Serial killer Todd Kohlhepp left creepy Amazon reviews on weapons before a woman was found chained up in his storage container… as new documentary explores his double life
The sinister crimes of a man who murdered seven people in South Carolina is being explored in a new Channel 4 documentary.
On the surface, Todd Kohlepp, now 53, was a successful American businessman – he built a career in real estate, won awards for his contributions in the area, and was described as a ‘good boss’.
However, those who knew Kohlhepp more deeply were frequently left disturbed by his behaviour – he would watch pornographic videos at work, make macabre jokes and openly discuss his conviction for sex offences.
Despite such unsettling incidents, few could have predicted the depravity that would play out, as Kohlepp carried out seven sadistic killings over 13 years before he was eventually caught and given a life sentence in 2016.
Now, Channel 4 are exploring his horrendous crimes in a new documentary, The Amazon Review Killer: Chilling Confession.
The title alludes to one of the most surreal aspects of the murderer’s crimes – he would leave chilling Amazon reviews about the weapons he used to kill his victims, which years later, would help lead police officers to his door.
Both episodes of the two-parter, directed by rising star Billy Arthur, 22, will air on Monday January 6th at 10pm.
Kohlepp, who was born in Florida but raised in Georgia and South Carolina, only saw his crimes come to light when when investigators rescued a woman, Kala Brown, who had been chained up in a 30-foot-long storage container on his property in August 2016.
South Carolina real estate agent Todd Kohlhepp’s killing spree – in which he murdered seven people over 13 years – is the subject of a new Channel 4 documentary The Amazon Review Killer: Chilling Confession, which airs on January 6th
The 53-year-old’s horrendous crimes were finally uncovered when police were led to Kala Brown, who Kohlhepp had kept chained up in a metal container for two months, using the young woman as a sex slave. Right: Kala before she was captured by Kohlhepp. Her boyfriend Charles David Carver, 32, was shot dead by the killer
The chilling Amazon reviews left by serial killer Todd Kohlhepp after he purchased weapons with which to harm his victims
The series examines the first red flags; including that Kohlhepp suffered with mental health problems as early as age nine; in 1980 he was referred to the Behaviour Evaluation Centre at the Georgia Mental Health Institute following problems at school.
Six years later in 1986, Kohlhepp, aged just 15, kidnapped and sexually assaulted a girl. A sentencing report, obtained by WFXG, claimed Kohlhepp lured the girl outside by telling her an ex-boyfriend wanted to talk to her.
He then pointed a ‘small blue steel handgun at her head’ and ‘told her to walk down the alley towards his house.’
Once they got into Kohlhepp’s bedroom, according to the documents, he duct taped her mouth, tied her hands together, and ‘removed her clothes, then his clothes and forced the victim to have sexual intercourse with him.’
Kohlhepp pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the case and was added to the sex offender registry in Arizona. He remained behind bars from 1987 to 2001.
The documentary explores how, two years after his release, Kohlhepp murdered four people in Chesnee, South Carolina according to a confession he gave investigators.
Scott Ponder, his mother Beverly Guy, service manager Brian Lucas, and mechanic Chris Sherbert were found fatally shot at the Superbike Motorsports shop on November 6, 2003.
However, the killer went undetected and continued to thrive in his professional life.
In 2004, Kohlhepp transferred to the University of South Carolina-Upstate and ranked near the top of his class the next year, said college spokeswoman Tammy Whaley.
Respectable mask: Some who worked for Kohlhepp said the real estate agent was a ‘good boss’
32-year-old Charles David Carter, pictured, was the boyfriend of Kala Brown, was murdered before Kohlhepp took her hostage for two months
The metal container where the serial killer’s last known crime was discovered; the freight container was housed on land owned by Kohlhepp
One of the killer’s earlier crimes took place in 2003, when he killed four people in the Superbike motorcycle shop, including owner Scott Ponder, 30, right, and his mother, Beverly Guy, 52, left
Victims: Johnny Joe Coxie, pictured right, was 29 in December 2015 when he was killed by Kohlhepp. The murderer kept 26-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, left, alive for six days before shooting her in the back of the head on Christmas Day
He finished his business degree in 2007, then distinguished himself in real estate. A 2008 news article said he was Weichert Realtors’ top-selling rookie agent for a region spanning parts of both Carolinas.
Next, he went into business for himself, registering Todd Kohlhepp & Associates in 2009. The firm’s website listed over a dozen agents, but also an unusual sales pitch.
Describing the team that developed the firm’s marketing, it said ‘we threatened not to feed them if it didn’t work. It’s amazing the motivation you can get after day three!’
Still, Kohlhepp developed a hard-working reputation.
‘Todd did his job well and we never had any issues or saw any flags in the years we worked with him,’ Velocity Design Group owner Danielle Cuddie said in an email.
An agent at Kohlhepp’s firm, Cherry Laurens, said they met a decade ago and were study partners at USC-Upstate. She said the accusations surprised her.
Kohlhepp’s sex-offender status was common knowledge, though Kohlhepp claimed the charges were trumped up after a joyride with another teenager upset her father, acquaintances said.
But authorities described something far worse: Kohlhepp was 15 when he tied up a 14-year-old at gunpoint and raped her in Arizona in 1986. Court documents say he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced in adult court.
Kohlhepp had psychological problems from a young age, according to records obtained by WHNS-TV in South Carolina.
An Arizona judge wrote in 1987 that he was bright but ’emotionally dangerous’ and preoccupied with sex.
A 1987 presentencing report says a neighbour described Kohlhepp as a ‘devil on a chain.’
He had moved in with his father in Arizona around age 12 after growing up in South Carolina and Georgia. His parents divorced when he was an infant.
In the same month that Kohlhepp acquired the farmland in May 2014, an Amazon user named ‘me’ with a wish list linked to ‘Todd Kohlhepp’ began to leave reviews.
On a review of a knife posted on 13 September 2014, he said: ‘havnet (sic) stabbed anyone yet…… yet…. but I am keeping the dream alive and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this…’
Chris Sherbert, left, was a mechanic at the shop where Kohlhepp killed four people in 2003. Right: Service manager Brian Lucas was the fourth victim
Clues: Police discovered the Amazon reviews, including on a chain saw and padlock, while investigating the depraved crimes
The 2003 photofit that police issued after four people were shot dead by the serial killer in 2003
For a shovel, the user wrote a review, suggesting: ‘keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full size shovel at home…. does not come with a midget, which would have been nice.’
One of the disturbing reviews spoke about chasing neighbors with a chainsaw.
In one review about a padlock, the Amazon user wrote: ‘solid locks.. have 5 on a shipping container.. wont stop them.. but sure will slow them down til they are too old to care. (sic)’
The Amazon user posted 140 reviews in all with the majority between May and September 2014, Greenville Online reported.
Kohlhepp was arrested after Kala Brown – who had been missing for two months – was found ‘chained like a dog’ inside a shipping container on his rural land.
Police are said to have rescued her after hearing a banging sound when they arrived at Kohlhepp’s property with a search warrant.
The body of her boyfriend Charlie Carver, 32, was also found at the property. His cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators unearthed a second body, but did not initially announce the identity.
Detectives then expanded their search perimeter beyond Kohlhepp’s 100-acre farmland in Woodruff and looked at other properties linked to him.
Experts meticulously dug into the ground to recover the second body while preserving as much evidence as possible, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said.
Kohlhepp was charged with four counts of murder in the shooting deaths and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said that he has confessed to the killings.
The exterior of Todd Kohlhepp’s home in Moore, South Carolina; bodies were found on land owned by the killer
A view of the land owned by Kohlhepp, in Woodruff; Kala Brown who had been missing for two months, was found alive chained inside a shipping container in 2016
Kohlhepp was eligible for the death penalty, but a plea deal means that’s not an option for Kohlhepp, who was arrested at the age of 45
Scott Ponder, his mother Beverly Guy, service manager Brian Lucas, and mechanic Chris Sherbert were found fatally shot at the Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee, South Carolina, on November 6, 2003.
The case stunned the community and baffled police for more than a decade.
Rumors swirled that the slaying was committed by a Mexican drug gang or the victims were part of a love triangle, crushing the victims’ loved ones.
In 2016, Kohlhepp pleaded guilty Friday to seven counts of murder for the killings that took place over well over a decade.
‘I just want him to go away,’ said Lorraine Lucas, whose son’s killing, along with three others, was unsolved for 13 years before deputies found a woman chained in a storage container on Kohlhepp’s property in Spartanburg County.
Officers went to the property because the woman’s cellphone gave a signal in August 2015.
As they freed her, she told deputies Kohlhepp killed her boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles David Carter, after they came to his land two months before to help him clean, Solicitor Barry Barnette said.
Kohlhepp raped the woman while holding her against her will, and told her he had also killed a husband and wife in December 2015, burying their bodies on his land.
Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, was killed immediately, and Kohlhepp kept 26-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie alive for six days before shooting her in the back of the head on Christmas, Barnette said.
The woman who had been chained up also said Kohlhepp admitted to her that he had killed four people in the Superbike motorcycle shop in November 2003, the prosecutor said.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright speaks to the media on November 5th, 2016 near the property where Kala Brown was found in Woodruff
The serial killer was vocal online including commenting on his own murders
The owner, Scott Ponder, 30; Beverly Guy, 52; Brian Lucas, 30; and Chris Sherbert, 26 were killed because Kohlhepp thought they were making fun of him. Guy was Ponder’s mother and worked as a bookkeeper. Lucas was a service manager, and Sherbert was a mechanic at the shop.
Kohlhepp showed up on a list of customers for the shop, but was never a serious suspect in the case. Instead, investigators focused on a bogus love triangle involving Ponder’s wife and Lucas and other leads that went nowhere as possible motives.
In 2017, Kohlhepp admitted killing seven people over nearly 13 years while running a successful real estate business.
More than 50 family members and friends of the seven victims filled the courtroom. About a dozen of them spoke, standing just feet from Kohlhepp. He didn’t look at them, and many ignored him as well.
Johnny Coxie’s mother said his seven-year-old son held out hope that his father was alive for months after he disappeared. Cindy Coxie said the worst day of her life came when she had to tell the boy that his father was dead.
‘He hates you with his little heart,’ she told Kohlhepp.
Kohlhepp’s lawyer, Shane Goranson, said his client hopes the plea agreement started to bring the victims’ families peace.
The woman chained in the container didn’t come to court. Her lawyer said she didn’t want to see Kohlhepp. But she supported the plea deal because the death of another human being would give her no satisfaction or justice.
‘As (the victim) said in one of her first meetings with the solicitor – he’s the killer, not me,’ attorney Alex Stalvey said.
Kohlhepp was eligible for the death penalty, but the plea deal took that off the table.
No one has been executed in South Carolina in more than six years because the state lacks the drugs needed for lethal injections.
‘The reality of the situation is this state doesn’t have a functioning death penalty,’ Barnette said.
The new Channel 4 series’ director, Billy Arthur, said of the serial killer: ‘Todd Kohlhepp lived out his twisted impulses in plain sight, and the Amazon reviews he left are a horrifying example of how someone can hide behind the mask of normalcy – until the mask cracks.
‘It was a privilege to bring this shocking story to light in a way that honours the victims and highlights the resilience of those who survived.’
The serial killer remains incarcerated at the Broad River Correctional Institution in South Carolina.
Both parts of The Amazon Review Killer: Chilling Confession air on Monday January 6th at 10pm, and will also be available on Channel 4’s streaming service
TODD KOHLHEPP’S SHOCKING PAST AS A ‘MONSTER’ WHO WAS JAILED FOR RAPING A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Court documents from an incident in 1986 that saw Todd Kohlhepp jailed for 14 years have shed light on his shocking past.
Kohlhepp kidnapped and sexually assaulted a girl when he was 15. A sentencing report, obtained by WFXG, claims Kohlhepp lured the girl outside by telling her an ex-boyfriend wanted to talk to her.
When the two were outside, he then pointed a ‘small blue steel handgun at her head’ and ‘told her to walk down the alley towards his house.’
Once they got into Kohlhepp’s bedroom, according to the documents, he duct taped her mouth, tied her hands together, and, ‘removed her clothes, then his clothes and forced the victim to have sexual intercourse with him.’
The victim allegedly told police Kohlhepp had threatened to kill her and her siblings if she told anyone about the incident, however she still called police when she got home.
Kohlhepp remains behind bars at Broad River Correctional Institution in South Carolina
The document continues: ‘When contacted by police, the defendant was holding a .22 caliber rifle which was pointed at the ceiling.
‘When questioned regarding this incident, the defendant fully admitted his guilt and indicated he used the victim’s ex-boyfriend as a ploy.’
The judge who ruled on the case described Kohlhepp as ‘impulsive, explosive, and preoccupied with sexual content’ from the age of nine.
‘He has not changed. He has been unabatedly aggressive to others and destructive of property since nursery school. He destroys his own clothing, personal possessions and pets apparently on whim,’ court papers state.
The documents also cite a psychiatrist’s report that says the 45-year-old has ’emotional difficulties and poor impulse control’.
It described him ‘destroying his bedroom with a hammer; destroying other children’s projects; hitting other children; cloroxing a goldfish; shooting a dog with a BB gun; being dismissed from the Boy Scouts because he was too disruptive; shredding his own clothes’.
The judge’s report said: ‘He is extremely self-centered with high levels of anti-social personality functioning, and likely continuing aggressive behaviors toward others in the future.’
He was released from prison in Arizona in 2001 after being convicted of raping a 14-year-old at gunpoint. But that didn’t stop him from getting a South Carolina real estate license in 2006 and building a firm.
