Todd Kohlhepp was running a real estate business while carrying out his crimes (Image: Enderley Pictures)
A two-part documentary on Channel 4 delves into the horrifying case of a serial killer who left hints about his heinous crimes in Amazon product reviews.
Estate agent Todd Kohlhepp was apprehended in 2016 after Kala Brown, one of his employees, was discovered chained inside a shipping container at his South Carolina residence following a tip-off. She had been held captive for two months and alleged that her boyfriend, Charles Carver, was murdered in front of her.
Carver’s body, along with the remains of a married couple, were later found at Kohlhepp’s home. In 2017, Kohlhepp confessed to seven murders committed over a span of 13 years, including four at a motorcycle shop in 2003 and the married couple at his property in 2015.
One of the most shocking aspects of the case was his trail of 140 Amazon reviews from 2014 to 2016, detailing chilling uses for items such as padlocks and chainsaws.
One review of a 20-inch chainsaw read: “Works excellent. Getting the neighbor to stand still while you chase him with it is hard enough without having a easy to use chainsaw [sic].”
He was handed seven consecutive life sentences (Image: Enderley Pictures)
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Another review for a padlock in September 2014 stated: “Solid locks. Have five of them on a shipping container. Won’t stop them… but sure will slow them down til they are too old to care.”
The documentary titled The Amazon Review Killer will air on Channel 4 at 10pm on Monday, January 6. Both episodes will be shown consecutively and will be available for streaming on 4OD immediately after.
The synopsis reveals: “The Amazon Review Killer follows the shocking case of Todd Kohlhepp, a seemingly unremarkable real estate agent whose 13-year killing spree went undetected for over a decade-until detectives uncovered a digital breadcrumb trail hidden within his bizarre Amazon product reviews.”
His chilling Amazon reviews offered clues to his crimes (Image: Enderley Pictures)
“From boasting about padlocks used to imprison his final victim to ominously rating folding shovels and chainsaws, Kohlhepp’s reviews foreshadowed his gruesome crimes with unsettling nonchalance.”
So where is Todd Kohlhepp now?
In 2017, Kohlhepp pleaded guilty to murdering seven people as part of a plea deal. He received seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and is currently incarcerated at Broad River Correctional Facility in Columbia. In 2018, he claimed there were two more victims buried in South Carolina.
The Amazon Review Killer airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on January 6 and is available to stream on 4OD immediately after the broadcast