Notorious murderer Todd Kohlhepp’s property bought by private company

A MYSTERIOUS buyer has paid top dollar for the property where notorious killer Todd Kohlhepp tortured and killed victims.

FOR 13 long years, South Carolina was rocked by a string of brutal murders carried out by cold-blooded killer Todd Kohlhepp.

But in 2016, Kohlhepp’s reign of terror finally ended when authorities raided his sprawling, 38 hectare rural property.

There, they made a chilling discovery.

The bodies of three of Kohlhepp’s victims were found in shallow graves on the site — along with the only survivor, Kala Brown, who was discovered chained up “like a dog” inside a darkened metal storage container.

Ms Brown had been held captive there for more than two torturous months, and was only found when investigators heard her banging desperately on the walls.

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In late August 2016, Ms Brown and her boyfriend Charles David Carver were lured to the property after being hired by Kohlhepp to clear his land.

But when they arrived, Kohlhepp shot Mr Carver and took Ms Brown prisoner.

Mr Carver’s body was one of three found buried on the property, along with those of husband and wife Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, and Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, 26.

That couple also had their lives cut short after being hired by Kohlhepp to carry out yard work in December 2015.

Mr Coxie was shot immediately, while his wife was kept captive for a week in the same metal container Ms Brown would also be imprisoned inside, before being murdered on Christmas day.

Todd Kohlhepp’s rural property has just been snapped up by a mystery buyer. Picture: AFP Photo/Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office

And in November 2003, Kohlhepp, a former real estate agent, also gunned down four people inside a motorbike shop in Chesnee, South Carolina.

Those victims included store owner Scott Ponder, service manager Brian Lucas, mechanic Chris Sherbert, and Mr Ponder’s mother and bookkeeper Beverly Guy.

Kohlhepp, now aged 47, was arrested during the 2016 raid on his property, and is now serving seven consecutive life sentences — one for each of his victims.

He was also slapped with an additional 60 years and is being held at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.

Investigators used heavy equipment to work the crime scene on Todd Kohlhepp’s property after his arrest. Picture: Tim Kimzey/The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP

But his story took a surprising twist late last month after the property, which Kohlhepp once described to police as his “killing field”, was snapped up by a mysterious buyer for more than $700,000.

Before the sale, local media was allowed on site to film and broadcast from the gruesome dwelling.

The property in Spartanburg County, South Carolina was eventually purchased by Strange Properties No. 1 LLC, Greenville News reported.

Little is known about the company, except that it is registered in the name of Annie H Strange of Woodruff.

Authorities found Ms Brown ‘chained up like a dog’ in a metal container in 2016. Picture: John Byrum/The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP

No representatives from the company have commented publicly on the sale, and it is not known what the new owner plans to do with it.

The sale follows an August auction of a variety of Kohlhepp’s belongings taken from the property.

Wilton Lawrence, who sold the land to Kohlhepp in 2014, described the killer as a reclusive “loner” to the Independent Mail shortly after his arrest.

Kohlhepp was described by residents as a reclusive loner. Picture: Tim Kimzey/The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP

“After he bought the land, he didn’t want nothing to do with anybody,” Mr Lawrence said. “He was a loner. He didn’t want no neighbours. He didn’t want no friends. He just wanted to be left alone.”

Mr Lawrence said Kohlhepp had done little to improve the property besides clearing the land, planting some trees, building a shed and erecting a 1.8m chain fence around the perimeter — an act neighbours considered odd.

Todd Kohlhepp admitted killing seven people over nearly 13 years — while running a successful real estate business. Picture: John Byrum/The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP

However, the killings were not the only brutal crimes on Kohlhepp’s record.

In November 1986 at the age of just 15, he kidnapped a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint before forcing her into his home, tying her up and raping her.

After releasing her, he threatened to kill her siblings if she reported the attack, but nevertheless, he ended up being charged with kidnapping and in 1987, was given a 15-year prison term and registered as a sex offender.

He went on to build a successful real estate business in adulthood — but after his arrest for the murders, former colleagues revealed several disturbing quirks to local media, including openly admitting to being a registered sex offender and frequently watching pornography at work.

In August this year, Kala Brown was awarded $US6.3 million ($A8.8 million) after she sued her former captor.

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