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Monday, November 7, 2016

Another Body Found on Property of South Carolina Murder, Kidnapping Suspect, Cops Say

Investigators found another body today buried at the South Carolina property where a woman was found chained in a metal container, Spartanburg officials said tonight.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said human remains were uncovered in one of the two places that Todd Kohlhepp pointed out as gravesites. He said they have not yet identified the remains or cause of death, and the search for more remains will continue Monday.
The investigation is expanding to other properties Kohlhepp currently owns or used to own, and those properties are not limited to South Carolina, the sheriff said. He added that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are also involved in the investigation.
Kohlhepp, who allegedly confessed to killing four people 13 years ago in a South Carolina town, after being charged with the kidnapping of the woman who was found chained at the neck in a storage container, was denied bond today in a South Carolina court.
Officials said Saturday that Kohlhepp claimed responsibility for the murders at a motorcycle shop in 2003. He appeared before a magistrate judge in Spartanburg wearing an orange jumpsuit, and declined to speak when the judge offered him the chance to make a statement. He doesn't have an attorney.
After Kohlhepp was denied bond, Magistrate Judge Jimmy Henson said a circuit court could revisit the issue of bond later.
Kohlhepp was charged with four counts of murder in the 2003 killings, after being charged with the kidnapping of a woman who was held captive on his property. It's possible that the number of charges against Kohlhepp will increase as police investigate his other alleged confessions, prosecutors said.
A Spartanburg County Sheriff's investigative report says Kohlhepp "confessed to investigators that he shot and killed" the owner, service manager, mechanic and bookkeeper of Superbike Motorsports, a high-performance motorcycle shop in Chesnee, South Carolina. "Kohlhepp gave details ... that only the killer would know," the report says.
Earlier this morning, two relatives of victims from the 2003 murders at spoke to the media, expressing a range of emotions, including relief that a suspect had finally been detained.
Terry Guy, who spoke outside of the Spartanburg County jail on his way to the hearing, said he suffered depression in the wake of losing a loved one at the time the crimes took place.
"I lost 70 pounds," he said.
Regarding his feelings after learning the identity of the killer, Guy said that he was relieved, but also sympathetic for Kohlhepp's family.
"My emotions are running from joy to crying, even feeling sorry for the family [of killer] I feel for them," he said.
He also said that he would like "to pray" with Kohlhepp, but added that he expected justice to be served in the case.
"The gentleman has to pay for what he did," he said.
Tom and Lorraine Lucas, who lost their son, Brian, in the quadruple murder, also spoke to the press outside of the courthouse.
"We want to see the face. I want to look at him, and I want to try to use that in healing," Tom Lucas said, regarding Kohlhepp.
Kohlhepp had a criminal record that preceded his arrest on Saturday.
According to South Carolina's sex offender registry, he was required to register as a sex offender in the state after he was convicted of a kidnapping in Arizona in 1987.
According to court documents obtained by ABC News, Kohlhepp was arrested when he was 15 years old for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl when he was living with his father in Arizona in 1987. Kohlhepp allegedly went to the girl's house, threatened her with a blue steel revolver and forced her to come to his home where he tied her up and taped her mouth shut before raping her. He then walked her back to her house and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone.
The girl called police to report the incident with Kohlhepp, whom she said she knew as "Todd Sampsell," using his father's last name, according to court documents.
Kohlhepp admitted his guilt to police and told authorities he did it because he was enraged at his father, who divorced from his mother when he was about a year old, according to the documents. Kohlhepp told police he was born in Florida, raised in Georgia and moved around a lot. He eventually became a resident in South Carolina where his mother -- identified in court documents as Regina Kohlhepp -- lived.
Kohlhepp's case was moved from juvenile to adult court. The judge who moved his case described Kohlhepp as "very bright and should be advanced academically," but said he is "behaviorally and emotionally dangerous."
"At less than the age of 9, this juvenile was impulsive, explosive, and preoccupied with sexual content. 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 and caprice," the judge wrote.
Kohlhepp pleaded guilty, providing that the sexual assault charge be dismissed. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and was required to register as a sex offender.

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