Todd Kohlhepp Claims More Victims: ABC News Report, December 2017
An ABC News report from December 2017 on a letter in which Todd Kohlhepp, already serving seven life terms, told a Spartanburg newspaper that there were "more than seven" victims.
- Subject
- Todd Kohlhepp
- Recorded
- about December 9, 2017
- Runtime
- 1:51
Content warning: Concerns a woman held captive in a metal container and the murders of seven people; no graphic detail.
The Report
This is a two-minute ABC News report from December 2017. About a year after his arrest and six months after he pleaded guilty to seven murders, Todd Kohlhepp had written to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal claiming that he had killed more people than he had admitted. Kohlhepp himself is not heard: ABC correspondent Ron Claiborne reads from the letter on air. The report also includes a few seconds of the sheriff's office video of the rescue of a woman Kohlhepp held captive, a clip of that woman's later interview on "Dr. Phil", and comments from a profiler.
Historical Context
On November 6, 2003, four people were shot dead at Superbike Motorsports, a motorcycle dealership in Chesnee, South Carolina: the owner, Scott Ponder; his mother, Beverly Guy; the service manager, Brian Lucas; and Chris Sherbert. The case went unsolved for 13 years. On November 3, 2016, deputies searching property near Woodruff and Moore owned by Kohlhepp, a local real estate agent, found a missing woman chained inside a metal storage container. In the days that followed, Kohlhepp confessed to the Superbike killings and led investigators to graves on the property. On May 26, 2017, he pleaded guilty to seven murders: the four at Superbike Motorsports; Johnny Joe Coxie and Meagan Coxie, killed in December 2015; and Charles David "Charlie" Carver, killed in 2016. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life terms plus 60 years.
Circumstances of the Report
In December 2017, the Herald-Journal reported that it had received a letter from Kohlhepp in prison. ABC News's report quotes him as writing that there "really is more than seven" victims, that he "did tell FBI, but it was blown off", and that he saw no reason "to give numbers or locations". The report says the FBI told the newspaper there was a pending investigation. Associated Press reports at the time named the FBI official as Don Wood, chief division counsel in the Columbia office, who would not say what the bureau was doing.
What the Report Covers
After a studio introduction, the correspondent reads the key lines of the letter over pictures of the container. The woman Kohlhepp held captive tells Dr. Phil McGraw that he told her he was "near the three-digit mark". A profiler, not named in the audio, says such claims are a way for a convicted killer to "get the spotlight back", and the correspondent adds that claims of more victims are sometimes true but more often are not, and must still be checked.
What Makes the Recording Significant
The report records the moment Kohlhepp, after his plea, began to claim further killings, setting his own words from the letter beside a profiler's warning about why prisoners make such claims.
Archival Importance
Kohlhepp's own voice is preserved in the interview videos released in June 2017 (see Related Content). This report adds the public record of his later claims, as broadcast nationally at the time.
Important Caveats
Kohlhepp does not speak in this video; the words of the letter are read by the correspondent. His claim of more than seven victims, and the claim he is said to have made to the woman he held captive, are his claims and were not substantiated in this report. The FBI said only that an investigation was pending. The profiler is not named in the audio, and the studio anchor is identified only as "Tom".
Anchor: To a disturbing story back in the headlines tonight: a convicted serial killer, accused of chaining a female hostage inside of a shipping container, confessing to new crimes tonight, and the accusations he's now making against law enforcement. Here's ABC's Ron Claiborne.
Ron Claiborne: The man who police say chained this woman in a makeshift dungeon in South Carolina and murdered seven people...
Officer: [unclear: "Just a girl" / "Here's the girl"], just a girl. How are you, honey?
Ron Claiborne: ...now says he killed even more. In a letter [unclear: "to the" / "that the"] Herald-Journal of Spartanburg, South Carolina, says it recently received, Todd Kohlhepp brags: "Yes, there really is more than seven. I tried to tell investigators, and I did tell FBI, but it was blown off. At this point, I really don't see reason to give numbers or locations." Kala Brown, the woman who was freed from the metal container where Kohlhepp imprisoned her for two months after killing her boyfriend, told Dr. Phil McGraw he told her he murdered scores of people.
Dr. Phil McGraw: [unclear: "How many people do you tell you who killed?"; probably "How many people did he tell you he killed?"]
Kala Brown: He said he was near the three-digit mark.
Dr. Phil McGraw: So, almost 100.
Ron Claiborne: Profilers of serial killers say what Kohlhepp is saying is not unusual.
Profiler: Serial killers' entire identity is tied up in killing, and now they've lost it. So how do you get the spotlight back on you? You do it by saying there's more victims.
Ron Claiborne: And [unclear: "Garrett"] says sometimes these claims of more victims turn out to be true. More often, they're not, but investigators have to check them out. The FBI is telling the Spartanburg newspaper, Tom, that got that letter, that there is a pending investigation into this.
Anchor: That video inside the shipping container, so chilling.
Ron Claiborne: Really horrifying, yeah.
Anchor: Ron, thank you.
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