The Tepe Murders: When Wound Pattern Asymmetry Tells You Who the Real Target Was
In homicide analysis, the body often tells the truth long before statements do. In the Tepe murders, one detail stands out immediately to any experienced investigator: Spencer Tepe was shot three times, his wife Monique, only once. That detail matters.
Violence Is Not Distributed Evenly
When offenders kill in anger, they do not distribute violence fairly. They distribute it emotionally. Multiple gunshot wounds are not about making sure someone is dead. They are about making sure the offender feels resolved. The person who receives the most violence is the person carrying the offender’s grievance.
Primary vs. Secondary Victims
In anger retaliatory homicides, there is often a hierarchy:
A primary target who embodies betrayal, threat, humiliation, or loss of control
A secondary victim whose death serves a functional purpose
Based solely on what has been reported thus far in the media alone, at this point, the Tepe murders fit this pattern cleanly so far. The husband was the emotional target. The repeated shots are expressive. The wife’s single gunshot wound is instrumental. It is enough to remove her from the equation, but not enough to suggest rage.
Why This Matters
This distinction changes how we interpret:
Motive
Victim–offender dynamics
Staging claims
Suspect behavior before and after the crime
It also changes who investigators should be asking hard questions about.
Firearms and Emotional Distance
Firearms allow offenders to kill without physical contact, but they do not eliminate emotion. In fact, when anger is the driver, offenders often fire repeatedly because distance prevents emotional release. Obviously, firearms are powerful as well. They keep shooting until it feels right. In the Tepe case, did it only felt right after the husband absorbed the offender’s rage?
The Bottom Line
This was not a crime of opportunity. Violence was distributed asymetrically across both victims. This was not random from what we can tell so far. This appears to have been a targeted anger-retaliatory homicide with a clear emotional focal point. This case is very solvable using victimology as the foundation of the investigation. It is slightly concerning that no arrest has been made yet as time can be reflective of suspect-centered investigations. When you stop focusing on finding the suspect and start focusing on the victimology, the case looks very different. And these kinds of cases solve fast. Clearing them…we’ll have to see how they put the suspect back in the scene and holding the murder weapon.
