Police have charged Todd Kohlhepp, the man arrested after a woman was found “chained like a dog” on his property in South Carolina, with four counts of murder.
Kohlhepp told police when questioned on Saturday that he was responsible for the deaths of four people shot at a motorcycle shop in 2003.
He has confessed to seven murders in total.
On Sunday, investigators found remains of another body at Kohlhepp’s property.
Registered sex offender Kohlhepp, 45, has also been charged with kidnapping.
“There’s no wondering about it anymore,” said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright, referring to the 2003 killings.
Kohlhepp told investigators that he shot and killed the owner, service manager, mechanic and bookkeeper of the motorcycle shop, providing details “only the killer would know”, officials said.
They expect further charges to be brought after Kohlhepp showed law enforcement officers where he said he had buried two other victims from separate incidents at his property.
On Sunday, investigators uncovered human remains at one of the two locations provided by Kohlhepp.
On identifying the remains and cause of death, Mr Wright said: “We’re not even close.”
The latest discovery comes after police, acting on a tip-off by a sex-crime investigator, visited Kohlhepp’s property on Thursday and found a woman in a metal container.
She had been missing since late August, along with her boyfriend, whose body was discovered at the 95-acre site in Woodruff, 80 miles (130km) northwest of the state capital of Columbia, on Friday.
The woman, who was employed by Kohlhepp, a property agent, to clean houses, told officers that he had shot and killed her boyfriend in front of her.
She said she arrived at his Woodruff property with her boyfriend to help clean it when Kohlhepp pulled a gun on them
Families of the victims of the 2003 shootings faced Kohlhepp for the first time on Sunday when he appeared at a court hearing in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
When asked by Judge Jimmy Henson whether he had any statement to make, Kohlhepp replied: “Not at this time, sir.”
Judge Henson thanked the families for their civility and composure.
“I know there’s a lot of hurt, beyond what a lot of people understand,” he said.
The murder charges against Kohlhepp have opened old wounds for the families haunted by the slayings at the motorcycle shop.
The killings stunned the state of South Carolina and left the victims’ parents and partners clueless about a possible motive.
Source: BBC
