Casefile True Crime - Case 229: The Killer Realtor

Episode Date: October 29, 2022

On November 6 2003, a customer entered the Superbike Motorsports dealership in Chesnee, South Carolina. Nothing could prepare them for the grisly scene inside. Four employees had been gunned down in cold blood - Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy, Brian Lucas, and Chris Sherbert. --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-229-the-killer-realtor

From the biggest stadiums To the coziest holes in the wall From house parties to porch hangs to pride celebrations From your favorite fuss shop to your local Indian spot From noodle bars to sports bars to salsa bars There's a Molson with your name on it Canadian ultra XL

Molson Everyone in Must be legal drinking age Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support Please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support Please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website The names of several individuals in this episode have been changed Superbike motorsports in Chesney, South Carolina wasn't just the motorcycle dealership

For bike enthusiasts in the small town and its surrounding area The store was a place to hang out with like-minded people and even make friends 30-year-old Scott Ponder who owned the store worked there with his best friend Brian Lucas who was 29 The dynamic between the pair had added to the friendly atmosphere There were a number of regular customers who dropped by whenever they had spare time That was exactly what Noel Lee was doing on the afternoon of Thursday, November 6th, 2003 Noel had met Scott and Brian through the store and grew to consider them two of his closest friends The trio were all planning to go to a motocross race the following night and Noel wanted to stop by the store to collect the tickets

He called the shop first at around 2 30 p.m. To check if this suited Scott's mother 52-year-old Beverly Guy answered the phone She helped out at the dealership with bookkeeping and other administrative tasks Beverly said it would be fine for Noel to drop in At around 3 p.m. Noel pulled his BMW into the store's parking lot Set back from a stretch of a two-lane highway called Paris Bridge Road Superbike motorsports was one of the only retail spaces in the vicinity It boarded a cattle field and was surrounded by rolling hills and mostly residential buildings

Noel parked in one of the five car spaces directly in front of the shop He immediately noticed something strange in the doorway of the dealership Sprawled across the ground in a manner that propped the glass door open was a person It was the store manager Brian Lucas Noel Lee got out of his car Assuming Brian was playing some kind of prank Noel moved towards the storefront when he abruptly stopped in his tracks Partially hidden beneath the bonnet of the car. He'd parked next to was the body of Scott Ponder a Pool of blood had formed around him

Closer up Noel could see there was blood around Brian as well The glass from the door held open by his body had been shattered Realizing the severity of the situation Noel raced past Brian's body and into the store He headed to the sales counter and used the dealership's phone to call 911 Then he saw something else A third body was sprawled on the floor just outside the showroom in the middle of the dealership It was Scott's mother Beverly Guy When Noel got through to a 911 operator he cried out

Apparently everyone's been shot up here Everybody's laying down in a pool of blood. His mum has been shot the mechanics been shot Although Noel had only seen three bodies he believed that there would be a fourth somewhere as well Chris Sherbert the dealership's 26 year old mechanic was always working at this time Of day often in the garage area Explaining this to the operator Noel was told not to go looking for Chris Instead he should leave the store for his own safety and wait outside for the first responders to arrive Noel did as he was told exiting the dealership and walking across the road where he sat down in some grass

Police descended on Superbike Motorsports and secured the building Scott Ponder, Brian Lucas and Beverly Guy were all deceased As Noel Lee had predicted the dealership's mechanic Chris Sherbert was also at the shop He was found slumped over a black Suzuki motorcycle in the dealership's garage He was dead too All four victims had been shot multiple times with a 9mm pistol Including at least once in the chest and once in the forehead The headshots implied that the killings had been a deliberate execution rather than a random mass shooting

The perpetrator had missed very few of their shots even though some of their victims had been moving targets 18 shell casings were recovered from the scene They were dusted for prints but yielded none Nor were there any unidentified hand or fingerprints elsewhere in the store Investigators also had no luck sourcing foreign DNA The only clue they came across was a bill of sale for a black Suzuki Motorcycle It appeared as though Scott Ponder had been in the process of writing the bill when the shootings began

It didn't include a buyer's name or any other identifying information such as a credit card number The bill was for the same black Suzuki that mechanic Chris Sherbert had been working on He had been prepping it for his new owner When he was shot and killed To police it seemed likely that the buyer of the black Suzuki and the shooter were one and the same Based on the locations of the body they put together a theory of how the slayings had likely unfolded The shooter had left the store after arranging to buy the bike Then they had sneaked into the garage via a car and went to the police

After arranging to buy the bike then they had sneaked into the garage via a rear door They shot Chris Sherbert from behind while he was preparing the motorcycle for delivery Next the gunman headed through the showroom encountering Beverly Guy and killing her Scott Ponder and Brian Lucas had heard the gunshots and were fleeing the scene as the shooter pursued them Brian was gunned down in the store's doorway Scott had made it a little further outside to the parking lot After incapacitating all four victims the shooter had methodically walked to each one and fired a final shot into their foreheads Investigators shut down Paris Bridge Road for three days as they processed the crime scene

The attack was thought to have taken place at around 2 45 p.m Superbike motorsports customer Noel Lee had called the store at around 2 30 p.m and spoken to Beverly Guy She'd just dropped by to run some errands after taking her mother to a chemotherapy appointment Beverly was planning to deposit some earnings at the bank but told Noel to drop in as Scott and Brian would both be there By the time Noel arrived 30 minutes later, they were all dead Although many vehicles drove by the store throughout the day, there weren't that many customers around in the middle of a weekday afternoon Consequently investigators didn't have many eyewitness accounts to go on A couple who were known to deal drugs had been seen near the store near the time of the shooting

The woman had appeared upset and was heading away from superbike motorsports as her male partner chased after her Officers managed to track the couple down but cleared them of any involvement in the crime Several vehicles were also spotted in the area One was Rad and an early 90s model, perhaps a Honda Civic or Chevy Cavalier Another was a dark blue late model Chevrolet pickup truck with chrome exhaust and bed rails And the third was a smaller sportier pale blue pickup truck Officers asked for anyone with information about these vehicles to come forward Very quickly the murders at the superbike motorsports were being compared to another attack that had taken place five months earlier

31 miles southwest of Chesney in the town of Greer, there had been a robbery at Blue Ridge Savings Bank on May 16 A bank teller and two customers had been shot and killed execution style in a back room Just like the superbike shootings, the bank attack had taken place in the middle of the day with no witnesses around It didn't appear to be random And similar to the location of superbike motorsports, the Blue Ridge Savings Bank was near a highway in a relatively isolated area A red car was seen driving to the bank at 1 24 p.m. Six minutes before the shooting and a red car was spotted near superbike motorsports as well As of November 2003, the perpetrator of the bank shootings hadn't been caught or identified

However, while money was stolen from the bank in Greer Investigators knew almost immediately that the superbike slayings hadn't been part of a robbery Nothing had been taken from the store, not even an envelope full of cash that had been left on a counter Presumably the deposit Beverly had been planning to make The store also had numerous expensive items and a gold plated award that Scott had received, none of which were touched With the robbery ruled out as a motive, investigators believed they were looking at a more personal attack Scott Ponder had opened a superbike motorsports in January 2001 and the business had gone from strength to strength Scott hired his best friend Brian Lucas, who was a skilled mechanic as well as a fellow motorcycle expert

The pair's genuine passion for motorbikes was appealing to customers As one of the largest Suzuki dealerships across two counties had attracted a lot of clientele in the area But Scott wasn't satisfied with the just selling locally He utilized the internet to sell to customers all over the United States At the beginning of the 21st century online shopping was still in its infancy This put Scott ahead of the curve As well as stocking motorcycles, superbike motorsports also sold ATVs and go-karts This widened their customer base to outdoor enthusiasts and young families

In its first year, the store made more than $1 million in sales This allowed Scott to expand quickly, remodeling and extending the dealership's garage and taking on more staff Had Scott's success made he store the target of a rival business who was looking to get rid of their competition There were also rumors that the killer could have been a disgruntled customer One person who'd recently visited the dealership told the media that he'd seen buyers quote totally flip out upon receiving expensive bills Investigators also heard stories that superbike's prices were sometimes considered excessive The dealership's customer base was examined, but no one stood out as suspicious

The investigative spotlight highlighted Noel Lee, the friend of Scott and Brian's who had discovered the crime scene Noel had a cell phone, but it stepped over his friend's bodies and entered the store to call 911 from the phone inside For all he knew, the killer might have still been in the building Yet, Noel opted to go in anyway He had also told the 911 operator that the dealership's mechanic had been shot Even though he supposedly hadn't seen Chris Sherbert's body or entered the garage at all Noel couldn't explain why he'd used the store's phone instead of his own except that he hadn't been thinking clearly due to shock He had presumed that Chris had been shot as well because the other three employees all were

Noel was fingerprinted and had his car dusted for prints. He also took a polygraph test None of these results gave officers any further reason to be suspicious Noel Lee was cleared from the suspect list Sheriff's deputies discovered that Chris Sherbert had been scheduled to front court several days later on Monday, November 10 He had been charged with some drug-related offences Some suspected that he was planning to turn state's witness and testify against others in exchange for having the charges dropped If this was the case, investigators wondered whether the murders were committed by someone who wanted to silence Chris But this theory failed to gain momentum

Investigators were also interested to learn that Scott Ponder hadn't really known his father He had been raised more by his stepfather, Terry Guy Scott's biological father, William Dean Ponder, had an extensive rap sheet dating back to 1976 It included property crimes, weapons violations and drug and alcohol offences In mid-1993, William had just been released from a stint in prison and was living in his parents' home on Parris Bridge Road Directly across the street from the store his son would open almost a decade later On the night of Saturday, August 28, 1993, 41-year-old William went out drinking with some friends at a nearby bar He failed to return home

Five days passed with no word from William He was then reported missing His friends claimed they'd dropped him off at the intersection of Parris Bridge and Martin Camp Roads But William was never heard from again Ten years later, as Scott Ponder turned 30 and was preparing to become a father himself, he began digging into his biological father's mysterious disappearance It was known that Scott was trying to find his dad at around the time he was killed Investigators wondered if perhaps somebody hadn't wanted him to succeed Prior to his death, Scott had attempted to make a call from his cell phone which was found with his body

He had managed to dial the numbers 333 It was theorized that he'd been trying to call the number listed as the third favorite contact in his phone His wife, Melissa Brackman Melissa was originally from Arizona She'd met Scott several years earlier and the pair had commenced a romantic relationship after a period of being good friends Melissa was currently seven weeks pregnant with the couple's first child Just two days earlier, on Tuesday, November 4, Melissa and Scott had attended their first prenatal check-up together and had listened to their baby's heartbeat for the first time

On the morning of Thursday, November 6, Melissa stayed in bed a little longer to curb her morning sickness After a sleep in, she headed to work She and Scott spoke on the phone a couple of times that day, the latest call being at around 2.15 or 2.30 p.m. Not long after that, Melissa headed out on a work errand when she received a call from Scott's credit card vendor The vendor explained that she was trying to head over to Superbike Motorsports to perform a routine check on Scott's credit card machines But there was a roadblock preventing access to the store She had heard a rumor that there'd been a shooting in the area and wanted to check if everything was okay After hearing this, Melissa immediately changed direction and headed to Superbike Motorsports

She repeatedly called Scott's cell phone and office number along the way, but none of her calls were answered As Melissa drew closer to the store on Parris Bridge Road, she saw the area was swarming with police and media helicopters Her efforts to get to the store were interrupted by officers who escorted her back home after learning who she was When officials informed Melissa that Scott had been shot and killed at work, she asked to speak with Scott's mother, Beverly It was then she was told that the entire staff of Superbike Motorsports were dead By the time Melissa gave birth seven months later, the investigation into her husband's murder had stalled Melissa had named her son Scott Jr after his father, but everyone took to calling the little boy Scotty Roughly a year after the shootings, investigators met with Melissa for a regular catch-up

She brought baby Scotty with her and had to change his diaper at one point After the meeting, investigators retrieved the discarded diaper from the rubbish Melissa was unaware that the catch-up was a ruse Investigators had received a tip-off from the police Investigators had received a tip-off that Scott Ponder had been sterile and wasn't able to father children They obtained a DNA sample from baby Scotty's diaper and compared it to Scott Ponder's DNA, which was taken from the crime scene It wasn't a match Melissa Brackman was asked to attend the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department

This time she should leave Scotty at home Deputies ushered Melissa into a meeting room and shut the door One deputy then informed her Your son's DNA does not match up with his father's Melissa appeared stunned by the revelation She insisted that wasn't possible and offered to have Scotty's DNA tested again Investigators agreed The result was the same

However, a familial link was found to exist between Scotty and another victim from Superbike Motorsports Testing confirmed that Scott's best friend Brian Lucas was the father of Melissa's son Brian had also been married and had two sons with his wife But his mother Lorraine Lucas had suspected he wasn't entirely happy in his relationship About two weeks before the shootings Lorraine had been visiting her son and noticed that his wife seemed to be pulling faces as Lorraine and Brian chatted Brian grew unhappy about this and stated This is my mother. I want you to treat her with respect This led to an argument between the couple

Brian had also been looking at new houses without his wife's knowledge On the day of his murder, he had gone to visit one property with a friend of his who was a realtor It seemed plausible to investigators that Brian and Melissa had been having an affair Perhaps the murders were the result of this secret somehow coming to light Scott's stepfather Terry Guy was especially troubled by the infidelity rumors He'd not only lost his stepson in the shooting, but his wife Beverly as well Terry had suffered depression in the aftermath of their deaths and lost 70 pounds due to grief and stress When he heard that Melissa could have been involved he sat her down and asked

Did you have anything to do with it? If proof comes out that you did wherever you're at, I'll come and get you and bring you back myself Melissa was adamant she wasn't involved in the slayings and refused to admit that she'd been having an affair For 18 months investigators continued to pursue this line of inquiry They ran more DNA tests and received another unexpected result According to their samples, Beverly Guy hadn't actually been Scott Ponder's mother They compared Beverly's DNA to Brian Lucas's sample revealing a match As investigators knew this couldn't be possible, they worked to discover what had happened

Scott and Brian's DNA samples had gotten mixed up when they were taken at the crime scene with Scott's sample marked as Brian's and vice versa This had likely happened because the two bodies were lying almost side by side This revelation was hugely vindicating for Melissa Brackman From the beginning she had insisted that she'd never cheated on her husband and knew that he was her baby's father Melissa suffered from endometriosis and Scott had a low sperm count which had resulted in the couple needing medical assistance to conceive Scottie

Since the beginning of the investigation she had been open and honest with the sheriff's deputies handing over love letters she and Scott had written to each other and answering intimate questions about their relationship Melissa had even agreed to be polygraphed When investigators told her that both DNA tests proved that Scott wasn't Scottie's father she was willing to have her husband's body exhumed so another sample could be taken With the DNA bungal exposed, Melissa's name was cleared but she still suffered the fallout from having been suspected

In the 18 months that had passed since this line of inquiry began one of Scott's grandmothers had died believing he'd never fathered a child Having lost her husband and her reputation, Melissa moved back to her home state of Arizona Kelly Sisk was a member of the National Guard and a regular customer at Superbike Motorsports On the day of the shootings he decided to stop in at the store to make a payment on a go-kart he was buying for his four-year-old son Kelly took his son with him and the pair arrived at the store around 2pm

They spent between 30 and 45 minutes wandering around the dealership floor admiring the latest bikes and ATVs It was quiet with only one other customer in the store The other customer was a white male who looked to be between 25 and 40 years old He was about 6 feet tall and 170 to 200 pounds with dark feathered hair, thin lips, small eyes, and a narrow jaw The man was wearing jeans and a leather jacket The man was wearing jeans and a leather jacket which struck Kelly as odd because it was a warm day The customer was admiring a black Suzuki motorcycle when Kelly saw Scott Ponder approach him

Hey, this is a good beginner's bike, Scott said Kelly was confused The bike was big and didn't look suitable for a beginner in his opinion But he figured Scott would know better than he did When Kelly and his son left a few minutes later the customer was still chatting with Scott By the time Kelly arrived at home reports about the quadruple homicide at Superbike Motorsports were all over the news Kelly was shocked He couldn't believe that he'd just been there with his young child right before the attack unfolded

Kelly reported what he had seen to the Spartanburg County's Sheriff's Department But it would take more than a month for investigators to track him down They eventually came to realize that Kelly's sisk was their most crucial witness The man that he'd seen in the dealership that day was most likely the killer Kelly helped them create a composite sketch of the suspect and the image was widely distributed But Kelly wasn't happy with the picture He didn't think it was a good likeness of the man at all No solid leads resulted from the suspect's sketch

It was featured on popular television programs such as America's Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries Tips would trickle in after each screening but nothing that led to a break in the case Former FBI agent and renowned serial killer profiler John Douglas was brought in to create a profile of the unknown suspect In his opinion, the killer was mission-oriented The entire attack was probably over within 45 seconds and the motive was very different to other crimes Douglas had investigated Quote It's not a type of case like other serial killers who I've interviewed where it's a fantasy This is revenge

This is retaliation In 2012 an updated sketch of the suspect was released which I witnessed Kelly's sisk said was a much better likeness of the mystery customer It depicted a man with dark hair parted down the middle and a face that was wider at the top and narrowed towards his chin His eyes were somewhat narrowed and his mouth turned downwards at the corners In November 2013 the sheriff's office sent out a letter to their database of superbike motorsports customers in the hopes It might jog someone's memory No one responded to them More than a decade after the shootings there had been over 750 leads that all fizzled out

But sheriff Chuck Wright refused to admit defeat telling the Spartanburg Herald Journal in 2015 I don't call it a cold case. I call it an old case Because we're still working on it Here's the new Ad-Ville Plus Acetaminophen It combines two of the most popular ingredients to fight pain in uncompromising practices The ibuprofen targets pain at the source and the Acetaminophen blocks the signs of pain by bringing a quick and effective relief from pain up to eight hours Conquering the words of the head quickly thanks to the anti-painting relief to double the action of the new Ad-Ville Plus Acetaminophen At the beginning of September 2016 a woman named Joanne Schifflett was worried about her son

32-year-old Charlie Carver who lived in Anderson County, South Carolina hadn't replied to a text message Joanne had sent him This was very out of character The two normally spoke of the same thing This was very out of character The two normally spoke every day When Joanne did some digging she found out that she wasn't the only one who hadn't heard from Charlie lately His father hadn't spoken to him in days either Charlie and his new girlfriend 30-year-old Alana Jones had also failed to show up for a dinner scheduled with one of Alana's friends on Wednesday, August 31

Alana had been excited to introduce Charlie to her friend so it seemed odd that they never arrived or explained their absence The last time anyone had heard from the couple was during the day of August 31 When people tried to call them their phones went straight to voicemail Joanne Schifflett decided someone needed to check the apartment in Anderson where the couple lived Charlie and Alana had only started dating a few months prior but had already moved in together Charlie's car was missing from the complex but Alana's was still on site On Saturday, September 3 Joanne asked the building's manager if she could check on her son The manager agreed to perform a welfare check

She knocked on the apartment's door Nobody answered The manager let herself in The couple weren't there but all of their clothing and prescription medication had been left behind along with Alana's glasses and contact lenses Alana's dog, a Pomeranian named Romeo was all alone in the residence with no food or water It looked as though he'd been neglected for several days Alana's loved ones were adamant that she would never take off without making sure Romeo was cared for The dog was like a baby to her and she loved him dearly

Although the couple's friends and family knew something must be wrong for them to disappear without warning and fail to make contact Police were less concerned They suspected the pair had just decided to go away together for a few days Missing person reports were filed for both Alana and Charlie But law enforcement in Anderson County said there was little else they could do It didn't take long for the couple's loved ones to rally and start searching for themselves Charlie's father wondered if perhaps they'd gotten into an accident in Charlie's 2002 white Pontiac Grand Prix He searched creek beds and ravines throughout the county in case they'd gone off the road

Meanwhile, Charlie and Alana's friends started Facebook groups seeking information and handed out flyers plastered with the couple's descriptions Alana was five foot eight with short dyed red hair and green eyes Charlie was six foot with brown hair, blue eyes, glasses and a neatly truncated red eyes and a trimmed beard Photos on the flyers showed the couple both individually and together with their smiling faces pressed together as Alana snapped a selfie As time wore on police joined in the search They submitted applications to obtain data from the couple's cell phones which had either died or been switched off A month went by with no answers and people began to fear the worst that the couple hadn't been in an accident

But had met with foul play Charlie and Alana's parents all appeared on national television segments to raise awareness about the double missing persons case Then on Saturday, October 1 New posts suddenly appeared on Charlie Carver's Facebook page for the first time in over a month It appeared he was using the account to log major life events retrospectively He posted that on Friday, July 1 2016 he and Alana discovered they were expecting a baby girl Exactly one month later on Monday, August 1 they bought a house And a month after that on Thursday, September 1 the couple got married

Rather than reassuring their friends and family the posts on Charlie's page alarmed them None of these milestones fit with what they knew about the couple and they still hadn't heard anything from them The posts didn't stop there Although Charlie had never been a big social media user, odd memes and out-of-character comments were suddenly cropping up all over his page One read I wonder if I said hello, how many people would say it back? Let's try it Hello

Another featured lyrics from the song Hotel California by the Eagles Last thing I remember I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place. I was before Relax said the nightmare we are programmed to receive You can check out any time you like but you can never leave One of the most disturbing posts read Sometimes late at night I dig a hole in the backyard to keep the nosy neighbors guessing Charlie's friends were certain he wasn't making these posts and suspected that the person responsible for the couple's disappearance was behind them They began commenting on the posts

Is that what you did to Alana and the real Charlie asked one person Another added Are you hinting at what you did with them? You know it's sad that someone like you is using his Facebook page when his family and friends are worried about both him and Alana Whoever was using Charlie's account didn't answer these questions But continued to like and share posts about the missing couple that had been made by their families Some people close to Charlie suspected they knew who was behind the disturbing posts When Charlie and Alana got together he had been going through an acrimonious divorce

Charlie and his ex-wife Nicole Nunes hadn't had a good relationship When he decided they needed to split up, Nicole was upset about it Her distress only increased when she found out about Charlie's new relationship with Alana Nicole began stalking the couple One day, Charlie returned home to their apartment to find Nicole inside He'd confided in his father about the incident and said he was too scared to take further action against Nicole He was worried that if he was too harsh, something bad would happen On Wednesday, August 31, the last day anyone had seen or heard from Charlie and Alana

Nicole made a strange Facebook post that read My beloved husband, rest in peace Charlie's loved one of his friends Charlie's loved ones noticed that the posts that started appearing on his page from Saturday, October 1 featured spelling and grammatical errors that Nicole was known to make In one comment directed at another Facebook user, the person using Charlie's account asked how the other individual knew my hubby Charlie's mother Joanne had also received text messages from Nicole stating Your son never wants to see you again. He contacted me. They're at the beach

One day, a representative at the telecommunications company AT&T received a call from the lead investigator on the Charlie Carver and Alana Jones case The investigator was hoping to find out where and when Charlie's cell phone had last pinged signal towers When the AT&T employee asked for the investigator to spell out their name, the investigator failed to do so correctly They were also unable to provide a badge number Suspicious, the AT&T representative placed the investigator on hold and made a call to the police Officers confirmed that the call was not legitimate and began to trace where it had come from It was made by Charlie Carver's ex-wife Nicole Nunes Three days later, Nicole was arrested and charged with impersonating a police officer

Yet, despite this development, investigators couldn't find any evidence connecting Nicole with the couple's disappearance Meanwhile, the case's real investigators finally had a breakthrough when they actually did receive the data from Charlie and Alana's cell phones Now, they were able to see which towers the phones had connected to in the hours and minutes before their batteries died From Wednesday, August 31, both phones had pinged a tower in the nearby town of Woodruff, which was located roughly 50 miles northeast of Anderson in neighbouring Spartanburg County Alana's phone had continued to connect to the tower up until Friday, September 2, which was two days after the couple were last seen The tower was in the vicinity of a rural 95-acre property This was significant, as Anderson County investigators had recently received a tip-off that Alana Jones was buried on a 100-acre property in Woodruff The 95-acre property was the only one in the area that fit the bill

Investigators flew a helicopter overhead to get a better look, but saw no sign of the couple or Charlie's white Pontiac Grand Prix Instead, they saw dense woodland and ravines as well as several small buildings There was no electricity there, just some solar panels Investigators began to wonder if they were looking at a growhouse, a term for a property used for the production of cannabis or other illicit substances As the property was privately owned, they had to obtain a search warrant to take a closer look on foot On the morning of Thursday, November 3, sheriffs deputies headed out to the rural property armed with a warrant A tall chain-link fence surrounded most of the farm with signs attached that read, warning, private property, no trespassing

It was rare to see a fence like this on similar properties in the area A wide gravel path led from the main road into the property's entrance and snaked through the privately owned land Investigators made their way along the path Most of the property was wooded, but they observed a few buildings as they went There was a gardening shed, a workshop garage with what looked like an apartment on top, and a 30 foot long green shipping container As police meticulously combed through the woodland, they suddenly made a discovery inside a ravine A white car that was smeared with what looked like brown paint had been dumped in the sloping space Some branches and foliage had been placed on top of it, as though whoever had left the vehicle there was trying to camouflage it

Investigators identified the car as Charlie Carver's Pontiac Grand Prix The discovery confirmed that the couple had been at the property Next, the deputies searched the buildings No one was on the premises as officers examined the garage with the first floor apartment On the walls of the upstairs loft apartment were several heavy chains with padlocks attached Next, they looked at the shed before heading towards the shipping container It was what is known as a connex box, a kind of cargo carrier that the US Army had started using during the Korean War There were five heavy padlocks on the connex box, preventing the deputies from opening it up

Realising there must be something important inside if someone was so determined to keep it locked, the officers began trying to remove one of the locks by hitting it repeatedly with a sledgehammer For 15 minutes they tried to break it, but it wouldn't open Then, one of the deputies suddenly called out, stop She thought she could hear a banging from inside the container Her colleagues stopped and listened They heard something too, though it wasn't clear if it was coming from the woods or the container Two of the investigators made their way along the right side of the container where the noise was louder One of them knocked on the exterior steel wall

A knock came back in reply and a voice screamed Help me, get me out of here Realising someone was inside the shipping container, the deputies felt an overwhelming sense of urgency Using a circular power saw and a crowbar they found on the property, they cut through the steel padlocks and forced open the container doors Inside was a long and totally dark hallway Using flashlights to see, they passed a tall narrow cage and some storage shelves that lined either side of the container Towards the back of the container, a woman wearing grey tracksuit pants and a black sweater was sitting on a mattress with her legs outstretched She held her hands above her head to show she was unarmed

Her wrists were handcuffed together One of her ankles was cuffed to a chain that was attached to the wall Her neck had a heavy padlocked chain around it as well, which was also attached to the wall The woman was Alana Jones Footage of the rescue was captured by the deputies Let me see your light, Brandon You can put your hand vest with us You're okay, we're here, okay?

Jump it back Light on the roll We're getting rested over here Let's get her out of here We're getting bolt cutters, honey, don't... You got pictures of the cuffs? Nah, hold on Bolt cutters

There's both feet Just one It's attached to a chain from the wall and my neck's attached to the wall up here Okay Alright, we're gonna get you out of here, okay? You got a handcuff, kid I got one of them, someone's gonna call I got one of them, they're gonna call her

Go over there when I get that Bolt cutters Just hit the chain right there, Bruce Just no, just right there at her hand, Brandon We'll get it off, we'll get it off here Do you know where your buddy is? Charlie Yes

He shot him Who shot him? Who didn't? Todd Kohep, Charlie Carver Three times in the chest, wrapped him in a blue tarp Put him in the bucket of the tractor Locked me down here, I've never seen him again He says he's dead and buried

Some of our bodies dead and buried out here And he says that the dogs will be ruined if they go looking Cause there's red pepper As the deputies used bolt cutters to free Alana from her restraints She told them that the man responsible for her ordeal was the owner of the property His name was Todd Kohep Alana said Kohep had shot her boyfriend Charlie three times in the chest Then wrapped his body in a blue tarp

Using a tractor, he'd moved Charlie to another location of the property and buried him Alana never saw Charlie again Kohep had told Alana he had other bodies hidden on the property as well He'd scattered red peppers around, which he thought would mask the scent of human remains from police dogs Deputies let Alana out of the container and into an ambulance So she could be taken to a hospital for treatment As she was being transported to the hospital, investigators continued to question her Alana Jones had met Todd Kohep through a mutual friend in around 2011

The two became Facebook friends and occasionally stayed in touch Eventually, Alana started cleaning some of the properties listed by Kohep's agency for extra cash On Wednesday, August 31, she and Charlie had gone to the rural property after Kohep offered to pay them to clear some brush When they arrived, he'd given them hedge clippers and a bottle of water before pointing out the areas that needed tidying Kohep then went into the garage to get something When he returned, he was holding a gun Before the couple could register what was going on, Kohep shot and killed Charlie As Alana had stared down at her boyfriend's body in shock, Kohep grabbed her from behind, handcuffed her and bound her ankles

He apologized about killing Charlie but said he had to let Alana know he was serious Kohep made her watch as he wrapped Charlie's body in the tarp Then he led her to the storage container where she was forced to stay for the next two months Alana said she was kept chained up almost the entire time Kohep would visit her at the property between 1 and 3 p.m. every day and move her from the shipping container to the apartment Then he would beat her and quote, make me do whatever he wanted sexually before transferring her back to the container He'd leave for a while before returning between 5 and 7 p.m. and repeating the process all over again If Alana said no to any sex acts Kohep wanted to do, he wouldn't physically force her because he claimed he didn't believe in rape

But Alana said he made it very well known why she was there and she knew that if she didn't submit to his demands, he would shoot her too Sometimes Kohep would let Alana walk around outside for a little bit He liked to show her the makeshift grave where he had buried Charlie's body A second empty grave lay next to it Kohep told Alana if she ran away, she would end up there too Kohep said Alana was beautiful and that's why he'd chosen her He reassured her that one day Stockholm syndrome would kick in and she would be happy living with him too He would build a special house with a soundproof room where she would be kept permanently

Kohep had bragged to Alana that he was a serial killer and a mass murderer He claimed that his victims numbered in the high two digits but he planned to kill more because he dreamed of taking hundreds of lives Todd Kohep had always been a troubled child After his parents divorced in 1973 when he was two, he was raised by his mother Regina in South Carolina Regina noticed how he struggled to play with his peers at preschool Often he would just sit in a corner The only way he seemed capable of interacting with them was in an angry manner As he grew older, his behavior worsened

Kohep would deliberately damage other students' work and was kicked out of the Boy Scouts for repeatedly misbehaving When he asked his mother and stepfather for a pet gerbil, they told him no as he already had a goldfish Kohep responded by pouring Clorox bleach into the fish tank, which his parents thought he did deliberately to kill the fish Kohep would always insist he'd just been cleaning the tank and didn't understand that bleach was toxic Another time, he was reported to have shot at a dog with a BB gun By the time Kohep was nine years old, his reputation for having an explosive temper and fixation with sexual content was cemented When people did something he didn't like, he lashed out Once, when his mother bought him a new set of bedroom furniture, he destroyed it all with a claw hammer

Another time, he attacked a girl on his school bus after she said something that made him angry and stabbed her in the leg His mother Regina sent him to therapy and a mental health hospital, but his behavior didn't improve Kohep hated his stepfather and repeatedly asked if he could go and live with his biological father in Arizona He spent a summer with his father at age 12 after not having seen him in eight years Regina began to wonder if her son's issues were stemming from not knowing his dad When Kohep was in his early teens, Regina finally caved and allowed him to move to Arizona On the evening of Tuesday, November 25, 1986, 14-year-old Katie was at home in Tempe, Arizona, babysitting her two younger siblings Her five-year-old brother and three-year-old sister were both sleeping, so it was an easy job

Katie was sitting on a love seat studying when the doorbell rang She answered it and found 15-year-old Todd Kohep, who lived three doors down, standing on her doorstep He explained that another boy who Katie had a crush on was around the corner and wanted to talk to her, but Katie refused to leave She explained that she was babysitting and shut the front door Yet Kohep wouldn't leave After repeatedly trying to coax Katie outside, he went around the back of her house to the rear door and said, just come out Hoping that if she did as he asked he would finally leave, Katie stepped outside Kohep pulled out a gun and held it to her head, stating, you're coming with me

At gunpoint, he forced her out of her backyard and into an alley that ran behind the row of houses Katie didn't even have shoes on and could feel stones and broken glass pressing into her bare feet Angry and terrified, she suddenly fought back, grabbing the barrel of the gun In response, Kohep pulled the trigger The gun misfired If it had gone off, the bullet would have struck Katie in the head Realising Kohep wouldn't hesitate to kill her, Katie didn't fight back again At Kohep's urging, she walked into his home where he was staying alone while his father was away on a business trip

Kohep forced Katie into his bedroom, then bound her hands with rope and put duct tape over her mouth He held a knife to her throat and raped her Back at Katie's house, her little brother woke up and was scared to find his sister missing The five-year-old boy called 911 and soon police and their parents arrived at the property As they were gathered inside, Katie appeared at the back door Kohep had seen the police car lights from his bedroom window and panicked Katie had begged to be allowed to leave, saying she would just tell the police they'd been out looking for a missing dog Kohep eventually agreed, but said that if she said anything about what really happened, he would murder her whole family

Although Katie initially told her parents and the police that she'd been looking for a dog, they could see from her demeanor that something terrible had happened After some coaxing, Katie began to cry and told the truth Officers immediately went to Kohep's house to arrest him Kohep answered the door with a .22 caliber rifle behind his back Pulling out her own handgun, an officer demanded he leave the house immediately or she would shoot him Kohep did as he was told, then asked I just need to know how much I am going to get for this Although he was only 15, Kohep was charged as an adult

He agreed to plead guilty to kidnapping if the sexual assault charge was dropped to avoid having to go to trial After a court ordered psychological assessment, Kohep was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder He said that he'd attacked Katie because he was angry and wanted to rebel against his often absent father Kohep's mother Regina sent a letter requesting leniency in sentencing, writing They don't stop to think that he even walked the girl home. Does that sound like a dangerous criminal? Despite her request, the judge gave Kohep 15 years to be served in an adult prison in Arizona The adult probation officer noted that Todd Kohep was, quote The type of individual, one with little or no conscience, who presents the greatest risk to the community

In November 2001, Kohep was released from prison at the age of 30 It wasn't long before he moved back to South Carolina Although he had to add his name to the state's sex offender registry, Kohep also said about rebuilding his life He worked as a graphic designer using vocational training he'd completed in prison and obtained a business degree from the University of South Carolina Upstate In 2006, he applied for a South Carolina real estate license The application didn't require a criminal background check, but applicants did have to note any convictions themselves Kohep explained away his felony conviction as being due to a heated breakup he'd had with his girlfriend During the argument, Kohep's dog escaped and the two teenagers had to go looking for it

Meanwhile, his girlfriend's parents hadn't known where their daughter was and called the police I was charged with the felony of kidnapping due to the fact that I did have a firearm on me, regardless that she didn't know about it And I had told her not to move while we talked this out, Kohep wrote At this time, Arizona was coming down very hard on minors and anything to do with firearms due to the heavy gang activity out there And I received a sentence of 15 years, for which I served every day, no parole required His application was approved and by 2008, Kohep was a successful real estate agent During the following year, he registered his own company, Todd Kohep and associates The business grew with about a dozen agents on staff

Kohep began driving BMWs and owned multiple properties, two cars and a motorbike In 2013, he achieved a childhood dream by obtaining his pilot's license His life appeared to be successful But there were cracks in the facade Kohep was known to boast about his wealth and how he was an expert with firearms He openly discussed his sex offender status while lying about how he'd received it Some potential clients instinctively found him creepy and off-putting At work, he was known for openly watching pornography in his office

He had a dark sense of humour and talked about how he chased people off his property while wearing night vision goggles and carrying guns equipped with silencers According to Kohep, he owned an arsenal of weapons, even though in South Carolina it is illegal for violent felons to own firearms In the close-knit neighborhood where he lived, Kohep kept to himself In 2014, he bought the sprawling 95-acre property in Woodruff where Alana Jones would be found two years later Kohep paid $80,000 to install an expansive chain-link fence and installed deer cameras and bear traps throughout the property These weren't intended to deter animals, but humans An Amazon account in Toge Kohep's name revealed that around the same time he'd bought padlocks, knives, targets, tactical gear and gun accessories He often left reviews for these items that hinted at how he intended to use them

When reviewing a knife, he wrote Haven't stabbed anyone yet, but I am keeping the dream alive and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this For a padlock, he wrote Works great. Also, if someone talks back, go old-school on them by putting this in a sock and beating them They will not appreciate the hardened steel like you will The review for another set of padlocks made a reference similar to one someone had posted on Charlie Carver's Facebook page while posing as him Now my locks have locks. Places Hotel California now When investigators traced Alana's cell phone to the vicinity of the rural property owned by Kohep, they'd applied for his cell phone data too

They saw that it had been in the same area repeatedly during the two months that Alana and Charlie were missing This was enough for a search warrant to be granted While one team of investigators went to the rural property, another group headed to the house where Kohep lived just eight miles away Kohep answered the front door to his red brick home dressed in a blue t-shirt and shorts Deputies informed him that they had information indicating he was the last person to have seen missing couple Alana Jones and Charlie Carver and had a search warrant for his other property Kohep didn't seem bothered and sat on a chair in his house's foyer while making small talk with the investigators One deputy received a call and went outside to take it It was a colleague who was at Kohep's rural property informing him how they'd found Alana chained up in a storage container

The deputy went back inside and confronted Kohep with this information Kohep responded by tilting his head to one side and saying Excuse me? The deputy continued She has told us that you shot and killed Charlie Kohep was informed that he was being arrested When asked where Charlie's body was and why he had kidnapped Alana, Kohep replied I want an attorney

Probably a good thing the deputy retorted before having Kohep put in the back of a police vehicle It didn't take authorities long to recover Charlie Carver's body from a shallow grave on the property Once Todd Kohep learned the body had been found, he agreed to make a full confession with some conditions He wanted to talk to his mother before making any more statements and asked investigators to pass along a special picture to her He also wanted to transfer some money to the daughter of a friend to help pay her college tuition The investigators agreed to these terms Kohep said he'd targeted Alana and Charlie because he was angry with Alana He confirmed things she had already told investigators

When they asked if the empty, freshly dug grave next to Charlie's had been intended for Alana, he said yes Adding, she came real close Really, asked one investigator She has no idea, Kohep replied More than once Kohep agreed to take investigators to the place on his property where he'd buried two more bodies Both were so badly decomposed that they had to be identified from their tattoos and other identifying features They were married couple Johnny and Megan Coxie who'd lived in Spartanburg and had a son together

26-year-old Megan had a history of heroin usage and was charged with neglect in late 2015 when her child tested positive for the drug Both she and Johnny were placed in jail until Megan asked her mother to bond her out so she could work a job She wanted to fix her life and provide for her family Her mother agreed, but never heard from Megan again Both she and Johnny were reported missing on Tuesday December 22, 2015 With few leads, the case never really got off the ground It turned out that Kohep had met 26-year-old Megan at a waffle house where she waited tables and he liked to lurk He gained a reputation for leaving generous tips and inviting waitresses back to his home

Kohep had creeped out most of the female staff so much that one of the male cooks started taking his orders instead Kohep had offered Megan money to clean his property. This was the job she had told her mother about Kohep told the deputies that Johnny had jumped him with a knife trying to rob him once they were out at the property He'd killed Johnny in self-defense by shooting him in the chest Kohep began to panic as he knew he wasn't allowed to own guns due to his criminal record and also had illegal drugs on the property Unsure of what to do with Megan, he put her in the shipping container Kohep claimed that sometimes Megan was calm, but other times she went, quote, that shit crazy He insisted that he hadn't sexually assaulted Megan, but investigators were unconvinced

Kohep said that after five or six days he struck a deal with Megan He would give her $4000 and drive her to Tennessee, then they would go their separate ways He said that Megan was happy as hell with this arrangement, but when Kohep checked on her the next day, she tried to burn down the shipping container and was, quote, going nuts He walked her outside of the container, then shot her in the back of the head Kohep assured the investigators that the similarities between the attacks against the two couples were purely coincidental The land was supposed to be my sanctuary, not my killing field, he laughed Yet, it quickly became clear that Kohep's violent acts were not limited to his rural property in Woodruff Following Alana Jones' rescue from the shipping container, she told a police officer that Kohep had bragged about being a serial killer and mass murderer

Then she added, he also told me that a few years back, he walked into a bike shop in Anderson and shot four people Although Alana thought the shop was in Anderson and not Chesney, there was little doubt what case Kohep had been referring to The massacre at Superbike Motorsports was the most notorious cold case in Spartanburg County, the same county where Kohep had lived and committed his other crimes Kohep also bore an uncanny resemblance to the second sketch that had been made of the suspect, with the same downturned mouth and squinting eyes Investigators asked Kohep to walk them through his dealings with the store In 2003, Todd Kohep was in his early 30s and two years out of prison He was studying at Greenville Technical College and that same year he also bought a motorcycle from Superbike Motorsports Kohep soon realized that the bike was too big for an inexperienced motorcyclist like him

He'd only owned it for two weeks when it was stolen from out the front of the apartment complex where he lived Kohep received an insurance payout and decided to buy another bike He started visiting Superbike Motorsports again to look at different models After hearing Kohep planned to replace his stolen bike, the manager Brian Lucas said to him Great, now we'll have another one to go pick up Kohep interpreted this to mean that the store was behind the theft of his first bike He left the store but continued to stew about what Brian had said Kohep became angrier and angrier

He continued to visit Superbike Motorsports where he would sit on the store's bikes and eavesdrop on Scott Ponder and Brian Lucas Quote, basically talk trash Eventually, Kohep decided to purchase a Beretta 9mm pistol and went back to the store one final time on the afternoon of Thursday, November 6, 2003 He inspected some bikes while scoping out the store and trying to ensure that Scott, Brian and mechanic Chris Sherbert were all there He'd deliberately chosen a quiet time of day as he wanted no other customers around Quote, collateral damage is not cool Kohep wasn't thrilled when Scott's mother Beverly Guy arrived, telling investigators I prefer not to shoot women if I can

But her presence didn't deter him and finally, when all four store employees were the only other people in the building, Kohep told them he wanted to buy a particular bike Scott and Brian began sorting out the paperwork while Chris Sherbert took the motorcycle out the back to prep it After a few minutes, Kohep followed him to the mechanics area He pulled out his pistol and shot Chris twice in the chest Chris fell to the ground and lay still Kohep then headed towards the front of the building, just as Scott, Brian and Beverly all moved to the mechanics area to investigate the sound they'd just heard The three of them stood in front of Kohep As Beverly was the closest, he shot her two or three times in the chest

As she fell, Scott and Brian ran for the door As they ran, Kohep shot Brian in the back, then aimed at Scott as he was reaching the parking lot After all four victims had fallen, Kohep went to each body and shot them in the forehead This was a detail investigators had withheld from the press and convinced them that Kohep was telling the truth A check would reveal his name had also been in the store's customer database that the original investigators had received On the 10th anniversary of the murders, Kohep had received one of the many letters that were sent out to superbike customers, asking if he knew anything about the crime He had never replied Kohep described the slayings as being like playing a video game and used military style language to detail each action

He boasted about how quick the mass shooting had been, telling the interviewing detectives I cleared that building in under 30 seconds. I'm sorry, but you guys would have been proud Scott, Brian and Beverly's loved ones were shocked to hear the case had finally been solved 13 years later Tom Lucas, the father of Brian Lucas had become an advocate for families in the area who lived with unsolved crimes He had been gathered with some of them the day before Kohep confessed and had sensed something powerful at the time When Tom and his wife Lorraine received a call the following day to say the perpetrator was in custody, he couldn't believe it Lorraine would later say she went completely numb Scott Ponder's wife Melissa Brackman was phoned by a detective who she had a good relationship with

He instructed her to sit down, then said, we got him Melissa began to cry She had made peace with the fact that she might never know who killed her husband and the father of her son Scotty, who was now nearly 13 years old Terry Guy, Beverly's husband and Scott's stepfather was also relieved, but at the same time he empathized with Kohep's family Quote My emotions are running from joy to crying, even feeling sorry for the family of Kohep I feel for them There was less relief for the families of Charlie Carver, Johnny Coxie and Megan Coxie, who were only just learning that their loved ones were dead

A close friend of Johnny Coxie's mother, Cindy, issued a statement on her behalf stating Cindy came about a year ago requesting prayer for her son Johnny and his wife Megan, who were missing We have been praying for about a year now that they would be found and we would know what happened Today they received the news The family is in shock, grieving and are not comfortable talking to anyone at this time They have asked for people to please try and understand and give them time to heal Todd Kohep agreed to plead guilty to seven counts of murder, two kidnapping charges and one count of criminal sexual assault In exchange for his plea, prosecutors took the death penalty off the table

On Friday, May 26, 2017, Kohep was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole Surviving victim Alana Jones did not attend due to an ongoing struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, but the courtroom was packed with family members of those who'd been killed They addressed him in turn In an emotional voice, Scott Ponder's wife Melissa Brackman stated I have missed motorcycle riding on the back of his bike, having him there to rub my pregnant belly, to feel Scott Jr. kick and take him bike riding, motorcycle riding I lost so much Her son Scott Jr., who had just finished seventh grade, said I'm always going to wonder what it would have been like if my dad was here

Megan Cox's mother Mary cried as she spoke of how her seven-year-old grandson had looked for his mother everywhere after she disappeared Then the day came when we found out where his mom was It was one of the worst days of our lives to tell him that his mom was dead Outside court, Charlie Carver's parents spoke of how they hoped to heal now that their son's killer was behind bars His mother Joanne said that for a while she couldn't think of Todd Kohlep without feeling furious But now she just considered him a sad man At Kohlep's sentencing, his lawyers had assured the court that he had no other victims, but some found this hard to believe His first serious crime had been committed when he was just 15, and his second followed only two years after his release from prison

It seemed unlikely that a repeat offender with a violent streak and an easily triggered inferiority complex had been a law-abiding citizen between late 2003 when he committed the Superbike Massacre and 2015 when he murdered Johnny and Megan Coxy When he provided a detailed confession to investigators, he claimed that he'd also shot and killed a boy in Tempe, Arizona when he was 14 as part of a gang initiation Kohlep said he couldn't recall any names Investigators in Arizona looked into this claim, but weren't able to verify it They also looked into other unsolved homicides and missing persons cases between 1983 to 1986, the years Kohlep was living in the area Nothing else appears to have been linked to him But there may have been another unsolved rape in Tempe that Kohlep committed 16 days before Kohlep had ducted and raped his neighbor Katie in 1986, a college student in her early 20s was attacked in her home

She lived just blocks away from Kohlep In the early hours of the morning, she awoke to a man standing over her, sticking duct tape on her mouth He bound and then raped her The woman would later say he was like an awkward fumbly teenager as though he didn't know what he was doing Katie later described him the same way After the assault, the man whispered that he would kill the woman if she told the police, then left The victim did call police, however, and they came over to take a statement and evidence She never heard from them again, and records show the evidence was destroyed two years later

Decades later, the story of Todd Kohlep's serial killings and previous rape conviction made national news, and the victim wondered if he was responsible for the crime against her as well Alana Jones said Kohlep had bragged that his victims numbered in the high double digits, though it wasn't clear if this was just him boasting Following his sentencing in 2017, he told authorities in South Carolina that he'd actually killed two more people He'd buried them near Interstate 26 in Spartanburg County and agreed to take investigators to the spot As of late 2022, this claim has not been confirmed There have been no updates as to whether any remains were found In 2018, a South Carolina man named Dustin Lawson pleaded guilty to 36 federal firearms charges after admitting he'd illegally sold guns and silences to Todd Kohlep Lawson had been aware that Kohlep had a previous felony conviction and wasn't permitted to own firearms

He was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison Alana Jones and a number of victims' family members filed civil suits against Todd Kohlep seeking damages A judge ordered that Kohlep pay Alana $6.3 million Other victims were also awarded significant amounts Kohlep's various assets were auctioned off and the money distributed amongst the victims, but his assets weren't enough to cover the amount he'd been ordered to pay To this day, the families of Kohlep's victims communicate in a group chat together Those who lost loved ones in the Superbike Motorsports murders have offered support to the families of Kohlep's later victims Terry Guy, who lost both his wife and stepson in the Superbike murders, formed a strong bond with the sister of victim Brian Lucas

The two grieved together and found comfort in each other Eventually, they fell in love and married For Melissa Brackman, there was a lot of sorrow in the fact that her husband never got to meet his son, Scotty But Scotty was also away for Scott to live on, as Melissa told a journalist from the CBS program 48 Hours I got to hold a piece of him again. I had his flesh and blood with me