Dentist couple shot dead: Police release video of “suspect” and shocking connection from 911 call

Mysterious 911 Call from Murdered Dentist’s Home: A “Strange Woman’s” Voice Revealed, and Clues to the Killer Hiding in the Shadows?
 
A horrifying 911 recording has been released, revealing a tense altercation at the Tepe couple’s home before the tragedy. While relatives insist the voice calling for help wasn’t the wife’s, public attention is now focused on a mysterious “third party” appearing in the surveillance video—believed to hold the key to uncovering the killer’s identity.

NEED TO KNOW

  • In one call made by Spencer Tepe’s friend Alex Ditty, he says he could see a body off of the bed
  • Ditty was among three people who made phone calls to 911 that morning after Spencer did not show up for work
  • One co-worker told dispatchers she had been trying to reach Spencer for three hours

A week after the killings of Monique and Spencer Tepe, police remain tight-lipped about the course of the investigation — having released limited information in the case.

However, call records from the morning of Dec. 30 — when Monique, 39, and Spencer, 37, were found slain in their Columbus, Ohio home — have shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the bodies.

Columbus police received several 911 calls that morning, notably from two people at Spencer’s work and a friend of his, according to call records obtained by PEOPLE.

In one call from Spencer’s friend, who appears to have made the call after police already sent one person to the house for a welfare check, he is heard telling the dispatcher he can hear the children crying inside but can’t get into the home.

Shortly thereafter, in another call that appears to come from the same friend — later identified as Alex Ditty — the caller tells the dispatcher he can see a body.

Spencer Tepe Monique Tepe; A Columbus police officer adjusts crime scene tape
Spencer Tepe Monique Tepe; A Columbus police officer adjusts crime scene tape.Courtesy of Rob Misleh; USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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When the dispatcher tells him they received several calls about the couple and asks if there’s any new information, Ditty can be heard saying, “There’s a body, there’s a body.”

While the dispatcher then attempts to connect him to medical personnel, Ditty is heard sobbing and at one point gasps, “Oh my God.”

After he is redirected to another dispatcher, he repeats the details.

“There’s a body. Our, our friend wasn’t uh answering the phone,” he says, later adding, “…he appears dead.”

“Theres blood, he’s laying next to his bed off of his bed, I can’t get closer to see more than that,” Ditty says.

The dispatcher asks the nature of the bloody scene and whether it’s “a puddle,” to which he responds: “It’s puddled, I can’t look.”

Spencer Tepe Monique Tepe
Spencer Tepe Monique Tepe.Courtesy of Rob Misleh (2)

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Monique Tepe and Spencer Tepe dentist, wife found murdered at home

The first 911 call that morning came from Dr. Mark Valrose, who owns the practice where Spencer worked. He called from his vacation in Florida after he learned from other employers that Spencer had not shown up for work.

Following the initial call, officers were sent to the Tepe’s home, but they left after no one answered to multiple knocks, according to a dispatcher who spoke with Ditty — who later called from outside the house.

Ditty said he could hear the children crying inside but could not get inside.

“At this point, I don’t know if I need to break the door in,” he says, per the recording.

Spencer’s co-worker, identified only as Kim in another call, called police en route to the residence, and told police they had been trying to contact Spencer for three hours since earlier that morning. By the time she called, emergency services said they had already received a call from someone else at the scene.

Police have not named a suspect or person of interest in the case.

On Monday, Dec. 5, they released surveillance footage of a person they believe may be connected to the investigation.

Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators at the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477).