Todd Christopher Sampsell was born on March 7, 1971, in Florida. He grew up in South Carolina and Georgia. His parents divorced when he was just two years old. After the divorce, his mother gained custody and remarried the following year. Todd had a complicated relationship with his stepfather and often wished to live with his biological father, whom he had not seen in eight years.

As a child, Todd was known to be troublesome. In nursery school, he was aggressive toward other kids and would destroy their property. When he was nine, he began seeing a counselor. During this time, he was described as "explosive" and often focused on sexual themes. He showed cruel behavior towards animals, including shooting a dog with a BB gun and killing a goldfish with bleach.

Todd's father later described him as only capable of showing anger and madness. He spent three and a half months in a psychiatric hospital in Georgia because he had trouble getting along with other children.

In 1983, Todd was sent to live with his biological father in Arizona after his mother and stepfather separated. He took his father's last name and began working various local jobs. His father introduced him to the hobby of collecting weapons and even taught him how to make explosives. Despite this, their relationship worsened as his father spent more time with different girlfriends. Todd often expressed a desire to return to his mother, but she made excuses to keep him there longer.

On November 6, 2003, a motorcycle shop in Chesnee, South Carolina, was the scene of a tragic event. Four people were found dead inside Superbike Motorsports. The victims were identified as Scott Ponder, the shop owner; Brian Lucas, the service manager; Chris Sherbert, a mechanic; and Beverly Guy, who was Ponder's mother. All four had died from multiple gunshot wounds.

The investigation into the shootings was slow, and it took more than a decade to identify a suspect. In 2016, Todd Kohlhepp confessed to the killings after he was arrested for kidnapping. He revealed details that were not previously shared with the public about how he entered the shop and the order in which he shot the victims.

On August 31, 2016, Kohlhepp became involved in the disappearance of Kala Brown and her boyfriend, Charles David Carver. They went missing after visiting one of Kohlhepp's properties. Carver was later found dead on the property, shot multiple times. Brown was discovered on November 3, 2016, chained inside a container on Kohlhepp's land.

During her captivity, Brown reported that she witnessed Carver's murder. Kohlhepp claimed that he kept Brown alive because he did not want to hurt her. However, during her time with him, she endured repeated abuse and intimidation.

After his arrest, authorities found the bodies of another couple on Kohlhepp's property. They were identified as Johnny Joe Coxie and Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, a husband and wife who had been missing since December 2015. Both had died from gunshot wounds.

Kohlhepp was charged with multiple counts of murder related to the deaths of these victims. He later pleaded guilty to seven counts of murder and numerous other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.