Suspected South Carolina serial killer has Arizona ties

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Forty-five-year-old Todd Koelhepp was convicted for rape in Arizona in 1987 and now, he's a suspected serial killer.

Court documents reveal Kohlhepp has a long history of mental illness; showing violent impulses since nursery school by hitting other kids and even killing a goldfish with Clorox.

When he was 15, Kohlhepp held his 14-year-old neighbor at gunpoint, tied her up, put tape over her mouth and raped her. The victim's parents still live in the same home.

"I don't have a comment, OK," one parent said.

Kohlhepp's former attorney, Allen Bickart, says he agonized for the details of the case.

"It appeared he had very little issue of what the value of life was," he said. "The little girl in this question was very lucky, he could have just easily shot her."

A Valley psychiatrist diagnosed Kohlhepp with Borderline Personality Disorder, saying he had severe emotional issues, and recommended Kohlhepp be institutionalized at 16 years old.

A Maricopa County judge deemed Kohlhepp as a lost cause, saying "professional intervention, short of God's, will provide no protection of the public and no rehabilitation of this juvenile."

In the end, Kohlhepp took a plea deal and served a 15-year-prison sentence in Arizona for sexual assault.

"You know, you have someone who is really ill, really sick, you also know if the prosecution wants to put him in prison there's no help there," Bickart said.