In November 2016, Spartanburg County deputies arrived at a rural South Carolina property looking for a missing couple. What they found exposed one of the most dangerous men hiding in plain sight in modern American history. Todd Kohlhepp had been killing for over a decade. Nobody suspected a thing.
A Troubled Beginning
Todd Kohlhepp was born on March 7, 1971, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and instability defined his early years. He shuffled between parents and states before landing in Arizona at age 12 to live with his father.
From an early age, Kohlhepp targeted animals and other children. Psychological evaluations later painted a picture of a deeply disturbed young man with no capacity for empathy. By age 15, that had already turned criminal.
The First Crime
In 1986, Todd Kohlhepp kidnapped a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint in Tempe, Arizona, and sexually assaulted her. A judge convicted him of kidnapping, sexual conduct with a minor, and sexual assault. He received a 15-year prison sentence and served 14 before his parole in August 2001. Upon release, he registered as a sex offender in South Carolina.
The Man Nobody Suspected
After prison, Todd Kohlhepp enrolled in college and earned two bachelor’s degrees in computer science and business. He built a successful real estate brokerage. His community knew him as a sharp, driven businessman.
He was also a registered sex offender with a violent past. Furthermore, he was already planning to kill again. Just two years after his release, he walked into a motorcycle shop and opened fire.
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Superbike Motorsports: Four Lives Lost in Under a Minute
On November 6, 2003, a customer arrived at Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee, South Carolina, and found four people shot dead. Scott Ponder, 30, owned the shop. Beverly Guy, 52, his mother, worked as the bookkeeper. Brian Lucas, 29, served as service manager. Chris Sherbert, 26, worked as a mechanic.
Todd Kohlhepp entered from the back of the shop and killed all four in under a minute. The crime scene was methodical and swift. Investigators found no clear suspects, no obvious motive, and no immediate leads. The case went cold and stayed that way for 13 years.
The Confession That Closed a Cold Case
When Kohlhepp finally confessed in 2016, he told investigators he killed those four people because he believed they had stolen a motorcycle, humiliated him, and refused a refund. Four lives ended because a man with no capacity for accountability felt embarrassed.
The Coxies
In December 2015, Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, and Meagan McCraw-Coxie, 26, disappeared. Todd Kohlhepp had hired them to do work on his property. He shot them both and buried their bodies on his land.
Later, Johnny’s mother stood in a courtroom and described the moment she had to tell her seven-year-old grandson that his father was never coming home.
The Couple Who Never Came Home
In August 2016, Kala Brown and her boyfriend, Charlie David Carver, accepted work on Kohlhepp’s property. He hired them to clear brush from his nearly 100-acre spread in Woodruff. They never came home.
Carver’s family noticed unusual posts appearing on his social media, claiming he and Brown had married and moved away. The posts were out of character. His mother filed a missing persons report, and investigators began tracing the couple’s cell phones.
The Discovery on Kohlhepp’s Property
The phones led investigators directly to Todd Kohlhepp’s property. When deputies arrived and searched the land, they cut open a metal shipping container. Inside, chained to the wall, was Kala Brown. She had been held captive for 65 days.
Brown told investigators that Kohlhepp shot and killed Charlie Carver shortly after they arrived and buried him on the property. Deputies found Carver’s body in a shallow grave wrapped in a blue tarp. Todd Kohlhepp was arrested on the spot.
Confession and Conviction
In custody, Todd Kohlhepp wasted no time. He confessed to killing Johnny and Meagan Coxie, led investigators to the grave sites, and admitted to the 2003 Superbike murders, finally closing a cold case that had haunted Chesnee for over a decade. Investigators also discovered that Kohlhepp had removed the feet of both Carver and Johnny Coxie. The feet were never recovered.
Sentencing
On May 26, 2017, Todd Kohlhepp stood before a Spartanburg County judge in an orange jumpsuit and pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and additional weapons charges. He showed no emotion as sobbing family members described the devastation he had caused.
The court sentenced him to seven consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 60 years for the kidnapping and sexual assault of Kala Brown. The judge called Todd Kohlhepp the most prolific serial killer in South Carolina history.
Prosecutors held the option to seek the death penalty. Instead, they chose finality for the families. The guilty plea spared victims’ loved ones from years of appeals and retrials.
Are There More Victims?
The seven confirmed murders may not tell the complete story. Shortly after his conviction, Todd Kohlhepp wrote a letter to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal claiming he had killed more people than investigators knew. He stated the FBI dismissed his attempts to share information. He wrote that his victim count was not an addition problem but a multiplication problem, and referenced crossing state lines and international travel.
Kohlhepp held a private pilot’s license.
The FBI’s Columbia office confirmed an active investigation into those claims. Investigators reviewed unsolved homicides going back decades. As of today, no additional murders have been officially linked to Todd Kohlhepp. The true scope of his crimes may never be known.
Profiting From Pain
Todd Kohlhepp’s attempt to capitalize on his crimes did not end with his sentencing. In 2025, a FOX Carolina investigation uncovered messages he had been sending from a prison-issued tablet. He was actively coordinating with outside contacts to sell merchandise tied to his identity as a killer.
Specifically, Kohlhepp directed contacts to produce embroidered t-shirts marked with “TK SK,” standing for “Todd Kohlhepp Serial Killer.” He already had buyers lined up.
Autographs, Autopsy Reports, and Artwork for Sale
The scheme went further than t-shirts. Kohlhepp signed hundreds of pages of documents, including hand-drawn artwork, photographs, court transcripts, warrants, and copies of the autopsy reports for all seven of his victims. He autographed his own written confession to the 2003 Superbike murders and signed the shop’s business card. He also produced stenciled slogans reading “kill some more” and “what would Kohlhepp do,” all intended for sale.
Similar true crime memorabilia sells online for up to $65 per item. South Carolina law prohibits inmates from profiting from their crimes.
The Department of Corrections Responds
The Department of Corrections admitted they had monitored his messages and mail but could not explain how the communications slipped through. Victims’ families described the scheme as tearing open wounds that had never fully closed.
“It just uncovers wounds,” said the father of one victim. “Here we are, all this time since it happened, and here we are revisiting it again.”
After the investigation became public, Kohlhepp lost his tablet privileges indefinitely. By October 2025, he transferred to supermax confinement at Kirkland Maximum Security Prison. He now has no visitors, no phone access, and no tablet. Cameras monitor him around the clock, and staff allow him out of his cell for only one hour per day.
Both the South Carolina Inspector General’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office opened investigations into whether authorities should file criminal charges against him for the scheme.
A Legacy of Destruction
Todd Kohlhepp operated in plain sight for years. He sat across from clients, closed real estate deals, and smiled in photos. At the same time, he was burying bodies on his property and planning his next crime.
Kala Brown survived. She has spoken publicly about her trauma, her recovery, and her desire to one day work in victims’ advocacy. Her message to Kohlhepp was direct.
“He tried to crush me. But I’m not broken. He cannot destroy who I am. I won.”
The families of Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy, Brian Lucas, Chris Sherbert, Johnny Coxie, Meagan McCraw-Coxie, and Charlie Carver did not get that chance. Todd Kohlhepp took their lives and then spent years trying to profit from their deaths.
For Lorraine Lucas, the mother of victim Brian Lucas, the supermax transfer brought something she had waited a long time for.
“All I want is peace. I want peace and quiet. I don’t want to see his face. I don’t want to hear his name.”
Lisa Crow contributed to this article. She is a true crime junkie and lifestyle blogger based in Waco, Texas. Lisa is the Head of Content at Gigi’s Ramblings and Southern Bred True Crime Junkie. She spends her free time traveling when she can and making memories with her large family which consists of six children and sixteen grandchildren.
