Todd Kohlhepp case: "48 Hours" to investigate the twisted life of alleged S.C. serial killer
When police found Kala Brown chained like a dog inside a shipping container in Woodruff, S.C., they thought they were on the path to solve a missing persons case. What they learned soon after, however, was that they would just be getting started on the trail of a suspected serial killer.
“48 Hours” goes inside the missing persons investigation and the stunning revelations her alleged captor, Todd Kohlhepp, 45, a real estate broker, made to police in “Buried Truth” to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
It’s a story that has made international headlines and continues to unfold as investigators search and find more victims of an alleged serial killer in South Carolina. Correspondents David Begnaud and Peter Van Sant interview investigators, family members, neighbors and friends of the victims. And they talk with experts and others about the mind of a serial killer.
An investigation led sheriff’s deputies to Kohlhepp’s property last Thursday looking for Kala Brown and her boyfriend, Charles David Carver. Brown had worked for Kohlhepp cleaning houses for his real estate business. Police say Brown, 30, was chained to the shipping container. Later, Kohlhepp shot Carver dead in front of Brown. Brown told the police she had been a hostage for two months on Kohlhepp’s 95-acre farm just outside Spartanburg.
Police immediately arrested Kohlhepp. While in custody, Kohlhepp asked for three things before starting to talk. And when Kohlhepp finally opened up he told police more than they ever expected. He revealed critical clues in the well-known cold case of four gruesome murders at a Chesnee, S.C. motorcycle shop in 2003. He also admitted to killing a young couple last December, later identified as Johnny Coxie and Meagan McCraw. Kohlhepp later led police to a location on his property where he had buried Carver, Coxie and McCraw.
“48 Hours” explores in depth the lives horribly changed when their loved ones disappeared or were murdered, and who had to exist for years without knowing what happened. The team also examines the life of the self-confessed killer, who after a troubled childhood committed his first violent act when he was 15 years old. Police in Arizona say he sexually assaulted at gunpoint a 14-year-old girl. He was sentenced as an adult and served a 15-year sentence. On the outside, Kohlhepp displayed signs of success, including expensive cars and flying small planes. His life behind closed doors, however, appears to be quite different.