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi;" IG @susan_hendricks X @SusanHendicks  Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The mystery deepens with an eerie, door-banging riddle. Is it connected to the murders of a young dentist and his wife in their own home? They're taught children asleep upstairs. It is not believed at this hour to be a murder-suicide. No weapon was found on the scene.

no forced entry, who would murder a husband and wife in their own home around Christmas, leaving their children, their tots upstairs to come down the next morning and find mommy and daddy dead? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. In Ohio couple known for loving life, making memories and constantly laughing with their family and friends. A home once filled with joy becomes the scene of an early morning tragedy. What happened to a young dentist and his wife both found dead in their home? Joining me an all-star panel, but what is really baffling on top of that another layer is this eerie door-banging riddle that occurred before the murders at a neighbor's house.

Now, you've got to stick with these 911 calls because everybody and their brother was calling 9-1-1 about the dentist not showing up to work and the wife not picking up the phone. Police go to the scene but see nothing. Listen. I guess I would like to ask for a wellness check on an individual at their home. This individual Spencer works with me and he did not show up to work this morning and we cannot get a hold of him or his family. He is always on time and he would contact us that there is any issues whatsoever. And he,

I just don't know how else to say this like, we're very, very concerned because this is very out of character. And we can't get in touch with his wife, which is probably the more concerning thing. When Dr. Spencer Tempe doesn't show up for work at Athens Dental Depot in Columbus, Ohio, co-workers are so shocked. They call their boss,

the owner of Athens Dental, Dr. Mark Valrose. Valrose is on vacation in Florida, but Spencer not showing up is so unusual. Co-workers felt the need to let Valer, No. Valrose tries to contact Spencer and failing at that. TEPI's wife, Monique, as she's even more predictable than her husband. Unable to reach either Teppy, Valrose calls 911 in Columbus, Ohio at 903 a.m. requesting a wellness check. So immediately, the 911 calls start pouring in where

coworkers are asking for a welfare check. And let me tell you, I'm extremely put off by the 911 and dispatcher. You're going to hear that in a moment. So the call's pouring in. Here's another one. What's the emergency there? Our boss did not report to work. We haven't been able to get a hold of them for three hours. We are on site and we can hear. Okay, I just talked to somebody there. Okay, I'm just making sure somebody calls. Live at the Tepey residents at 9.22 a.m. Officers knock on the front door multiple times but get no response. Checking the door and windows, officers see no sign of disturbance. At the back door, officers again knock multiple times, no response.

Repeating the process, officers failed to get a response and file the report in their logbook, no response. Straight out to Tom Smith, joining me, former NYPD detective 30 years, narcotics, robbery, gang, homicide, anti-terrorism task force. Now, co-star of the Gold Shield podcast, what is wrong with the nine. 1-1-1 operator. I mean, that just stopped me in my tracks when I hear that. Yeah, it's very disturbing because she's not taking it seriously. And you should take every call seriously, and especially when you have numerous calls about the same thing from different people. That means they're on alert and they're concerned. And she should show that and be getting the proper response to that location quickly and as she possibly can. And she seemed

annoyed that she was getting more and more calls about this, which is a complete wrong thing to be doing in a situation like this, Nancy. Yeah, you've got someone calling in upset. The woman sounds like she's on the verge of tears, and dispatch says, well, I just talk to somebody about that. Like, what's the woman supposed to do about that? I just find it very off-putting in. It reminds me of the dispatch officer who needs to be fired in the Coburger case.

Listen to this. Tell me exactly what's going on. Um, one of our, one of the roommates who's passed out and she was drunk last night and she was not wake you up. Okay. Oh, and they saw some man in their house last night. Yeah. Hi, I just, you know.

And are you with a patient? Okay, I need someone to keep the phone, stop passing it around. Can I just tell you what happened pretty much? What is going on currently? Is someone passed out right now? I don't really know, but pretty much at 4 a.m. Okay. I need to know what's going on right now if someone is.

passed out. Can you find that out? She cut off Dylan Mortensen. No, they're not passed out woman. They're all dead. Brian Coburger murdered them. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with that dispatch officer right there that we were just playing in the Coburger case.

I've heard it over and over and over again, but that's a whole another can of worms. Okay, so all these 911 calls are coming in. The dentist hasn't shown up. The dentist hasn't shown up. Why are they that upset about a teeth cleaning or a cavity being filled? Let's listen to more.

A co-worker of Spencer goes to the Teppy residence and calls 911, explaining Teppy is her boss and they haven't been able to get a hold of him. The caller tries to tell dispatch they can hear kids inside, but the dispatcher talks over the caller telling her, I just talk to somebody there. The distraught coworker apologizes saying she was just making sure someone called. Okay, we do have officers responding there. Do you know if he's been ill or anything like that?

No, no, I was just supposed to be yesterday. Guys, it gets worse. I haven't even gotten to the two dead bodies and the children screaming because the 911 dispatch is not taking this seriously with all these calls coming in. Keep listening. What's the emergency there? Police or medical?

Maybe both, I guess. I don't know. I'm kind of doing the moment. It looks like we already had a call out there. They knocked on the front door. back door multiple times and there was no answer. Yeah, no answer. I can hear kids inside and I swear I think I heard one yell, but we can't get in. One of Spencer's friends goes to the teppy home and calls 911 at 9.57 a.m. dispatch tells the friend officers have already been to the location and knocked

on doors and got no answer. The friend says, yeah, no answer. I can hear kids inside and I think I heard one yell explaining how he hasn't been able to get inside the house. Straight out to investigative reporter, journalist, author of Down the Hill, my descent into the double murder in Delphi. You know her well. Susan. Hendrick, Susan, thank you for being with us. So I'm not sure.

I'm just playing a selection of 911 calls to dispatch. Who's getting more and more P-O'd. That's a Latin phrase from law school. And they're like, we sent somebody. They, and they left. Nobody answered. But then you've got neighbors and coworkers now all walking around the house. And they hear a child screaming inside.

And the dispatch officer just really was just too busy doing her nails. Absolutely, Naze. You could hear it in her voice. And her pauses even. I was listening to all the 911 calls. And she's thinking, he's just late for work. She has a preconceived notion about what's going on here. But the first call is what is a.

bit odd to me. It came in around 8.58. The office opens at 8 a.m. Spencer lives about 73 miles from work. So if you put the timeline together, he's what, less than an hour late to work and someone's calling 911 for a wellness check. To me, that stands out. It truly does. Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Susan Hendricks, it would be like me going to court. Yeah, court starts at 9 o'clock, but I've got to get together 150 brand new five, for arraignment, plea deals, you name it, have everything ready before I walk in that courtroom. So I wouldn't expect him to just run in the door wearing a cape and having a drill in his hand. I would imagine that that is based on him typically getting there before the first appointment.

What do you think about that? Absolutely. But during that first call, it's the boss in Florida. Why didn't he think, I don't know, maybe it's a car accident? The roads were icy. He just went straight to wellness check because the 911 officer said, had you heard about anything about an accident? Is there any sort of illness here?

Again, an attitude with the 911 operator, no doubt. But also strange to me, and that's based on my experiences. If my sister called and said, you're not here, we called for a wellness check and said, well, calling around to friends instead of the accident. He didn't say, oh, maybe he did get an car accident. And he also mentioned the wife. He found it, quote, unquote, even more strange that she wasn't answering. Something seems off to me, maybe not, but obviously it's something you're looking into.

I see what you're saying, but I'm wondering if he tried the male victim, the dentist on the phone, no answer. He's, let's just say, an hour late if he gets there early and has coffee and gets ready for the first appointment. and I'm guessing the mom would typically have been at home with the children in this scenario. Yeah, I see what you're saying, and it cannot be discounted. It can't. Right now, my mind is stuck on the neighbors and the coworkers walking all, and they finally go to the home. Now, remember, dispatch while she's doing her nails, has just stated, we send somebody out there, they knocked on the door, nothing happened.

Okay, listen to this. Another friend calls 911 and tells the dispatcher they haven't been able to get into the house, and he thought he heard one of the children yelling. Other friends arrive at the tepee home as well as co-workers who are walking around the house, some in the front, some in the back. 911 dispatch is receiving calls back to back from the same address, each trying to get help for their friends, not knowing others were calling at the same time.

So when the calls are made, you hear dispatch, again, I guess still doing her nails, state, we sent somebody, they knocked, there was no answer, there's nothing to see. And then another call comes in. Listen. What's changed since the last person I talked to? There's a body. There's a body. There's a body inside? Yeah. Okay, hold on one second. Let me get you on the line with the medic, okay? Yeah, on the line. He appears dead.

So now the dispatch operator that was too busy doing her nail says, hello, what's changed since the last time somebody called? That is so discourteous. And the guy says, there's a body. Let's hear that one more time, please. What's changed since the last person I talked to? There's a body. There's a body.

There's a body inside? Yeah. Okay, hold on one second. Let me get you on the line with the medic, okay? On the line. He appears dead. There's a body inside? Wow.

Talk about egg on her face. Let's hear the rest of that 911. There's a body. Our friend wasn't entering his phone. We just did a wellness ship. We just came here. He appears dead. He's laying next to his bed off of his bed in his blood.

I can get closer to more than that. Okay. So you can tell he's obviously not breathing or anything? Yeah. Is it like how to like, you know, because he looks like... It doesn't much trouble. I can't look. Okay.

All right. I understand. Yeah, dispatch just quietly goes away. You know, I'm just thinking. about what these friends and coworkers go through after they discover a body. I don't know about you, Tom Smith, but I remember the first time I went to a homicide scene. For some reason, it did not affect me, but I've seen rookie cops actually vomit the first time they go to a scene, and here's a civilian.

They've been calling and calling and calling trying to get help, getting poo-poohed by dispatch. And until she asked, well, what's different this time? Yo. And the guy says there's a dead body. My friend is dead. And then she quietly just disappears off the call. That's a shock. That is a shock to see a dead body for the first time to many people, much less someone you work with.

Oh, absolutely. It's as traumatic as you can get, especially when they're already stressed out about what might be going on with these two. Now you add on actually finding, you know, him initially and him being dead. Not only it is a traumatic scene to see a dead body, but like you said, Nancy, it is their friend that they were worried about. So all their just nightmares just came true in one instance. To Dr. Priya Bannergy, joining us, special guest board certified forensic pathologist and atomic pathologist at Anchor Forensic Pathology Consulting. Dr. Priya, thank you for being with us. Why does the medic ask a civilian friend.

Is it like puddles? You know, does he look like? Why is he asking a civilian that? I think just to try to get some sense of what's going on, you know, it's such a shock. And I just want to address your point. You and I have both seen deceased people, but when you are a lay person and then it's your friend, I think it's abhorrent to say, oh, what's different now? I mean, that's just shocking.

And I think from a first responder perspective, it's just trying to assess the situation. Like, you know, is he breathing? Is it how much blood is there? How much, you know, how long have they been dead, basically? How much blood is it clotted? I think anything to give them some information. Joining us now, Derek Smith, veteran criminal defense attorney. You can find him at d.w.smith legal.com.

Derek, I have found that playing a 911 call is more. probative, more convincing than any argument a prosecutor or a defense attorney can make. Of course, now, I don't know why we're even talking about a jury. We don't even have the idea of the perp, although I'm about to show you video of a male figure walking in the area at that time. And then there's that eerie doorbanging mystery. What do you make of the 911 call? How hard is it to get that into evidence? Oh, 911 calls are typical in the majority of criminal defense cases, you know, unless it's a traffic stop. Generally, there's an emergency situation,

a victim's calling out for help or a bystander or witness. And it's very important to the defense of a client, especially a client that has not done anything. You can get a lot of value out of a 911 call. Those are people in the moment, an emergency is either ongoing or has just happened. A crime has just occurred. What they're saying is, in evidentiary terms,

is an excited utterance. So in evidentiary terms, those are allowed into evidence because it's something that's happening right now in the heat of the moment, and we get that into evidence to either prove or disprove any kind of an allegation. And in this situation, there's multiple 911 calls. There's a lot of probative value in these calls, Nancy. Guys, we're showing you video of the wedding of the two victims. They were just about to celebrate their five-year anniversary.

Listen. At 10.11 a.m., police officers are back at the Tappy residents, securing the crime scene. Two adult victims suffering apparent gunshot wounds are located and medic personnel pronounced Spencer and Moni Tepe dead. Minutes after arriving on scene, three bullet casings are found, but no gun is immediately located. The couple has two children, ages four and one, who are found unharmed. That video is from Rob Mizzla on YouTube. Straight back out to Susan Hendricks, investigative reporter and author. Tell me about the wounds to the bodies.

It's going to tell me a lot. Nancy, the murder weapon was a gun. Spencer was shot twice, Monique once. Does that mean that Spencer was the target? I'm sure investigators are looking into that. Was someone after Spencer? Was anyone in his life angry at him and why? Those are the key questions. You know, I need to know more, though, Susan Hendricks, and you're right. Normally the victim with the most gunshot wounds is the victim. Although Thomas Smith, a veteran, NYPD, now star of Gold Shields podcast, Tom, it could have been equally likely a scenario of they shoot her, she's the target, and then he comes running in and they shoot him twice because he's the bigger threat. I need to know where the bodies are, and I need to know, is it point blank? Is it at a distance? But the casings were found on the scene, I believe three casings.

What does that tell you, Tom? no weapon. And that's why they're saying it's not a murder suicide because how can you shoot the spouse and shoot yourself and the weapon walk out the front door? So it's not murder suicide. What do you make of the casings? Yeah, the casings are interesting because I don't think, you know, it's been speculated a couple of times that it's a professional hit. A professional is going to take the casings with him. The fact that they're left there is just someone who did what they wanted to do. And I do believe this was a targeted hit and then just got out of when they could and didn't, uh, weren't concerned about the casings, but the casings are so

vitally important in this because of the DNA evidence from it. Now when you say DNA evidence explained to everyone how we can get DNA off of a casing. Well, because in order to load a nine millimeter, you need to push down on that round to put it into a magazine. So unless you're you're a real, you know, pro looking at at this wearing late text gloves and you just do it by hand, you can leave a fingerprint, a very viable fingerprint on those casings while you're loading the weapon. You're joining me right now is a military vet sharp shooter, Koa Lorimar. Uh, coa, thanks for being with us. Very quickly, I want to follow up on what Tom Smith

just said. Explain to me how, show me how DNA can be left on a casing when loading a gun, preferably a nine, but any gun. Well, Nancy, this right here is a 9mm round. The top part is the bullet and the back part is the casing. Now, you can get DNA off this casing by fingerprints and sweat and whatever else they have on their hands when loading the weapon. So this is how you load magazine right here. And also, there are certain marks that are left on the casing after the round is fired.

Now, this is a pistol that this round can be fired from. The bulk is out the front and the casing is ejected out of the side. Now the firing pin leaves a mark on the back of the casing, which is unique to the weapon. Then the extractor leaves scratches on the casing, which is also unique to the weapon. And the ejector leaves dense on the casing. Now all these marks can be traced. back to the weapon it's fired from and that could link the suspect to the gun. You can also link the suspect to the casing based on the fingerprints they get off the casing.

Okay, I see what you're saying, Tom. Thank you, COA. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Back to this scenario. Also, to Dr. Joni Johnston joining us, forensic psychologist, a private investigator. She performs threat and risk assessments on violent offenders, and she's the author of Serial Killers 1001 Questions, True Crime Fans Ask. Plus more. Dr. Joni, I heard Susan Hendricks, and she may be right, hypothesize that the male, the dentist, was the target. because he had more gunshots, gunshot wounds. What do you make of that?

I would agree with what Susan said. I mean, obviously we don't know many facts about this case, but certainly the different level of violence I was inflicted upon the wife versus the dentist. I think it's probably the most likely possibility at this point. Guys, two children in the home, which leads me to who, who would shoot these two dead. It doesn't sound like a pro to me. In the home, in a very congested neighborhood, the houses are like this, up and down, like two and three story, not wide, but tall. And they're one after one after one after one after the next. So there's got to be ring doorbell cam. And I'm going to show you the video of who may be the perp. But listen to this.

As investigators begin the search for a killer, they first discover there are no signs of forced entry. No weapon is recovered. Building a timeline of activity, they believe the murders happen between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. With this information, law enforcement releases surveillance footage taken during the hours in question, showing a person wearing light-colored pants and a dark hoodie pulled over their head. Spencer and Monique Teppie are just days away from celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary when violence erupts inside the Columbus, Ohio home. Their children just feed away in the other room.

I mentioned earlier an eerie door-banging incident, a real riddle, is that the killer banging on a neighbor's door before the murders. But first, I want to show you the video that we have obtained. This could be the killer. Susan Hendricks described, what are we seeing here? Why is this significant? I have to say, Nancy, that what appears to be a back alley of sorts. And this is at, of course, at odd time, 2 to 5 a.m.

So is that the killer? And I thought back to Delphi when I heard people asking, do you know that gate? Do you know that walk? It appears he knows the area because you see him kind of ducking or maybe knowing there's a camera in the vicinity. Is that the guy? If it is, it looks like he knows where he's going. Guys, you just heard Susan Hendricks bring up the Delphi. double murders of Libby and Abbey, kidnapped off a trestle bridge in a little known area.

You'd have to be a local to know it. It's a big walking area for locals, densely forested. And he, the killer, Richard Allen, is caught on Cam by one of the two little girls walking toward them, and you actually hear him on video saying down the hill, down the hill. His gate was identified. He was identifiable to me. But there's also another case, the Missy Beaver's murder case, which is still unsolved.

She was at the Midlothian church. Look at her killer. I fully believe it's her killer. A very odd gate slew-footed and the left foot. Left foot slew-footed. And when you slow it down, you can see it even more. Very unusual gate. the killer be identified by the gate? Let's go back to the case in chief. The dentist and his wife

gunned down children upstairs. Let's look at the guy. Again, Dave Mack joining me, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Let's talk about the video. Susan's already told us it was between 2 and 5 a.m. And how does that jive with the time we believe the killings went down? based on the timeline that police have already created nancy they say that they're talking about 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. as the time that this action took place inside the home and that time table we're looking at for the guy walking in the alley is during that time period i'm curious about the neighborhood i don't see anybody else walking around between 2 and 5 a.m. see the person walking it looks like people part their cars as you, like you pull in in front of the house. See, on both sides of the street, I see cars parked in front of the homes, like where you put your trash out right there on the street. They look to be condos or two, three-story, narrow homes.

So why is he walking up and down in a residential area at 5 o'clock, 2 o'clock, a.m.? Susan, what can you tell me about the neighborhood? I do know that there's only one bar in the area that's open because Spencer's brother-in-law came out to say, like, hey, let's not jump to any conclusions. Maybe it is the murder, maybe it's not. And there is just one bar that's open at that time. So was he there? I'm sure the investigators are going there to decide. It just seems odd.

Right. This street looks very different, by the way, Nancy, as you stated, during the day, during normal hours. It appears he knew this route. knew what to do and planned it in my thing. So this is a residential area. Who is this guy walking up and down right near the home? It's obviously caught on ring cam. Looks to me like that's what that is.

Dave Mack, what can you tell me? Actually, Anthe, the Nest video is captured behind the home. There's an alley. You mentioned how these homes are very close together and going straight up, right? Well, this is actually behind the home. It's in an alleyway. And to what Ms. Hendrits just said a minute ago, somebody walking down that alley between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

is going to be very familiar with the neighborhood to know where they are and where they're going in that alleyway. That neighborhood video from W.S.Y.X, ABC6. I'm so glad you told me that, Dave Mack. I was trying to orient what am I seeing? Because it doesn't look like the daytime street view. And I lived on an alleyway. like that in Midtown Atlanta while I was the prosecutor. I never went in on the street

side. I would always go in on the alley side and you'd have to know that alley was there. So let me look at that video one more time. To Tom Smith joining me, former NYPD, now Strive Gold Shields. What can you glean from this? Yeah, there's a couple of things that are very telling in this video. One, I truly believe he knows the area. And here's why. If you look at the last frame of this video, he intentionally gets spooked by something and makes a dramatic change in his walk.

He covers his face even more and kind of leans away towards the camera. So either one of two things happened at that moment. Either he realized there's a camera in that area and who knows that but someone's familiar with that area or there's someone walking near him that spooks him. And he covers himself up a little more. So what investigators need to do is timestamp that video

and put it out to the public to see if anyone else was in that area during that time and noticed this. Right. Derek Smith joining me, veteran trial lawyer, defense attorney. Derek, it does look like he's trying to hide his face, much like Richard Allen did with the hoodie on. but you on cross-exam with this would have a field day. Why, according to you, does it prove nothing?

Because all we have is a video of a person walking in a public area. You know, like the former, I'm sorry, the prosecutor said earlier, the investigator, he may know where things are because he's looking down, or he's just maybe coming from that local bar, he's just maybe got a little bit of a headache, a little bit of a buzz, maybe he's tired. We're all jumping to conclusions here on this one video, and we could be just grasping its straws because I understand you have to have every little piece of evidence to move the investigation forward. But now we have this person who could be minding their own business.

Now they're going to be harassed by media and law enforcement over something like this. All right, come on. He actually wins cases like that, guys. Police find the couple shot on the second floor of the home. The children are physically unharmed, but Spencer and Monique Tepe suffer multiple gunshot wounds. both are pronounced dead turning into a double homicide investigation. Tonight, new evidence of an eerie door-banging riddle near the scene of the murder.

How can that help me prove who committed the murder? First of all, let's hear that 911 call. That's the emergency. I'm always smacking on my door. It's a good time to give me. Okay, someone's saying in a knock-in. Do you know who this is? No.

Do you have a description of them? No, I can't see any of it. Have you told them, have you asked them what they want or would they need something? No. Okay, what's your name? I'm sorry, say it again? Yes. Does your phone number and then .

Yeah. Okay. All right. I've got to send up for someone banging and knock it on the door. If anything, I've placed or changes, give us call back and let us know. We'll get officers there as soon as we can. All right, bye. Does it never end with these dispatch officers? What does she want the victim to do?

Go out and say, hi, come on in. By the way, what's your name? And can I get a good ID on you right now? Completely, completely not helpful. let's take a listen to what she said very carefully. The woman says they're smashing on my door. I think they're trying to get in. They're banging on my doors, doors, more than one door.

So to you, Susan Hendricks' investigative reporter, what does that tell you? They're going from door to door trying to get in. I have so many questions about these 911 calls. Was that commonplace? Does that play into the attitude? No excuse, though, on that. But is it connected at all? Did the person who was banging on the door think it was Spencer's house?

We don't know right now. You can explain away a lot of things. Can you explain everything away? So the banging on the door is concerning for me, Nancy. It's in that area. And it happened just 11 days before the murders. To me, that is frightening. But how many non-1-mo calls come in of that?

If someone trying to break and enter, she said she didn't know the person, to me it feels like, how could it not be connected, but maybe it's not. Well, also, it's several, 11 days before the dentist and his wife are murdered. It's right down the street from the murder scene, and also it's around 2.30 a.m. So the comparisons are starting to add up. Two things, coincident. Three things, there's a pattern.

Tom Smith, you've got the same neighborhood, just a few houses down. You've got a little over a week ahead of time. You've got someone going to a female victim's home trying to get into multiple doors and it's around the same timeframe between 2 and 5 a.m. That could be probative. What can it tell me? Does that mean that the killer is random, just trying to get into doors? Or is it? nothing. But the problem, Nancy, is we'll never know because why wasn't a car or an officer dispatched to that job to identify that person to find out who they are, why they're there, why are you banging on his door, and might have prevented, if it is the same person and it is linked, prevented a double homicide. I don't understand why the dispatcher just blew it off and say, well, if they come back, call me again. Well, by that time, first of all, it could be too late and she can be dead. So I don't understand the whole dispatcher world in that area of just blowing these these 911 calls off the way they did. Straight back to Derek Smith, veteran trial

lawyers. So Derek Smith, you've heard the caller dialing 911. I guess you don't think there's any connection between the eerie door banging riddle and the murders. You're telling me some people come to this house unexpectedly. There's 911 calls. And now we have a noise next door. And we're going to think that's somehow related to the actual murder that took place. Do we even have any idea when the murder took place? We're talking about a flood of calls that we heard from the 911 dispatch because, hey, people have already called on this. And then we have people actually going to the residents. Well, yeah, of course, neighbors are going to look out, say, why all these people here? This is a regular morning. What's going on? And you somehow think there's a connection

between that and the murder? Yeah, I'm sorry. That's a stress there, Nancy. Okay, Derek, I see where you're coming from, but I can't rule it out as being connected yet. Let's take another listen to it. That's the emergency. I'm always knocking on my door. I think they're trying to get in. You're banging on my door. Okay, someone's being in a knock-in. Do you know who this is?

No. Do you have a description of them? No. Have you told them, have you asked them what they want or would they need something? No. Okay, what's your name? I'm sorry, say it again? Yes.

Does your phone number end in . Yeah. Okay. All right, I've got to send up for someone banging and knocking on the door. If anything, escalates or changes, give us call back and let us know. We'll get officers there as soon as we can. Okay. Okay.

All right. Bye. Columbus police respond to a domestic dispute call that TEPI residents a few months prior. Officers later report the couple tells them no physical violence occurred and that police assistance is no longer needed. Much has been made about a prior,

we think, domestic call. What does that mean? That means typically a man and a woman are arguing within a residence and it's coming to blows. Is it connected? It's from this home. It's from the home.

home of the victims. Let's listen to it. Hi, there's 911. We just got a hang-up call. Is everything okay? Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm okay. Are you sure? Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Sorry. Okay, well, it sounds like you're crying. Do you need police, fire, and medics or anything? No, no, no, I'm okay. I'm just, I'm just emotional. I'm okay. Can I ask, how did you call 911 in the first place? Like, where you having an argument with somebody?

With me and my being got into it, but I'm okay, I promise. Did anything ever get physical? No. You guys were just arguing nobody hit each other? Mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. All right, man.

Well, I have the information here. I can go ahead and tell the officers to cancel hitting over to your address there. Yes. If anything changes, call us back. Okay. I'm sorry. Finally, a 911 dispatch officer.

officer that sounds interested and like they care about what happens. Now Susan Hendricks, there has been some discussion that that is not the murder victim, Monique. Absolutely. Spencer's brother-in-law, married to Spencer's sister, came out right away and said, if you know, Monique, you know it's not her voice. They like to have parties, people over. And it was apparently, he said, a woman who was at that party made the call, I believe he said, right outside of that home, but that it wasn't Monique and it had nothing to do with them.

And that they had a great marriage. So saying that that had nothing to do with them. What could be the motive? Is there a person of interest? Is this domestic relations call connected? Let's hear the call one more time, please. Can I ask what had you call 911 in the first place? Like, were you having an argument with somebody?

Could me and my being got into it? But I'm okay. I promise. Did anything ever get physical? No You guys were just arguing nobody hit each other Okay Okay

All right, man Well, I have the information here I can go ahead and tell the officers The council hitting over to your address there Yes Is anything changed us back Okay I'm sorry

I'm sorry Crime Stories with Nancy Grace And we have a Ear witness insisting that is not the murder victim, Monique, calling about Adomrell. Domestic Relations 9-1-1 call. Okay, to you trial lawyer, Derek Smith, joining us. What of it? So you're telling me that there was a call for domestic violence prior to this murder, and nobody showed up to investigate that? I mean, a couple's getting arguments. I mean,

no marriage is perfect, and if it is, then good for them. But, yeah, sometimes arguments happen. maybe a phone call or two to the police out of fear, out of necessity, but why has there been no follow-up? How come there's no police reports about this? If they actually came to the house and investigated this call, well, we're going to have testimony from the alleged perpetrator and the alleged victim about what happened and why police were called. Is that even here? Or again, is it just a phone call because maybe there was some confusion. Maybe something was going on. Maybe the victim was setting somebody up. We don't know. We're still in the very early parts of this, Nancy, just because there's domestic violence, we're going to point at a murder suicide or possibly point the finger at one of these

two victims? Again, come on. What are we doing here? Well, you know what? I would really blast you on everything you just said, except for the overarching fact that this was not a murder suicide. So whether there had or had not been domestic violence in the past, it's irrelevant as to the murder because neither one of them did it. See? So, so. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. But it's irrelevant here because neither one of them, either the aggressor or the victim in that prior, is the killer. So it's mute. They're not alive.

Right. They're both gone. Out to Dr. Priya Banerjee joining us. We're now on board certified forensic pathologist, anatomic pathologist, and at Anchor Forensic Pathology Consulting, Dr. Priya, we're getting nothing. all right it's going to have to be a ring doorbell cam the children

very young I believe they're one and four years old they find their parents dead the neighbors and coworkers hear them

screaming from the outside it's going to have to be forensically solved okay let's talk about what we can learn from the bodies

well I think it's you know going to be the distance determination how close they were shot we know that the casings are at the scene, that's really important, right? If it's up close and personal, we get an idea

of the caliber of gun that was used, and then of course, where they're shot and how long it took them to die. The casings are also important at the scene because they're usually ejected back into the right relative to where the gun was shot from. So that'll give a positioning of the shooter versus the decedents and this, you know, lovely couple that we're seeing. So I think just

understanding the dynamic at the scene and then, you know, really the distance, what was injured and how long it took for them to die is what the autopsy and scene examination are going to together answer for you. You know, another issue, Tom Smith joining me, former NYPD, now star on Gold Shields podcast, where in the home were they found? And if anybody on the panel, nose, please pipe in. Were they in their beds? Were they up front? You know, we saw the front door. Why would they be up there between 2 and 5 a.m.? Did someone tried to come in the home like they did with the neighbor and they both went to the door and ended up getting shot? What would have been the motivation? At 2 o'clock in the morning at best to bam on a door just to shoot somebody that's

unconnected to you. That seems far-fetched to me. This seems like it was more targeted. Were they asleep like Rob and Michelle Reiner were? What would you be looking for at the same, Tom? Yeah, well, we know there's no forced entry. So that is concerning. So they either let themselves in because they knew the passcode because they've been at that residence before at the numerous parties that this couple had and it's somebody they know or they knocked on the door and one of them answered it and they were forced back into their bedroom so one of those two things happened uh the the entry of just getting in is still unknown and that's what you know part of this investigation is going to be another telling sign is the children not being harmed and actually the dog who is in the

residents not being harmed as well so i agree with you this was i in my mind an absolutely targeted hit of one of these two individuals. And it's going to take the background check of both of their pasts, their social media accounts, their relationships, interviews that were done with others of where their relationships stood or past ones is going to be very important with this. And again, that domestic relations call, many belief is not connected to this couple. They were practically nearly wits. It had only been together five years, a one-year-old. old and a four-year-old left without either a mother or a father. Spencer and Monique Tepe now dead. Their children, orphans. Who did this? If you know or think you know anything,

please call Columbus Police 614-645-2228. 614-645-228. And now we remember an American hero, Deputy Sheriff Justin Maori, Blunt County Sheriff's Tennessee, killed in the line of duty, leaving behind a grieving mother, can you imagine? And his brothers, American hero, deputy sheriff, Justin Maori. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.