She Did Everything Right: Therapist on Tepe Aftermath and Why It Still Wasn't Enough
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 907 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
Two children, ages one and four, were in the home when their parents were allegedly killed. They're now orphans. Over a thousand people attended the funeral. A family will never be the same.
And here's the question that won't leave me alone: Monique Tepe did everything right. She recognized the abuse. She left quickly. She told people about the threats. She moved on and built a beautiful life. She followed the playbook we give victims. And she's still dead.
What does that mean?
In Part 3 of our three-part interview series, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott helps us process the aftermath of the Tepe murders. Shavaun has spent over thirty years in trauma recovery and believes deeply in the possibility of healing. But she's also honest about the limits of what we can control.
We examine how young children process loss they can't understand. We explore the survivor's guilt crushing a family that knew Monique was afraid. We ask what healing actually looks like — or if it's just learning to carry something that never gets lighter. And we confront the hardest question: if leaving isn't enough, if telling people isn't enough, if building a new life isn't enough — what actually protects victims?
Sometimes there are no good answers. Only honest ones.
#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #ShavaunScott #TraumaRecovery #DomesticViolence #Aftermath #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #SheDidEverythingRight
Link to Shavaun Scott's Substack Discussing Dangerous Ex's:
https://open.substack.com/pub/shavaun/p/when-leaving-is-the-most-dangerous?r=1fklc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Bruske, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:07.9 | When police arrived at the teppy home, they found Spencer and Monique dead. They also found |
| 0:14.1 | two children, ages one and four. They were physically unharmed, but alone with the bodies of their parents. Those |
| 0:22.5 | kids are now orphans. They lost both parents in a single night to alleged violence |
| 0:27.5 | rooted in a relationship that ended before either of them existed before they were born. |
| 0:33.5 | Over a thousand people attended the funeral of family shattered community grieving. |
| 0:38.7 | Here's what I keep coming back to you. |
| 0:39.9 | Monique did everything right, it seems. |
| 0:42.3 | She recognized the danger. |
| 0:44.3 | She got out fast. |
| 0:45.3 | She told people she moved on. |
| 0:46.8 | She built a new life far away. |
| 0:48.5 | And that still wasn't enough. |
| 0:50.7 | How do you heal from something like this? |
| 0:53.0 | And what does it mean when doing everything right |
| 0:56.0 | still isn't enough to survive? Chavana does. It feels like she did do everything right here. |
| 1:04.1 | And I think, again, I think that's what's striking a lot of people in this case is, well, she checked |
| 1:08.5 | all the boxes. If she didn't, we'd be like pointing out, well, maybe if she did this, that might |
| 1:13.9 | have, she did. She did. I mean, other than, like I've said before, like, I guess more weapons |
| 1:20.8 | training and always be carrying, I don't know what else you could possibly have done. And that's |
| 1:25.4 | certainly not for everyone and not way anyone |
| 1:27.7 | and not everyone wants to live. Yeah, and kind of hard to grab your weapon if they sneak in at |
... |
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