Showing posts with label Spartanburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spartanburg. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Maria Awes: Is She REALLY an Investigative Journalist? Not if You watched her Serial Killer: Devil Unchained


The media continues its downhill slide into garbage tabloid offerings. Already we have a majority of television news channels spouting fake news, claiming things that have no basis in fact but are purely a product of agenda. Now, true crime shows are descending into the pit, not much concerned with the “true” part of crimes, but simply about the moneymaking, exploitive, prurient aspects to the shows they present. Netflix is the worst offender with its travesty “Making a Murderer” in which a defense attorney is given the freedom to slant the show, to pervert the evidence so as to incite the audience into believing an innocent man (read: psychopathic cat-burning, rapist, serial killer) has been railroaded and should be released from prison.

Now, we see Oxygen (Oprah’s network that set out to do positive shows) doing nothing but true crime junk. I just participated in their show on The Case of Martha Moxley that turned out to be trash. Although a portion of the evidence I presented was aired, the host/ex-prosecutor Laura Coates and ex-police detective Mark Fuhrman poo-pooed what I said, yet never presented any evidence against my conclusions. They also never allowed the fact that Michael Skakel had an airtight alibi to be examined. Their agenda was anti-Michael Skakel and I was only brought on to offer another suspect which they would then shoot down. I will never again do a taped show without a strong belief that I am not being used to develop “drama” as opposed to being there to provide an expert analysis. Now, Discovery  is a network I have done decent stuff with including I, Detective for four years  which featured mostly police work and evidence analysis - and The Mysterious Death of Cleopatra in which I presented evidence supporting an alternative manner of death (homicide) for the queen as opposed to a suicide by cobra. Fast forward a number of years and Discovery has pretty much nothing but killer shows (literally just about the killers and how cool they are).  So I am not surprised they aired Maria Awes’ Committee Film’s Serial Killer: Devil Unchained, a four part series giving infamy to scumbag serial killer Todd Kohlhepp and ignoring much of the truth about the reality of the police work and his claim to be the Superbike mass murderer.

Maria Awes, executive producer and supposed investigative reporter for Committee Films and this Discovery series, has managed to put together an exciting look into the mind of a serial killer and all the horrible things he has done. Lot of reading of Kohlhepp’s letters, face time with him in prison, and reenactments of his rapes and murders will surely give something for Kohlhepp to jerk off to every night of his incarcerated life and titillate the viewers as well . I found it disgusting and revolting to give this kind of attention to a psychopathic killer. Simply reprehensible.

But, let’s move on to the either lack of ethics or lack of investigative journalism of Maria Awes or both. She claims to be an investigative reporter and the series certainly shows her going about researching and trying to get answers. But going through the motions or faking the motions for a television show is not the same thing as true investigative journalism. TRUE investigative journalism like TRUE crime involves the TRUTH, something which does not appear to be important to Maria Awes.

When the promo came out for the show, I was shocked to hear in the video that she and Gary Garrett, the “biographer” of Todd Kohlhepp (read: some dude who once worked with him who claims to be a writer of some sort and became Kohlhepp’s prison pet and, therefore, useful to Awes) both question whether Kohlhepp had committed the Superbike mass murder because of two major issues; one, he claimed all four victims were shot in the forehead when, in fact, none were, and two, that he had the order of the shooting wrong. What I DIDN’T hear was my name being mentioned, that I was the profiler who worked on the case with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and that I was the profiler who analyzed Superbike via all the evidence I viewed at the SCSO during the week I spent with them, nor that I was the profiler who went public WITH that evidence and was very vocal that Todd Kohlhepp made a false confession and the two biggest proofs of this were the claim the victims were shot in the forehead and that he had the order of the shooting wrong. When I watched the show, sure enough, my name was mentioned nowhere in it and nowhere does the show credit me with the original analysis bringing up these important points.

Both, Awes and Garrett have responded to my accusations of unethical journalism, that they presented this analysis as their own without crediting my work. Both have stated they came up independently with these conclusions but, neither claim they never knew about me or read my work. In other words, they read my blogs online that included all of my analyses. Even Todd Kohlhepp has read my blogs!

Pat - it is important you know that all of the reporting for the series was based on an independent review of the full case file and consultation with others close to the case.  It was not based on any work you had previously done on the case. Maria Awes via Twitter

Ms. Brown, I’m disappointed to read such harsh word directed toward me, particularly without provocation. My opinions are based solely on my extensive investigation. My questioning of Todd’s guilt in the SBM shooting came solely from my first face-to-face interview with him at Broad River Correctional Institution following the receipt of his lengthy account of the crime. After this meeting I returned to the ballistic evidence I had obtained through a FOIA request. The evidence in my hands at that time was incomplete, but using photographs of the building and video footage from Geraldo at Large, I matched the locations of each shell casing, except for two. These two casings raised many questions. I'm sure you can guess which two. Determining their position in the building became a priority. Eventually, I gained access to the files and received my answer, using the same ballistic evidence you have studied. I have used no one’s opinions in my verdict, which I won’t voice here. Furthermore, I question your sincerity of wanting the truth behind the crime, when you have attacked John Douglass, claiming his profile was off base, and now you are coming after me because you think my conclusions are similar to yours. It baffles me that your first response to hearing someone with a comparable opinion is to verbally assault them, particularly since all you’ve heard of my beliefs is a seconds-long snippet. I’m studying the same case files as you—accept that my conclusions might parallel (or diverge) from yours. But you don’t know what my conclusions are, so I would appreciate some courtesy in how you speak about me publicly. I welcome a discussion about the case, but a personal attack is uncalled for. Garry Garrett via Facebook Messenger

Garrett seems like an opportunist, so I really don’t care that much about his lack of ethics (although when his book comes out, I will not be happy if he continues to present my analysis as his own without properly footnoting and crediting me).  But, Awes has no excuse. As a long time reporter and producer (for Minnesota local news stations and for Discovery Channel and for her own company), she knows both of me and of my work. I did a lot of crime news for Minnesota during my four years living there (and after I moved back to MD).  She clearly knows how to do preliminary research on any subject matter before pitching a show to a network like Discovery. So, do tell, how is it she can entirely leave me out of the documentary (and for that matter, not include Don Corbett, retired police detective who worked a long time on the Superbike case and wrote a blog for me about the case at The Daily Profiler) or at least credit  me in the documentary for the analyses she is going to use that are clearly mine. I really don’t care if you come to a similar conclusion after looking at the evidence; if you read my analyses first and THEN saw the rest of the stuff, you can’t claim it was 100% your determination. My work must be mentioned or it is simply theft, plagiarism, and unethical as hell.

Here are the TEN blogs Maria Awes and Gary Garrett had to have read (even Todd Kohlhepp admitted to reading them when talking to detectives). Please give them a read, media folk, and others, and tell me that I was unknown to them and my work had no influence on them. The first one was written in 2012 after America’s Most Wanted did a spot on Superbike and Sheriff Wright lied to the public. After the blog went online, Wright trashed me on television news, claiming I read everything about the case on the Internet. I followed up with three blogs about the case evidence and Don Corbett wrote one about the SCSO and Sheriff Chuck Wright.. I went to the press about this and nothing was written. After Todd’s false Superbike confession, I wrote five more blogs, three right afterwards in 2016 and two more in 2017 and the local newspaper did comment that I did not think he was guilty of that crime. Unfortunately, NO media would present the issue that none of the victims were shot in the forehead. Oh, hey, notice that blog actually titled None of the Superbike Victims were Shot in the Forehead? Don’t you think Ms. Awes saw that? Two or three years ago? Before she actually got hold of any actual documentation from the police or FOIA?

Oh, lastly, I almost forgot, even though evidence was presented that Todd Kohlhepp didn’t actually know how Superbike went down, retired FBI profiler John Douglass tells Awes on the show that he probably just didn’t remember. Awes agrees...yeah, Kohlhepp is still likely guilty of Superbike. And, let’s leave out the FACT the police actually TOLD Melissa Brackman (wife of victim Scott Ponder) that Kohlhepp knew something only the killer and the police knew, that “all the victims were shot in the forehead.” An investigative reporter with ethics and a desire for the truth? I don’t think so, Ms. Awes.

05/15/12

 Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: The Second Tragedy of the Superbike Motorsports Quadruple Murders


05/17/12

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: I Read it on the Internet: Superbike Murders - Part One


05/18/12

Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: I Read it on the Internet: Superbike Murders - Part Two


05/19/12

 Criminal Profiling Topic of the Day: I Read it on the Internet: 

Superbike Murders - Part Three





Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
July 31, 2017

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The False Confession of Todd Kohlhepp





There is no question that Todd Kohlepp is a serial killer, a sadistic one, and very psychopathic. He is also a pathological liar as is a common trait of psychopaths. He got caught red-handed with a girl chained in a container in his backyard. She immediately told the police that he had killed her boyfriend and another couple, all their bodies buried on his property. The police didn't need a confession to convict him; the evidence and live witness could do that job just fine and, if this case went to trial, it was clearly a slam-dunk conviction worthy of the death penalty.


Only the serial homicides didn't go to trial. Todd Kohlhepp took a plea deal that got him out of the death penalty in exchange for....supposedly saving the families from the agony of a long, public trial and saving the state money...but, wait, there is more.....confessing to the 2003 Superbike mass murder that had long dogged the police with their failure to solve the case.


Sheriff Wright, just days from going up for re-election, considered his prayers to be answered when Todd Kohlhepp dropped into his custody and I can't disagree. No sooner than the perfect patsy fell into Wright's hands, genie Wright popped out of the bottle in front of Kohlhepp granting him three wishes....and, lo and behold, Kohlhepp confesses to murdering four people at Superbike. And they prayed together. How sweet.


Fast forward until the beginning of June and a hearing is held, solicitor Barry Barnette lays out a rather short story of how Todd Kohlhepp committed the Superbike murders and Kohlhepp nods and says, "Yes, sir," when asked if what Barnette told the judge is accurate. Kohlepp receives his sentence of life and is shipped off. Everyone goes home happy except for the people that know better and believe in the truth.


The truth is there is no evidence linking Todd Kohlhepp to the Superbike crime and his confession is false.


Let's take a look at what Kohlhepp said about the crime scene and how it went down.

(I am comparing Kohlhepp's statement to the files I reviewed at the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office from August 24-28, 2009)


First, Kohlhepp says he went in and sat around on a cycle until the place cleared of customers. A mighty odd thing to do for anyone about to commit a crime; just sit there and let your face be seen by a bunch of people who then might be able to identify you. Kohlhepp says he didn't want to kill paying customers, only the Superbike people. That is real nice of Mr. Psychopath; he didn't have a problem killing three other people he lured onto his property and raping women, so, somehow I don't think he would blink if he had to take out a few more people to protect his identity. Not to mention, his vehicle would have been sitting out in front of the store for such a long time that someone might just remember what it looked like. In all, if Kelly Sisk (NOT the last customer; that was Lonnie Rogers) actually saw Kohlhepp sitting on a bike (and he never identified that man as Kohlhepp and also stated that he appeared to be a first time buyer and that Scott Ponder did not know him) that means Kohlhepp would have had to be hanging around the shop for almost an hour before the shootings (Kelly Sisk left the building at 2:10 pm); again, odd behavior for a killer who wouldn't want to be recognized, especially one who claims he is known to the employees and has come around quite often to check out the bikes, a local whom anyone might recognize.


Now, he says he waited for the place to clear of customers and for Brian Lucas to return to the property. He says when all four people were finally in the store, it seemed like no one else (customer) was there. This is not so. When Brian Lucas returned, he was coming to bring a baffle to put on Lonnie Rogers bike (the true last customer) and all of this took a bit of time and then Mr. Rogers left.


At any rate, when the store is empty of customers, Kohlhepp says he went into action. He told them he wanted to buy the bike, Sherbert took the bike in the back to prep it, and someone went to work on the paperwork. After a few more minutes hanging around, Kohlhepp then states he went into the back, walked up to Sherbert and shot down at him (he was crouched behind the bike) and shot him twice in the lungs with the brass ammo.


FALSE: Sherbert was the last victim of the Superbike killer. The magazine with the brass shells was the second magazine used. The reason just seven shells were used is because at that point all the victims were dead. Sherbert was shot at twice from the area of the swinging doors as there are two bullets in the wall and it would seem the first one nicked him as he then threw a wrench that had blood on it in the direction of the shooter. The shooter then came up over him shot him once in the back, then once in the chest, and then came around the end of the bike and shot him once in the top of the head. All these five shots were brass.


Kohlhepp then says he came through the swinging doors and all the other three were right there. He had to shoot Beverly Guy - two to three times in the chest - and his says the pattern was terrible. The two to three shots would be brass casings.


FALSE: Beverly Guy was shot only once in the chest. It was a nickel casing. She was also shot once in the head (nickel casing) which means she was shot in the head and chest with no time in between, most likely in the head first, and then the chest. The killer likely likely pointed the gun at her face and she turned away causing the shot to hit her in the right side of her head. Then the killer shot her once in the chest.


Next Kohlhepp says the two men were running toward the door and he hit one of them (Brian Lucas) two or three times in the back with the brass causing him to collapse in the doorway, the other leaping over him to get out of the building.


FALSE: Both men sustained all body shots with the nickel casings. Brian Lucas only sustained one body shot.


At this point, Kohlhepp says he made a "tactical reload." Even though he has guys escaping and still should have another three shots in the magazine and one extra one in the chamber, he decides to lose time and change magazines. This would mean he then loaded his ten round nickel magazine with no time to chamber any round and add an extra to the magazine. So, how does he end up shooting 11 shots if it is the second magazine in the gun are the nickel shots? He would only have 10 nickel shots loaded in the magazine.


FALSE: The reason there were eleven nickel shots is because it was the FIRST magazine that was already loaded into the gun with the ten in the mag and one in the chamber. The SECOND magazine was the brass and the killer used up seven and then didn't need to use the rest. If he made a tactical reload while still inside the shop after shooting Lucas in the doorway, why are their brass shell casings on the outside of the store by Scott Ponder's body?


Kohlhepp follows the men to the door and out, shooting Scott Ponder multiple times. This would be with the nickel shots which is accurate. Then he says he shot Ponder in the forehead and then went back and shot each victim in the forehead (which would still be with the nickel ammo).




FALSE: Ponder, Lucas, and Sherbert were all shot in the head with the brass ammo (Guy should be silver ammo  for the headshot but that would be earlier on). NONE of the victims were shot in the FOREHEAD. NONE!!


Lucas was shot in the left side of the head.
Ponder was shot in the right side of the head.
Guy was shot in the right side of the head.
Sherbert was shot in the top of the head.

Scott Ponder

Right temporal region 4.75 inches from the top of the head, 3.0 inches to the right of midline, and 4.25 inches circumferentially from the midline anteriorly

Brian Lucas

Gunshot wound 1 – Above left ear 3.5 inches from the top of the head, 2.75 from left of midline. No powder stippline or tattoing is identified.

Beverly Guy

Gunshot Wound 1 - Entrance wound in the right temporal region at the hairline 3.5 inches from the top of the head and 3.5 inches to the right of midline. No surrounding soot or powder
deposition is identified. A barrel imprint is not present.

Chris Sherbert

Gunshot wound 1 – Left paritel skull 0.5 inches from the top of the head and 1.75 inches to the left of midline. The wound measures 0.32 inches in diameter with a small superficial abrasion associated with the wound in the hair.




After Scott Ponder was on the ground and 11 rounds had been fired from the magazine with the nickel ammo, the shooter changed magazines to the brass ammo. He then went to the back room where he knew there was one man left,  firing two shots at Sherbert  from a distance as he came through the swinging doors (bullets went through the wall) and then came up on him, shot him twice in the body and then in the top of the head. Five brass casings were found in the back area.

With Sherbert clearly taken care of, the killer returned to the front room passing by Beverly Guy who was clearly dead with a chest and head shot, and back out to the front of the store where he found Scott Ponder still alive, attempting to speed dial his wife on his phone. The killer then shot Ponder in the head and Lucas in the head. At that point with all victims clearly deceased, the killer stopped shooting, leaving three brass cartridges still in the magazine.

While I am sure my rendition of exactly how the murders went down might be imperfect (there was confusion over a couple of shots and their casings in the notes but this does not change the order of the shooting and the order of the magazines) , I am sure a hell of a lot closer than Todd Kohlhepp was with his story of what happened.

Todd Kohlhepp was wrong about which magazine was used first.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong about how many shots were fired at Chris Sherbert and how the shots were fired into his body.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong about how many shots were fired at Beverly Guy.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong that Brian Lucas was hit by any brass shots.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong that the killer changed magazines in the process of chasing the two men out the door.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong that Brian Lucas, Scott Ponder and Chris Sherbert were capped in the head with silver ammo.
Todd Kohlhepp was wrong that any of the victims were shot in the forehead.

With that many mistakes in a confession, it should have been thrown out. It is clear Todd Kohlhepp was incorrect about almost all of the scenario, likely basing what little he did get right on television and police input.

What Kohlhepp spent a lot of time in detail during the confession were things that had nothing to do directly with what happened inside Superbike. He padded his confession with stuff that makes it seem like he knows more than he did. He really didn't seem to have a clue as to what really happened at Superbike.

In other words, Todd Kohlhepp was not there.


More on the False Confession of Todd Kohlhepp (Part Two) 


Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
June 14, 2017













Monday, November 21, 2016

Is Todd Kohlhepp REALLY the Superbike Killer?


Let me start out with this simple statement: I can accept that Todd Kohlhepp is the Superbike killer, a freaky anomaly whom I never suspected committed the crime, I am okay with that...if it is really him. If it is really him, four families can have closure after thirteen years and finally see some justice in the murders of their loved ones. If my profile of the case, my analysis of the evidence, did not point to Kohlhepp, I apologize to the Spartanburg Country Sheriff's Office (SCSO) for having been less than useful in my service to them. I can admit to not always being right, not 100%; I never expect detectives to always be right or 100% perfect either. We are just humans trying to do our best. This is one reason I am very particular about criminal profiling being considered a tool in aiding focus and decisions in investigation, not some kind of psychic vision of exactly what happened. I make sure when I turn in my profiles to police departments that I explain each and every one of my conclusions and what evidence supports those conclusions. I hope that my analysis and clear explanations allow the detectives to use their own skills in deciding if my conclusions make sense and if they should follow through on my thoughts and suggestions.

The Superbike case was a mess from Day One. It has been made public that the investigation appears to have gone the wrong direction when DNA results were screwed up and Melissa Brackman (then married to Scott Ponder) became the main suspect. Even now with the claim by the SCSO that Kohlhepp is the Superbike killer, they have admitted they never even interviewed him in spite of his name supposedly being on a Superbike customer list and having such a horrific criminal record.

I was brought in in 2009 to review the case. I spent a week inside the SCSO reviewing all the files and developing my analysis. I did note that the strongest lead was not followed up on properly and there were a number of errors made in double checking information and unlikely theories were pursued that may have badly effected the investigation. I have seen this quite often with cold cases, so I don't get that upset with detectives; they are doing their best with the training they have and I do believe they wish to solve their cases.

However, in the Superbike case, there was an overfocus on the unknown customer in the shop and Sheriff Wright kept saying over and over that this was the guy who committed the crime. Yet, there was not one shred of evidence to support this person's involvement while much evidence pointed to another individual. When I questioned Wright as to why he thought it was this guy, he told me that the individual never came forward to the SCSO and let them know it was him. I laughed and said, "I don't think I, myself, would come forward! I would think I would be accused of the crime!" Wright told me the citizens of Spartanburg were of a stellar type and would definitely come forward. I asked him if he thought someone with a concerning criminal record would be willing to put his neck in the noose and he said he believed that even someone with a criminal record would come forward. I was not sure what world Sheriff Wright lived in but I found it rather rose-colored-glasses-ish to think this way.

But, I didn't belabor the point. I gave my final analysis to the SCSO and left town. I never contacted media and I never told the family what my profile included. I kept quiet until Sheriff Wright made this statement three years later:

In March of 2012, Sheriff Chuck Wright said on the killings were, "probably one of the most gruesome, horrific crimes committed in our county."
With a new sketch released, Wright said they wanted national media attention because someone out there had to know the person. He said that because the customer was never identified and never came forward as a witness, deputies believed he knew what happened.
"This fellow will tell us exactly what happened in the shop that day," said Wright.

In other words, he said he was the killer. And this was a blatant lie since there was no evidence at that point in time to support such a claim. I, therefore, made a public statement that there was no proof that the man in the composite was the killer. Sheriff Wright then spoke out on television and claimed I had no inside knowledge of the case and only knew what I had "read on the Internet." I followed that up with some posts concerning the case which indicated I did indeed know more than what I read on the Internet. It was my hope at this time to encourage the families and citizens not to accept lies from their public servants and get Sheriff Wright removed from office. I had hoped a new sheriff might move the case forward based on evidence and there might finally be some progress.
However, nothing came of my stand and I said no more until recently in 2016 when Todd Kohlhepp suddenly came out of the blue and "confessed" to the Superbike crime.
I was stunned, to say the least. And confused. A serial killer that is also a mass murderer? That would be one for the history books. It isn't the way serial killers behave. An angry customer? There were no known angry customers except for a slightly peeved final customer that tragic day but that man wasn't Kohlhepp. There had been no angry phone calls or angry visitors to the establishment in the days or weeks or even months leading up to the mass murder. Todd Kohlhepp made no sense except that Sheriff Wright was up for re-election in the next few days and the Superbike case had been an albatross around his neck; could Todd Kohlhepp simply be a convenient patsy? 
And what would be his motive to kill four people in cold blood? Eventually, the story came out - or should I say two stories came out (both obviously from Kolhepp or the police but not from true witnesses). One, that he bought a bike from the store and the people there laughed at him when he fell over while learning to ride and, two, that he bought the bike, it was stolen, and they laughed at him when he came back to buy another. Both stories are pretty unimpressive as a motive for murder but add to that six months passing between the time he bought the bike to when he supposedly gunned everyone down and it is even more shaky. I guess one could conjecture that he came back six months later to buy another bike and he was the man in the composite and he was laughed at once more but it still seems quite unlikely that one joke would inspired Kohlhepp to come back an hour later and mow everyone down who worked in the shop. Yes, he is a psychopath and a killer but it is still a pretty lousy motive.
But, where is the evidence that it is him? So far, there is no physical evidence but it has been claimed by the SPSO that Todd Kohlhepp knew things only the killer could know. I found that odd since pretty much everything about the crime had been on the Internet - on Geraldo, on Ameria's Most Wanted, on Crime Watch Daily and on my blogs and other's blogs. But, then 48 Hours had Melissa Brackman (Ponder) receiving a call from Detective LaChica of the SCSO in which it is said he stated that Todd Kohlhepp knew something only the killer would know, that ALL THE VICTIMS WERE SHOT ONCE IN THE FOREHEAD.
FOREHEAD? I was stunned again. True, THAT piece of information had never been made public. 
Lead investigator, detective William Gary with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s
Office, said the caliber of gun used was a 9 millimeter and that a number of shots
were fired with few misses.
“The person that did this was very accurate in their shooting. They had at least two
moving targets, possibly three,” Gary said.
One theory is a “disgruntled customer” murdered the four people out of revenge. The
show said there was speculation the shooter was a professional hit man. After the
victims were shot, investigators say that the murderer circled around and shot each
of the victims in the head, execution-style.


Okay, so the SCSO did say they were all shot in the head execution style but never mentioned there were shot in the forehead. So, if it was true that all the victims were shot in the forehead and Kohlhepp knew this, then, indeed, he knew something that had not been made public.
The only problem with this is "it is NOT true." NONE of the victims were shot in the forehead. So why is Kohlhepp saying this (unless he just guessed and guessed wrong and, therefore, is NOT the killer) or the SCSO is making this up to get the public to believe that Todd Kohlhepp really is the killer?
If this case is plead out, if Todd Kohlhepp admits guilt and the case never goes to court (saving Kohlhepp, perhaps, from the death penalty, and saving the families from the trauma of reliving the crimes), then no evidence will ever have to be publicly presented to prove Kohlhepp is the Superbike killer.
Something is very wrong in Spartanburg and the citizens need to find out exactly what it is.
Criminal Profiler Pat Brown
November 21, 2016