Serial killer's 'cryptic' Amazon reviews seemed to foreshadow killings, Fox Nation documentary explores
When investigators found a South Carolina woman disheveled and chained up in a large shipping container, they did not know they had uncovered a serial killer now convicted of seven murders.
Local real estate agent Todd Kohlhepp held Kala Brown captive for a grueling 65 days. After she was reported missing for over two months, investigators found Brown on Kohlhepp's property and learned he had killed Brown's boyfriend, 32-year-old Charlie Carver.
What started with investigators following up on a tip regarding a potential sex crime turned into a shocking case.
"I never dreamed this investigation would turn out like this. I thought, how many more has he killed?" Anderson PD retired detective Charlynn Ezell said in Fox Nation's "The Amazon Review Killer."
The new two-part special details a chilling tale of a killer hiding in plain sight, with online comments linking Kohlhepp to his brutal crimes.
The shipping container where Brown was held for over two months pointed investigators to Kohlhepp's review of padlocks on Amazon.
"He had posted all of these very cryptic comments about them," FOX Carolina reporter Brookley Cromer said in the Fox Nation special.
"People thought that they were these funny reviews, but it's kind of crazy when you think about it, that this was actually what he was buying these items for."
SOUTH CAROLINA SERIAL KILLER TODD KOHLHEPP CLAIMS HE HAS MORE VICTIMS
"It was almost as if Todd's Amazon reviews were foreshadowing the murders he was committing," investigative journalist Melkorka Licea added.
Brown was found alive on Nov. 3, 2016 in a large container at Kohlhepp's 100-acre compound. Investigators asked Brown, "Do you know where your buddy is?" referring to her boyfriend, who disappeared with her on Aug. 31, 2016.
"Charlie?" Brown answered in the archival video from her rescue. "He shot him," Brown affirmed, while still in restraints. "Todd Kohlhepp shot Charlie Carver three times in the chest. He wrapped him in a blue tarp, put him in the bucket of the tractor, locked me down here — I’ve never seen him again."
Kohlhepp would ultimately plead guilty to the murders of Carver and six others over a 13-year span and would be handed seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
For more on Kohlhepp's horrifying crimes, catch the Fox Nation special "The Amazon Review Killer," now streaming.
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Fox News' Julius Young and Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.