Serial Killer Todd Kohlhepp Thought He Was Too Smart to Get Caught

SPARTANBURG, SC — Todd Kohlhepp, who was convicted of raping and kidnapping Kala Brown and locking her in a storage container for months, and is also accused of killing seven more victims, reportedly likes reading about himself in the papers.

Court records show that in several phone calls with his girlfriend while in the Spartanburg County Detention Center, the alleged serial killer discussed his interviews with media outlets including 48 Hours.

Experts say he’s also a controlling man with narcissistic tendencies who insists that he is not like other notorious serial killers such as John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy — because he kills “bad” people.

A psychologist, a retired FBI profiler, and statements about behavior-analysis reports all similarly describe Kohlhepp’s self-aggrandizing tendencies.

Kohlhepp has been sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences plus 60 years for murder, rape, and kidnapping.

According to court documents, Kohlhepp thought he was too smart to get caught after killing seven people over the course of 13 years, and told Brown that he planned to lure another couple to their death. He reveled his plans to Brown, the team of investigators say, because he thought she would not be alive to tell the tale of Kohlhepp’s hideous secrets.

Kohlhepp admitted to killing Charles David Carver, Johnny Coxie, Meagan Coxie, Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy, Brian Lucas, and Chris Sherbert. He also was sentenced to 60 more years for the kidnapping and the assault of Brown.

There are some contradictions to his personality: Although he bragged about his killings, he reportedly denied raping Brown to investigators, his girlfriend, his mother, and real estate agents. He wanted to believe he was a good guy, according to Helen Morrison, a forensic psychologist from Chicago who has interviewed about 130 serial killers.

Kohlhepp has a long history of violent behavior. Police say that when he was just 15, he lured his 14-year-old neighbor outside, then stuck a gun to her head and raped her.

He also doesn’t want to be known as being like the “worst” serial killers, according to case files released to The Greenville News and Independent Mail and other media outlets after Freedom of Information Act requests.

“I’m not a bad person,” he told investigators. “But I do bad things sometimes.” Instead, he told his mother during a prison phone call, he killed “bad people.” People who Kohlhepp deemed “bad” including those who did drugs, tried to rob him or made fun of him and stole his motorcycle.

Read more: Greenville News and Independent Mail