Kohlhepp charged in three more deaths

Accused serial killer Todd Kohlhepp faces a string of new charges in connection with the three bodies found on his 96-acre property near Woodruff earlier this month.

Investigators signed warrants Monday charging Kohlhepp with three counts of murder, three counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime and one count of kidnapping.

This brings the total number of murder charges filed against Kohlhepp to seven. The three murder charges Monday were for the deaths of Charlie Carver and Meagan and Johnny Coxie.

“We’ve got a strong, solid case,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told the Herald-Journal.

Magistrate Judge Dwight Smith late Monday denied bond for Kohlhepp, who through his attorney had waived his right to appear. Bond for murder charges must be set by a Circuit Court judge.

The new charges had been expected.

Kohlhepp had previously been charged with four counts of murder. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright has said he admitted to killing four people at Superbike Motorsports in Chesnee in 2003.

Arrest warrants say Kohlhepp shot and killed Carver sometime between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2. Carver and his girlfriend had been reported missing from Anderson on Aug. 31.

The Anderson woman was found chained inside a storage container on Kohlhepp’s Woodruff property on Nov. 3.

Warrants accuse Kohlhepp of kidnapping Meagan McCraw Coxie between Christmas Day and Dec. 26, 2015. The warrants charge him with shooting and killing her at the Woodruff property.

Kohlhepp is also accused of shooting and killing Meagan Coxie’s husband, Johnny, on Dec. 19, according to the warrants.

Investigators believe both Carver and Johnny Coxie went to Kohlhepp’s property voluntarily, which is why only one additional kidnapping charge was filed, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Kevin Bobo said in a statement.

The investigation into Kohlhepp is still ongoing both in Spartanburg County and beyond, Wright said. He said it was unclear how long that investigation may take.

“There may be some information we need to verify, but we haven’t been able to verify it,” Wright said. “It does strain the man hours, because we have had a lot of overtime. We don’t have a 9-to-5 job. If it takes one day or 10 years, we’ve got to do it.”

Investigators will begin double-checking all of their work soon, down to how evidence was filed, Wright said.

“We are certainly wanting to make sure we solidify the evidence we have and it’s filed properly,” he said. “We want to go back through and check everything to make sure we didn’t miss a thing. We don’t want to give any loopholes to a defense attorney. We want to make sure it’s done perfectly.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Kohlhepp charged in three more deaths."