Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Amazon Review Killer” Todd Kohlhepp Pt. 1

Episode Date: November 1, 2021

At 15, Todd Kohlhepp raped his 14-year-old neighbor, and 17 years later, he committed mass murder in broad daylight. Yet somehow, he became a pillar of society, building a successful real estate business from the ground up. He also built a 95-acre compound, where he planned to bring his darkest fantasies to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, animal cruelty, and child abuse that some people may find disturbing. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. From the outside, there is nothing special about Superbike Motorsport, a nondescript white bungalow on the outskirts of a South Carolina farming town. It was part motorcycle store, part repair shop. But to Noel Lee, it was one of the happiest places on Earth.

He'd been a regular customer long before he became friends with the staff. Now, in 2003, he came by just to hang out. But as he pulled into the parking lot one November afternoon, Noel noticed that something was blocking the front door. When he got out of his car for a closer look, he could see that it was Brian Lucas, the store's service manager. Brian was lying face up, and he wasn't moving. Noll rushed towards his friend, calling out his name.

But before he could reach him, Noel stopped in his tracks. There was another body nearby lying in a pool of blood. It was Scott Ponder, the owner. With adrenaline pumping through him, Noel quickly ran inside, got to the phone on the counter and dialed 911. That's when he saw a third form. It was the unmoving body of Scott's mother. Beverly Guy, lying just outside the bathroom.

Trying to keep it together, he told the operator that his friends had been shot. He begged them to send help. Noel couldn't yet process the unthinkable truth. There was nothing anyone could do to help. His friends were already dead. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is serial killers, a Spotify original from Parkast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers.

Today, we're exploring the dark saga of Todd Colhap, the Amazon Review Killer. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. Today, we'll discuss how Colehap's violent impulses shaped his childhood. We'll also cover his first horrific crime at the age of 15 and explain how he committed mass murder in broad daylight, then walked away a free man. Next time, we'll explore how Cole Hep reinvented himself as a successful real estate entrepreneur,

and how that existence crumbled as he spiraled into a twisted murder spree. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels, but you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything, website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers.

That's Shopify.com slash killers. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State Killer, the Unit Bomber. It's tedious work to find what you're looking for. So, if you're hiring, I've got news for you. You can skip the lengthy investigation and the tiresome process of sorting through hundreds of resources. resumes, just use ZipRecruiter.

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Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And now, you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. That's ZipRecruiter. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to

screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. The truth is most serial killers are not high achievers. Some may have high IQs, but that doesn't always translate to living a successful life.

Some of the smartest killers have been underemployed. That said, Highland. intelligent serial killers are endlessly fascinating. Many of us have been gripped by fictional characters like American Psycho's Patrick Bateman, the Wall Street Highroller who commits vicious murders by night. In reality, it's very rare for a murderous intellect to translate into material success. Todd Colhap was an exception to this rule. He lived as successful and productive a life as any serial killer in American history. But that success was built on rocky psychological foundations.

By the time Colhep was two years old in 1973, his parents got divorced. After that, Colhep and his mother, Regina, left his home state of Florida and settled in Georgia. The next year, when Todd was three, Regina remarried and her new husband, Carl, adopted Kolhep as his own son in 1976. Todd took on the name of his stepfather and his two new step-siblings. It should have been one big, happy family. But Colhep clashed constantly with his stepfather. Over time, he grew into an angry, aggressive, and rebellious child.

It's possible this rage stemmed from a deeper hurt. For several years after the move, Colhep had no contact with his biological father. This separation may have contributed to his ever-growing emotional problems. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but we, We have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. According to University of Pennsylvania criminologist Adrian Raine, when children are separated

from parents before the age of three, they're more likely to show signs of a psychopathic personality by their late 20s. Furthermore, paternal abandonment may have some specific implications for young men. A 2013 review by sociologist Sarah McLanahan, Laura Talk, and Daniel Schneider found that an absent father seems to lead to several negative effects. Paternal absence appears to hinder children's social-emotional development, increase the odds of risky behavior in adolescence, and reduce the likelihood of high school graduation. These effects may be worse when the father is absent in early childhood versus later on,

and an absent father seems to harm boys more than girls. In Kolheap's case, it didn't take until adolescence for the red flags to start waving. As a child, he took a hammer to his bedroom furniture, destroyed other children's art projects at school, and was dismissed from the Boy Scouts for being disruptive. Even more alarmingly, he started to show sadism toward animals. He shot a dog with a BB gun and killed a family goldfish by pouring bleach into the fish bowl. The sadistic streak soon emerged in interactions with other children. According to a neighbor, Kohl have once locked your son inside a dog kennel in their backyard.

Then he rolled the kennel over laughing as the boy begged him to stop. Colhep's aggression eventually got him into trouble with the law. In 1980, when he was nine, he was sent to the Georgia Mental Health Institute for inpatient treatment. According to a report, this was because of, quote, his mother's inability to enforce limits and structure as well as his aggressive behavior in school. Todd also threatened to commit suicide around this time and was only, openly hostile towards his mother and stepfather. It's unclear why the report blamed Colhipps' mother rather than his stepfather or absent father.

According to a statement from Colhep's mother years later, she did everything she could to help him, paying for years of therapy and medication. However, there's a long history of mental health professionals blaming mothers for their children's bad behavior. In a 1985 review, researchers from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education set out to investigate this tendency. Across more than 100 psychological journal articles, they found that mothers were blamed for no less than 72 different psychological conditions in their children, everything from depression to hyperactivity to marijuana use. It seems Colhap may have absorbed the notion that his mother was to blame. In 1981, at age 10,

he decided that he wanted to go and live with his biological father, William. Though he hadn't had contact with William in eight years, Colhep thought about him all the time. He likely imagined how much better his life would be, if only he'd been allowed to stay with his father in the first place. For months, Colhep had begged his mom to let him go, but she'd always said no. Finally, when her son threatened her with violence

and claimed he would commit suicide, she relented. So 10-year-old Colhep packed his bags and moved to Arizona. At first, it was only meant to be a summer visit. visit, but then Colhep stayed with his dad for over two years. Unsurprisingly, Colhep's rose-tinted image of life with his father didn't match up to reality. William, a military veteran, ran a restaurant in the city of Tempe, and when he wasn't working he was often out with girlfriends. He went on frequent business trips and left Colhep alone.

The truth was he simply didn't have much time for his son. That, or it seemed he wasn't interested in making the time. And soon Colette became disillusioned with the father he'd once idolized. At some point, he wanted to go back to live with his mother and stepfather, but whenever he asked, Regina made excuses for him to remain in Arizona. Given his behavioral problems, it's not surprising that his mother was reluctant to have him back. Unfortunately, this rejection only poured fuel on the fire of Colhap's rage. According to a 2020 study published in an American Psychological Association,

journal, rejecting behavior from a parent seems to be associated with poor outcomes for children, particularly aggression, low self-esteem, and emotional instability. What's more, it's easy to see how this could become a vicious cycle. If a child experiences rejection and then acts aggressively as a result, they could be more likely to be rejected again and again by their parents, as well as by their peers. In a certain sense, Colhap was rejected by both his parents in different ways. first when his father left, then when his mother refused to let him come home. Unsurprisingly, the double whammy made the adolescent furious. Eventually, that fury began to crystallize into something dangerous.

In 1985, when Colhep was only 14, he committed a serious assault. The details surrounding this event are little fuzzy, but according to an interview Colhap gave years later, a friend of his was shot by someone who wanted to be in a gang. In retaliation, Cole Hep tracked down the gunman on foot and fired a gun through the window of his car. After emptying the gun, he ran away, tossing the gun into a dumpster as he fled. Colhep claims he never knew what happened to the person he shot at or whether he was even hit. But this explosion of violence was a precursor to an even more disturbing crime.

A year later, in 1986, 15-year-old Colhep became obsessed with his first. 14-year-old neighbor who will call Sarah. Colhep wasn't shy about his crush. He tried to convince Sarah to go out with him several times. But she was interested in another boy at school and always refused his advances. But that November, Colhep was done taking no for an answer. He picked up his father's 22-caliber handgun. Then he walked across the street to Sarah's house, where she was babysitting her two younger siblings.

As far as we know, he waited until she was alone. Then he cornered her at gunpoint and told her to keep quiet, or he'd kill her siblings. He forced her to walk back home with him, leaving her siblings behind. He led her into his bedroom, where he bound her hands, put duct tape over her mouth, and raped her. It was only afterward that Colhap seemed to recognize that there would be consequences for his actions. While Sarah watched, he began nervously pacing the floor. of his bedroom, muttering out loud to himself, debating whether or not to kill her. Thinking fast, Sarah told him that they could concoct a cover story. She said that they'd tell her

parents that she'd been helping him look for his lost dog, and that they'd lost track of time. She promised she wouldn't reveal what actually happened. Surprisingly, Colhap agreed, and he let her go. But when Sarah got home, the police were already there waiting. Her younger Her brother had recently learned how to dial 911. When she'd disappeared, he'd been alarmed and called for help. At first, Sarah told the cover story. She'd been helping a neighbor look for his dog. But before long, she broke down and told the truth.

Colhep had kidnapped and raped her at gunpoint. The police went straight over to Colhep's house where they found an alarming sight. 15-year-old Colhep was pointing one of his father's rifles at the ceiling. He told the officers he wasn't sure why he'd done it, but maybe he'd assaulted Sarah as an active rebellion because his father had gone out of town. As odd as it sounds, there may be some twisted truth in this. According to a neighbor, Colhep was

starved for affection and attention. Unable to lash out at his father, it's possible he displaced his feelings onto Sarah and violently forced her to give him the attention he craved. Colhub also claimed that he'd only intended to talk to Sarah to try and convince her to be his girlfriend. But the situation had got out of hand. Of course, his excuses didn't lessen his horrific crime.

Col Hep was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, and committing a dangerous crime against a child. He was placed in the juvenile court center for months where he was psychologically examined. Due to the severity of his crimes and his long history of aggressive behavior, The 16-year-old was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison in October of 1987. He was also registered as a sex offender. Colhep's probation officer recommended treating the teen as an adult. He said that a juvenile sentence would not provide protection for the public or rehabilitation for Colhep. In short, Colhep was dangerous.

The longer he stayed behind bars, the safer the world would be. Unfortunately, time was all. Always ticking away. Coming up, Colhep commits mass murder in broad daylight. Hello, I'm Hannah Maguire. And I'm Sarutie Bala, and we're the hosts of the new Spotify original from Parcast, Sinister Societies. You may know us from the very creepy and excellent podcast red-handed, but now we've teamed up with Parkast for an unprecedented look at history's most nefarious groups.

Some breach extreme religious practices. others warn of impending doom, and then there are those whose endgame is far more diabolical. Every Tuesday on Sinister Societies, we take a peek behind the curtain and discover the most ominous organisations the world may or may not have known. Learn how entrepreneurial sects made fortunes off their brand, how charismatic cult leaders caught the eye of celebrities, and why strange orders of the extraterrestrial or collegiate kind,

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dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99 or visit zepbounce.lily.com. Now back to the story. In November of 1986, 15-year-old Todd Colhep kidnapped and raped his 14-year-old neighbor, Sarah. In the fall of 1987, he was sentenced to 15 years behind bars. Before he began his term, the 16-year-old underwent a psychiatric evaluation. Psychologist Dr. Roger Martig concluded that although the teenager was not psychotic, he did demonstrate, quote, an impaired sense of reality. He also noted that Kolhep made regular use of defense mechanisms like denial and projection.

According to psychotherapist Karen R. Koenig, Projection is the act of unconsciously taking unwanted emotions or traits you don't like about yourself and attributing them to someone else. In essence, projection as a defense mechanism allows people to avoid facing their own issues. Or as Kainig explains, it helps to keep discomfort at bay and outside of our awareness. It's not clear exactly what Dr. Mardig meant by projection in Kolhep's case, or what thoughts and feelings Kolhep was trying to deny, But Dr. Martig did specify that Colhep had a high level of antisocial personality function.

Per the DSM-5, antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a disregard for other people's emotions and rights. The criteria include deceitfulness, impulsivity, aggressive behavior, reckless disregard for the safety of oneself or others, and perhaps most importantly, a lack of remorse. Given his findings, Dr. Mardig didn't paint an optimistic picture of Kohlhepp's future. In fact, he predicted that his aggressive behavior and emotional instability were likely to persist. One evaluation of Kohlhep noted that he showed a lackadaisical, unmotivated attitude toward life, specifically toward taking responsibility for himself. We don't know how much of this diagnosis Kulhep knew, but during his time in prison,

he seemed determined to prove Dr. Martig wrong. He was going to make something of himself. At some point, he enrolled in Central Arizona College. He majored in computer science and earned a degree, all while he was still in prison. Despite this major accomplishment, Kulhepp's prospects were bleak. When the 30-year-old was released in August of 2001,

he had no real-world experience. He'd spent his entire 20s behind bars. If he wanted to have any shot at a reality, real career, he knew he had a lot of time to make up. Fortunately, he was able to count on his mother, Regina. At the time, she was living in Spartanburg, South Carolina. And so Colhap decided to settle there. He put his prison degree to use and found work as a graphic designer, and he moved

into his own apartment. After a year or two, Colhep decided to make one of his long-held dreams come true. He was going to buy a motorcycle. In April of 2003, Colhep walked into a superbike motorsports in the city of Chesney and spent $9,000 on a Suzuki GSX R750. Considered the world's first modern superbike, the GSX R750 was a tough bike to ride. It easily broke the speed limit and had a hair-trigger throttle response that didn't leave much room for error. In other words, it wasn't a good choice for a beginner like Colhep. His attempts to practice on the Suzuki did not go well.

Within days, he realized he'd made a mistake. He returned to Superbike Motorsports and asked if it would be possible to trade in the Suzuki for a smaller, more manageable bike. As far as we can tell, his request was denied. What's more, Kohlhep thought that the employees he spoke to were rude. He believed they were mocking him, and he left the store humiliated. A few days later, as Kohlhap said, he said, he was. tells it, the motorcycle was stolen from his apartment complex. For some reason, he felt sure that somebody at Superbike was behind the theft. Of course, there's no way for us to know whether

the Superbike employees were actually rude. In any case, Kohlhep stued on this double humiliation for months. He'd worked hard to earn enough money for that bike and to build a new life for himself. But those people at the store had treated him like he was nothing. One might think Cole Hep would have just avoided Superbike Motorsports, but interestingly, he went back to the store again and again, each time he kept his simmering anger hidden. In fact, nobody who worked at the store seemed to notice that anything was amiss. Superbike was a small business and only had a few employees.

Over the next few months, Colhep got to know them all by name. 30-year-old Scott Ponder, the manager, 29-year-old Brian Lucas, the service manager and mechanic, and 26-year-old Chris Sherbert, the mechanic's assistant. While he tinkered with the latest bikes, Kohlhep eavesdropped on the employee's conversations, but he didn't like what he heard.

According to him, some of the employees often engaged in trash talk. It's difficult to know how much of this story is true, but whatever the case, Kohlhap seemed to have a particular grudge against Scott and Brian. He felt they were disrespectful, and he wasn't about to let them get

away with it. He was going to make them pay. On the afternoon of November 6th, Col Hep walked into Superbike Motorsports and made a bee line for the black Suzuki Katana 600. He hovered around the bike for a while, pretending to him and ha about buying it, but in reality, he was stalling for time. You see, things weren't exactly going according to plan. For starters, the store was bustling with customers, as angry as Cole Hep was. he didn't want any collateral damage,

so he knew he'd have to wait for the shop to empty out. Further complicating things, his main targets, Scott and Brian, were out. So Kolhap strolled around the store, sitting on a few bikes. He watched as the last customer, a man with his four-year-old son, headed over to the cash register and paid for a go-cart. Then, finally, the place was empty of customers. When Scott and Brian arrived at the store sometime between 2 and 3 p.m., Colhep was waiting for them, and he sprang into action.

He beckoned Chris the mechanic's assistant over and told him that he wanted to buy the Katana bike. Chris wheeled the bike away into the workshop area so that he could prep it for purchase. Meanwhile, Colhep checked that no new customers had come in and put on two pairs of latex gloves. Then he followed Chris into the workshop. area, pulled out his handgun and shot him twice. Afterwards, Colhep headed back out to the front, where he encountered Beverly Guy, Scott's mother who worked at the store part-time. Though he hadn't planned on killing Beverly, he shot her dead.

Then he turned his focus on Scott and Brian, who were both running for the door. But it made no difference. Colehap turned the gun on them and fired several times with deadly aim. Brian crumpled to the ground in the doorway. Scott made it out into the parking lot before collapsing from his injuries. All throughout his rampage, Cole Hep remained calm and focused. According to him, he felt as though he was playing a video game. For years, many politicians and media outlets have tried to draw a link between violent video games and mass shootings.

This rhetoric first took off during the 1990s and is still around today. But extensive research has shown that, there's no causal link between video games and violent behavior. In 2011, the United States Supreme Court even ruled against this notion when it struck down a California law that would have banned the sale of violent video games to children. It's possible Colhap made the video game comparison later to lessen his culpability for the crime. But more likely, he was describing the cold, clinical way in which he went about the killings. Like a character and a first-person shooter, he genuinely felt nothing.

Once all four of his victims were down, Colhep retraced his steps through the store. One by one, he shot his victims in the head, making sure they were dead. All in all, Cole Hep said the entire massacre took less than 30 seconds. Afterwards, he walked out to his car and drove off. When he returned home, he took his handgun apart and submerged the pieces in different bags of kitty litter. He discarded the bags in various trash cans and dumpsters, ensuring it would be difficult to piece back together. Meanwhile, Noel Lee, a friend of Scott and Brian's,

arrived at Superbike Motorsports. He was dropping by to pick up tickets to a motorcycle race. As he pulled into the parking lot, Noel was taken aback by what he saw. Brian was laying face up in the doorway. He climbed out of his car for a better look, which is when he saw Scott lying half on the sidewalk, and half under his mother's car.

Noel hurried inside to phone the authorities, only to discover Beverly's dead body. When the police arrived, they quickly established that the gunman had started at the back of the store, killing Chris first and working his way forwards. But the only evidence left at the scene was shell casings. There were no fingerprints and no DNA.

The detectives did have one major clue to work with. Nothing had been stolen from the store. The cash register was full, and all of the highly valuable motorcycles on the floor were accounted for. A gunman targeting a store and stealing nothing was highly unusual. The authorities figured that whoever committed the mass murder must have had a personal motive. The culprit was likely a disgruntled former employee or an angry customer. Over the next few weeks, the police investigated various leads. One witness, a man named Kelly Sisk, who had been at the shop with his four-year-old son,

had seen a customer in the store shortly before the shooting. He was able to give a rough description of the man to the police. According to Kelly, the man was wearing a thick jacket on a warm day. This struck him as strange, but not sinister. At least, not until he heard about the shooting. Kelly also remembered that Scott Ponder had said something to the man about purchasing a beginner's bike, a Suzuki Katana 600. Based on this, the police were able to find the bill of sale for the bike,

but the customer's details hadn't been filled out yet. Using Kelly's description, a police artist created a sketch of the suspect to be circulated around the area. Unfortunately, no new leads came from it. It seemed unthinkable for a mass murder to happen in broad daylight, and for the gunmen to get away with it. And yet, that's exactly what happened. While the residents of Chesney were mourning the loss of four innocent lives,

Colhep was basking in a feeling of victory. He felt invincible. No one had any idea that he was the killer. With this confidence boost, he started making plans for a bright future. Up next, Colhep starts a new chapter as an entrepreneur. Transport your senses with Sol Dijanado's limited edition perfume mist collection. At Sephora, sprits on lush notes of rainforest orchid and crisp sea breeze with he fresco paraizzo. Embrace a floral and fruity scent inspired by Rio's nude beach with chiqui bikini or caps for sun-kissed bliss with limonada gelada, where zesty Brazilian lemonade accord meets coconut milk and golden brown sugar.

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32-year-old Todd Colhep had ever experienced. Of course, Colhep had made sure to cover his tracks. He wore gloves and struck when the motorcycle store was empty. But he also got very lucky. You see, the 2003 investigation into his first murders was derailed by a bizarre clerical error. As forensic evidence was being collected from the crime scene, the labels on two vials of blood were mixed up. One contained the blood of 30-year-old Scott

ponder the other to 29-year-old Brian Lucas. This soon became very important. Given the grisly nature of the crime, police suspected that the mass murder was personal. As such, investigators looked into Scott's background, searching for any evidence that someone might have had a grudge against him. And they found some. Scott's widow, Melissa, gave birth to a baby shortly after the murders. However, as part of their investigation, the police ran a paternity test, and the results indicated that the baby was Brian's, not Scots. Melissa was stunned. She categorically denied that she'd ever had an affair. She and Scott had been completely in love. The only possible explanation, she said, was that she'd been given the wrong

baby at the hospital. Despite her adamance, the police still had to investigate the possibility that the superbike murders were the result of a love triangle gone wrong. Fortunately, investigators eventually realized that the vials had been mixed up and moved away from this theory. But of course, by then, a year and a half had already passed and countless resources had been wasted. And in that time, Cole Hep slipped away completely unnoticed. This buoyed him, giving him a new unstoppable sense of confidence. He left his job as a graphic designer and began classes at Greenville Technical College, then transferred to the University of South Carolina upstate,

where he dedicated himself to studying business. While he'd earned a degree when he was in prison, Cole Hep had never been a particularly good student before, but that year he excelled and ranked close to the top of his class. Around the same time, Cole Hep also began dating, but he didn't have much interest in commitment. He saw women as replaceable, and regularly had affairs while he was in relationships.

We don't have names or specific details about any of his girlfriends, but suffice it to say his focus was elsewhere. In 2006, 35-year-old Colhep began making plans to start his own real estate company, something he dreamed of doing after earning his degree. He also started studying for a private pilot's license. Now, Colhep was both literally and figuratively flying high. Only five years earlier, he'd been in prison with no prospects and no high. hope for the future. Now, for the first time in his life, he felt he could do anything. Of course, his criminal history did create some obstacles. Before he could start his own company, he had to obtain a real estate license from the state of South Carolina, a process which

involved a background check. He knew that his conviction for kidnapping and raping his 14-year-old neighbor back in 1986 was going to be a problem. But Colette was confident. But Colette was confident that he could talk his way out of the situation. In May, he wrote a letter to the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, describing an entirely fictional version of his attack. In the letter, Colhep essentially claimed that the whole thing had been a misunderstanding. He told them that Sarah was his girlfriend at the time and that they'd lost track of time during an argument. When her parents couldn't get a hold of her, they called the police, and Colhep was subsequently arrested.

He claimed he had been holding a gun during the argument because, he was afraid that robbers might break in. Remarkably, the department bought this fictional version of events and awarded him a real estate license. The next year, Cole Hemp completed his business degree. He got a job at a local real estate firm, and by 2008, he was the firm's top-selling rookie agent for the region. Given his psychological history, this might seem perplexing. How could a man who was once diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder succeeded a job? that required such advanced social skills.

But in fact, despite its name, people with anti-social personality disorder aren't necessarily withdrawn or socially awkward. The stereotype of the charming psychopaths exists for a reason, and this personality type can do especially well in a corporate environment. In the 2006 book Snakes in Suits, when psychopaths go to work, psychologist Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare described the ways in which workplace psychopaths can thrive within a company. They note that such people are often singled out for promotion because of their superficial charm

and their ability to mirror and manipulate those around them. But Colhep was too arrogant and too abrasive to last long at his job. He didn't want to be anybody's employee. He wanted to be the boss. By 2009, when Colhep was around 38, he had finally achieved his dream of starting his own business. Over the next few years, he built Todd Colhep and Associates, or TCA, into a successful company with a dozen agents working for him. On the whole, Colhep was well liked by his employees and business associates, who described him as personable, hardworking, and a highly effective communicator. Gary Garrett, who worked at TCA, remembered Colhep as a good boss, who was dedicated to the company and to his clients.

But around 2014, something changed. According to Garrett and a few other coworkers, Cole Hep became narcissistic and belligerent at the office, often bragging about his gun collection. That wasn't all. He also developed a habit of openly watching porn at work. Most disturbing of all, though, were the remarks he made to his coworkers. Colhep even talked freely about the fact that he was a registered sex offender.

Of course, he only described the warped version of his attack on Sarah, claiming that the charges were trumped up. Nonetheless, the admission was both unsettling and bizarre. After having kept his criminal past a secret for so long, it made no sense for Colhep to reveal it to his employees and put his future at risk. But this isn't entirely unheard of. As we've covered in previous episodes,

some serial killers get caught because they can't resist the urge to brag about their crimes. They seek out public notoriety by writing to the police or to the media and end up blowing their own cover. Behavior like this has given rise to the idea that deep down, some serial killers want to be caught. But according to the FBI, this is mostly a myth.

More often than not, when killers successfully get away with murder, they become cocky and overconfident. That arrogance leads them to take shortcuts and take unnecessary risks. Like, for instance, bragging to employing to employ. about being a sex offender. But perhaps this all falls in line with Colhep's behavior. Ever since his childhood, he'd acted out in aggressive and unsettling ways. He had a pattern of provoking people into giving him the attention that he'd lacked from his absent father.

Now, making provocative statements at work was just one more way to ensure that he wouldn't be ignored. It seems the weight of Colhap's other dark secret, the Superbike Massacre, was also crushing him. He allegedly tried to confess to at least two people. One was his longtime mistress, whose name we don't know. The other was a friend who Colhep described as church-minded. Based on this, he hoped that the friend would be able to help him straighten out his life. But in both cases, Colhep failed to follow through. He beat around the bush, talking around the subject rather than coming right out with the truth.

As a result, neither of his confidants understood what he was telling them. It's possible Colhep knew things were getting out of hand and felt the need to take a break from society. So in 2014, he purchased a 95-acre rural property south of Spartanburg. He reportedly spent $80,000 installing a huge chain-link fence around the perimeter and turned the property into a small compound. In a Facebook post, Colhep suggested that he bought the place as a way to keep himself out of trouble. He wrote, you won't have any time to misbehave. too sore and tired. The urge to overshare on social media is so powerful that not even killers are immune.

According to experts, many people feel more comfortable sharing personal details in online forums like Facebook than they would in real life. They reveal things that they'd never dream of discussing face-to-face. Clinical psychologist Dr. Susanna E. Flores, who studies the psychological impact of Facebook, found that some social media users use their pages as their personal journals, sharing their every thought in the world. This behavior often stems from a desire for connection. Something Cole have desperately craved.

It seems that while he was isolated on his large property, he couldn't resist over sharing. But that doesn't mean his post was entirely honest. You see, he wasn't really trying to stay out of trouble. In fact, his true plans for the cops, compound were exactly the opposite. Lately, it seemed he couldn't get his childhood crush Sarah out of his mind. Not her specifically, but the feeling of power and total control he'd got from kidnapping and raping her.

At first, bragging about the act at work was his strange way of reliving that crime. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to recreate that kidnapping. Do it better this time. And make sure that his victim wouldn't live to ratatine. him out. Of course, he didn't need someone else to tell on him. Ever the over-sharer, Kohl-Hep opened up about his plans online. In 2014, he began posting reviews for Amazon products, and what he wrote offered a glimpse into the nightmarish plans he was formulating.

For a shovel with a folding handle, Kohl-Hep wrote, Keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full-size shovel at home. For a knife, he wrote, Haven't stabbed anyone yet, yet. But I am keeping the dream alive, and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers.

We'll be back soon with part two, or we'll explore Colhep's vicious kidnapping and murder spree, and how authorities finally identified him as the Superbike Slayer. For more information on Todd Colhap, Amongst the many sources we used, we found Johnny Douglas and Mark Olshaker's book, The Killer Across the Table, extremely helpful in our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all of the Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time.

Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Michael Motion, with production assistants, by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of serial killers was written by Emma Dibdin, with writing assistance by Jane O. and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Claire Cronin, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood.

Serial Killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. You aren't supposed to know about them, unless they want you to. Powerful groups with their own very specific agendas. And if you find yourself on the inside, good luck getting out. Hi, I'm Hannah Maguire. And I'm Saruti Bala. Join us every Tuesday for our new Spotify original from Parcast, Sinister Societies. Whether it's Doomsday Predictions, Deadly Greed or World Domination,

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