Todd Kohlhepp (cont'd)

Confessions, Trial, Aftermath, and the Saddest Story Ever

After his arrest, Kohlhepp confessed to the Chesnee shootings and the murders of the Coxies in exchange for being allowed to talk to his mother, give her a photograph, and transfer money to the college fund of a friend's child.

In his confession to the Chesnee shootings, Kohlhepp said he shot each of the victims once in the forehead, a detail that police never publicly released. Kohlhepp claimed to his mother that there were many other victims. When his mother asked how many, he said, "You do not have enough fingers.”

Regina Ann Tague, Kohlhepp’s mother

A search of Kohlhepp's property uncovered numerous weapons, including 9mm pistols outfitted with suppressors, semi-automatic rifles, and an indeterminate amount of ammunition. There was no record of a background check under Kohlhepp's name for the purchase of a firearm, and Dustan Lawson would later face federal charges as a result buying weapons for Kohlhepp in straw purchases.

Lawson admitted to buying a dozen guns and five silencers from 2012 to 2016, falsifying information on his ATF Form 4473 (the required Federal document for purchasing a firearm) that they were for his own use, and pled guilty to 36 federal firearm charges, and facing his sentence of eight years and three months in prison. He is scheduled for release on November 12, 2024.

Not long after Kohlhepp's arrest, authorities discovered a number of product reviews on Amazon.com for items such as padlocks, shovels, tasers, and gun accessories written by a user known simply as "me". The "wish list" page belonging to “me” was named Todd Kohlhepp.

One review about a padlock stated, "solid locks.. have 5 on a shipping container.. wont stop them.. but sure will slow them down til they are too old to care." Another, written for a folding shovel, read, "keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full size shovel at home.... does not come with a midget, which would have been nice." This is the origin of his nickname, the Amazon Review Killer.

Kohlhepp has been a person of interest in an several investigations but no definitive link exists trying Kohlhepp to any additional, specific crimes.

In December 2017, Kohlhepp wrote to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal claiming that he had more victims who have not been discovered.

Kohlhepp was charged with four counts of murder in relation to the Chesnee shootings, one count of kidnapping in relation to Brown's abduction, three additional counts of murder for the murders of the Coxies and Charlie Carver, along with one additional count of kidnapping and three counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

On May 26, 2017, Kohlhepp pled guilty to seven counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of criminal sexual assault. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. His plea bargain spared him from capital punishment.

Kohlhepp is currently imprisoned in the Broad River Correctional Institution.

Kala Brown in court suing the estate of Todd Kohlhepp

Kala Brown and the families of the Chesnee victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his estate. Kala Brown asked the court for more than $363 million in damages for assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. She also reportedly received a $25,000 reward for helping in his capture.

Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes approved a deal that awarded half of Todd Kohlhepp’s assets to Brown, approximately $6.7 million with the other half to be split equally among seven other plaintiffs in wrongful-death suits filed against the serial killer. A judge also awarded $2.7 million to the family of Johnny Coxie.

In 2019, Kala Brown was arrested on a domestic violence charge in Greenville County, and charged with third-degree domestic violence. An arrest warrant said Brown admitted to "striking the victim in the face with a closed fist."

Kala Brown Mugshot

It said the victim and Brown lived together on Piedmont Golf Course Road. Brown was released on a $2,000 bond. In late 2019, the domestic violence charges were dismissed against Kala Brown and James Devon Moore.

In 2021, in a Nov. 6 post, Melissa wrote a post in honor of the 18-year anniversary of Scott's death saying that she was "deliriously happy" in their marriage and wrote of feeling the same way about her current husband, Maricopa County Sheriff's Lieutenant Chad Brackman.

“It’s not something I thought I wanted because I felt like life had been too traumatic and this isn’t something for me," said Melissa. "He completely created his own space in my heart and did so beautifully. To have love once is beautiful but to actually have it twice is almost miraculous.” 

Days later, a new post went up. This time, her post shared new grief. Maricopa County Sheriff's Lieutenant Chad Brackman, who Melissa wed 8 years after Scott’s death, was struck and killed by an SUV while working an off duty traffic control shift near the intersection of Pima and McDowell Roads in Scottsdale. as struck and killed by the SUV.

“My heart is broken in a million pieces. To do this once is tragic but to do this again is unimaginable. Keep all of us in your prayers. We will need them.” Melissa wrote.