Todd Christopher Kohlhepp (Todd Kohlhepp), born March 7, 1971, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a real estate broker and a serial killer who landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. He is also known for holding a woman captive on his property, as well as being convicted of murdering seven people between 2003 and 2016.
Early Life and Prison Sentence
Todd Kohlhepp had a particularly rough childhood – his parents divorced when he was just two years old. In fact, his father gave him the middle name Calvert to distance himself from John’s mother.
Kohlhepp spent time with an abusive grandfather who hit him with a cattle prod. They moved around often, and as a boy displayed violent behavior towards animals and other children since nursery school which earned him time at a mental health institute where he received counseling.
While in the mental hospital, he was described as “explosive” and “preoccupied with sexual content”, but he was released after several months. At 15 years old he was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and served 15 years in jail.
Todd Kohlhepp finished his prison sentence in 2001, having served 15 years. At the time of his release, he was on the sex offender registry. Despite this setback, Todd was determined to find success and enrolled in the local college to study computer science and business. He started working as a graphic designer for a company in Spartanburg.
He also wanted to fulfill his dream of becoming a successful real estate agent, which he eventually managed to achieve by opening the TKA real estate company, in spite of being a registered sex offender and having a criminal history.
Murders and Convictions
Kala Brown and her boyfriend Charles Carver (August, 31st 2016)
Todd Kohlhepp hired a woman called Kala Brown and her boyfriend Charlie David Carver to clear bush from his 95-acre property on August 31, 2016. Kohlhepp allegedly shot Charlie Carver three times in the chest and buried him in a blue tarp before shoving Kala Brown in a metal shipping container.
There, she spent 65 days chained to the wall inside a metal storage container on Todd Kohlhepp’s property as her captor devised a way to get rid of her and finally make good on an earlier promise to kill her if she dares to escape.
Kala Brown (November 3, 2016)
Kala Brown claimed that Kohlhepp repeatedly raped her and scared her into not escaping the metal container after showing her the graves of his other victims. On November 3, 2016, Kala was located by Spartanburg County police after detectives followed the locations of their cell phones to Todd Kohlhepp’s 95-acre farm. She was missing for two months.
Johnny Coxie and Meagan McCraw-Coxie
After being caught, Todd Kohlhepp admitted to killing 29-year-old Johnny Coxie and 26-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie. Police subsequently uncovered their bodies on Kohlhepp’s property close to Interstate 26 after receiving Kohlhepp’s tip, but their feet were never located. Meagan Coxie was shot in the head, while Johnny Joe Coxie was injured in the abdomen.
Gunned Down 4 Victims
Todd Kohlhepp shot and killed four persons on November 6, 2003, inside the Superbike Motorsport motorcycle shop. He murdered Chris Sherbert, the technician, Brian Lucas, the owner Scott Ponder, and his mother Beverly Guy.
The incident went unsolved for ten years until he was arrested for kidnapping. Kohlhepp claims that during that time, the victims teased him about a motorcycle he purchased from them months earlier.
How Was Todd Kohlhepp Caught
After he killed Charlie Carver and kidnapped his girlfriend Kala Brown, the police investigation had no clues that could lead them to the missing couple. No one knew their fate for almost two months until one day when their phones gave signs of life. They pinged off of a tower near the Spartanburg.
The only building close to that tower was Kohlhepp’s farm, where the police would find Kala Brown chained to a wall in a shipping container and the bodies of Kohlhepp’s other victims. That was more than enough to have Kohlhepp arrested.
Trial and sentence
Todd Kohlhepp’s murder charge came to an ending. He pleaded guilty to all crimes of murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison with seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. He also received a permanent restraining order so he can never see his victims again.
Kala Brown also filed a civil lawsuit against Kohlhepp and was awarded $6.3 million in damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.
