Two bodies found this week in South Carolina are that of a husband and wife, the latest victims linked to a suspect who came to authorities' attention after a woman was found chained in a metal storage container on his property.
Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the bodies Wednesday as Meagan Coxie, 25, and Johnny Coxie, 29. Their bodies were found on Sunday and Monday after Todd Kohlhepp, 45, pointed out their grave sites, officials said.
The discovery of the two bodies brought the deaths linked to Kohlhepp to seven. The chilling case began to unfold Nov. 3 when deputies investigating a sex crime tip went to his property and heard banging coming from a metal container, authorities said.
Inside, they found Kala Brown, 30, who, along with her boyfriend Charlie Carver had been missing since August. Brown told investigators that she saw Kohlhepp fatally shoot Carver and authorities later confirmed a body found in a shallow grave was Carver's, officials said.
The Coxies are believed to have been killed in December 2015, Clevenger told reporters. Their bodies were clothed, he said, adding Meagan Coxie had a gunshot wound to the head and her husband had a gunshot wound to the torso.
Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office Lt. Kevin Bobo said the slain couple had a history of panhandling and had been released from jail earlier that month. They had been reported missing by Meagan Coxie's mother.
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Investigators do not know what the connection, if any, was between Kohlhepp and the Coxies.
Kohlhepp, a real estate agent, is being held without bond. He allegedly told investigators he was responsible for a 2003 quadruple homicide that had gone cold: Scott Ponder, Beverly Guy, Brian Lucas and Chris Sherbert had been found shot to death at Superbike Motorsports near Chesnee.
Kohlhepp has been charged with kidnapping and with four counts of murder for the bike shop deaths.
The three other bodies, the Coxies' plus Carver's, were discovered on Kohlhepp's sprawling 95-acre rural property in Woodruff, where he was allegedly keeping Brown chained.
