Tepe Murder Aftermath: Therapist on Orphaned Children, Survivor Guilt, and Systemic Failure
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Two children are now orphans. A one-year-old and a four-year-old were in the home when their parents Spencer and Monique Tepe were allegedly shot to death. Over a thousand people attended the funeral. A community is still reeling.
And the question that haunts this case: Monique Tepe did everything right. She recognized the abuse early. She left within seven months. She told family about the threats. She moved on and built a healthy new life. She followed every piece of advice we give domestic violence victims. It wasn't enough.
In Part 3 of our three-part expert interview series, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines the aftermath. With over thirty years specializing in trauma recovery, Shavaun brings clinical expertise to the hardest questions this case raises.
How do children ages one and four process traumatic loss they can't fully understand? How does a family work through survivor's guilt when they knew she was afraid but couldn't stop this? What does healing actually look like — or is it just learning to live with wounds that never close? And if leaving isn't enough, if telling people isn't enough, if building a new life isn't enough — what systemic changes would actually protect victims from someone who allegedly refuses to let go?
Sometimes the honest answers are the hardest ones.
#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #TepeMurders #ShavaunScott
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
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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