South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp first captured the attention of local investigators and the world in November 3. That’s when authorities arrived at 45-year-old Todd Kohlhepp’s property to search for 30-year-old Kala Brown, who had gone missing, along with her boyfriend, at the end of August.
Boyfriend’s body identified, suspect confesses to 4 other murders in Kala Brown kidnapping case: reports: https://t.co/ZAaq1yPTkc
— People (@people) November 6, 2016
As CBS News reports, investigators were drawn to Todd Kohlhepp’s South Carolina property by “pings” from Kala’s cellphone, which had gone dead days after she disappeared, as well as a tip from a sex-crime investigator. (Todd Kohlhepp is a registered sex offender; he was convicted of the 1987 kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl in Tempe, Arizona, and did prison time for that crime.) Despite his history as a sex offender, South Carolina police had spent weeks trying to obtain a search warrant; the sheriff’s office had flown over the extensive property two weeks before the warrant was issued, and realized that a search would have to be conducted on the ground to be effective.
When police ultimately searched the property of South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp on November 3, they found Kala chained up by the neck and ankle in a metal shipping container. She was desperately pounding on the walls for help.
Disbelieving police officers rescued Kala from Todd Kohlhepp’s horrific captivity, and in doing so, they opened a nightmarish Pandora’s Box of violence and murder, and discovered a serial killer hiding in plain sight in South Carolina.
They discovered almost immediately that Todd Kohlhepp, who Kala Brown had worked with in the past cleaning houses, had murdered Kala’s boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles Carver. According to Brown, Kohlhepp had lured the couple to his property with the promise of a job, then shot Carver point blank in front of his shocked girlfriend, before locking her up in the shipping container, chained like a dog, for months. Reportedly, Todd Kohlhepp’s motive for imprisoning Kala was to keep her from reporting her boyfriend’s murder.
#BREAKING : Todd Kohlhepp confesses to 2003 quadruple murder at Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee. This after #kalabrown found chained on prop pic.twitter.com/vWgHBEI1Rv
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) November 6, 2016
As local police continued to investigate Todd Kohlhepp and search his property, they would find a total of three bodies hidden on the South Carolina farm: the body of Charles Carver, Kala’s boyfriend, as well as the bodies of 25-year-old Meagan Coxie and 29-year-old Johnny Coxie. The Coxies, reports Greenville Online, were parents of one and residents of Spartanburg. At this point, it is unknown how they were acquainted with South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp , or the motive for their murders.
“Cindy came about a year ago requesting prayer for her son Johnny and his wife Megan (sic) who were missing. We have been praying for about a year now that they would be found and we would know what happened. Today they received the news. The family is in shock, grieving, and are not comfortable talking to anyone at this time. They have asked for people to please try and understand and give them time to heal. They appreciate everyone’s love and concern.”
Spartanburg husband and wife Meagan and Johhny Coxie ID’d as bodies found on #ToddKohlhepp ‘s Woodruff land. pic.twitter.com/utQYHlp302
— Daniel J. Gross (@DanieljGross) November 9, 2016
South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp’s remaining four victims were brutally murdered in the middle of the day in November of 2003. The crime, known today as the “Superbike Murders,” involved Superbike Motorsports owner Scott Ponder, his mother Beverly Guy, and his employees Chris Sherbert and Brian Lucas. Their bodies were found inside of the Superbike Motorsports business in November 2003. Until the discovery of Kala Brown on Todd Kohlhepp’s property, it had remained a brazen and perplexing cold case.
After his arrest, Todd Kohlhepp reportedly confessed to the quadruple Superbike Murders.
Todd Kohlhepp’s mother speaks about her son and his motives https://t.co/P1cRuVDQd9 pic.twitter.com/5JxTHW4O7K
— WSPA 7NEWS (@WSPA7) November 11, 2016
As Fox 13 Now reports, the mother of South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp swears that her son is not a monster. Regina Kohlhepp even claims that he had a motive for killing four people 13 years ago. She claims that Todd told her that the owner of the bike shop, as well as the bike shop employees, were making fun of him
“He wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle and they laughed at him when he fell over on the bike. You know, this is all why people tell kids not to bully. This is what can happen. Todd was bullied and embarrassed and I think he just held it in long enough.”
https://twitter.com/NacliRosa/status/795144354671144960
https://twitter.com/REDD5nomad/status/796495386437386241
Capital Punishment?
— Mumzee (@gigimumzee) November 7, 2016
no, mommy, he IS a monster. Everyone gets bullied, the monsters use it as an excuse.
— UGH. No. Way. (@CommonSenseUGH) November 11, 2016
South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp was allowed by authorities to speak to his mother from his jail cell recently; it was a condition that he gave to police in exchange for divulging the locations of the bodies buried on his property, reports USA Today. During that meeting, Kohlhepp reportedly admitted his crimes to his mom, as well as explained to her his reasons for committing them.
“Todd is not a monster. He’s not even close to it. He wasn’t doing it for enjoyment. He was doing it because he was mad and he was hurt.”
According to Todd Kohlhepp’s mother, Kala Brown’s boyfriend Charles Carver was brutally shot to death because “he was a smart-aleck.” Kala was apparently collateral damage; Todd didn’t want to be reported to police. According to reports, Kohlhepp fed Kala daily while she was chained in the container, and even took her out for walks as exercise. Apparently, these “concessions to her comfort” were Kohlhepp’s attempt at showing Kala his compassion and humanity.
#SouthCarolina man implicated cold case that left 4 people dead https://t.co/tsC5syrLmD #ToddKohlhepp #Monster #Spartenburg #SerialKiller
— Jim (@CSMUSArmy) November 6, 2016
More of Regina Kohlhepp’s interview with the press is expected to air on 48 Hours on Saturday, November 12.
The widow of Scott Ponder (the owner of Superbike Motorsports) isn’t buying Todd Kohlhepp’s excuses.
“I was told he was a disgruntled customer. He bought a motorcycle from Scott previously. His motorcycle was stolen, he went to get another one. My husband and the service manager were poking fun at him saying, ‘Hey, (is) the second motorcycle going to get stolen, too? Didn’t you have enough already?’ They were kidding … and he said that made him angry. That is the kind of thing that a normal everyday person wouldn’t go crazy over.”
At this point, it is still unknown whether Kohlhepp’s 2003 slayings took place on the same day as his perceived bullying by the Superbike owner and employees, or if he returned at a later time to commit the crime.
Police are fully expecting South Carolina serial killer Todd Kohlhepp to plead guilty to all seven murders, and he is currently being held without bond at the Spartanburg County jail being charged with multiple counts of murder; prosecutors are reportedly considering the death penalty in the case.
[Featured Image by Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office]
