Todd Kohlhepp · R. Kelly · Bikini Killer
Plus: A book critic on why women like true crime.
the true crime that's worth your time
ID’s limited series on serial killer Todd Kohlhepp kicks off tonight. You likely remember the Kohlhepp case -- back in 2016, a woman named Kala Brown was found chained inside a shipping container in a remote part of South Carolina. She told rescuers that Kohlhepp, a registered sex offender and real estate agent, had killed her boyfriend in front of her then imprisoned her, subjecting her to repeated sexual assaults.
Kohlhepp eventually admitted to seven murders, including the fatal shooting of four employees of a Superbike Motorsports store that he believed had stolen back a 2003 Suzuki GSX-R750 he’d purchased from the business.
Coincidentally, Brown was arrested last week, on allegations of third-degree domestic violence. According to police in Greenville County, S.C., both she and her boyfriend, 31-year-old James Devon Moore, were taken into custody following a physical confrontation inside their shared residence. The incident came shortly after the conclusion of a wrongful death lawsuit against Kohlhepp, in which of half of his assets (estimated to be over $350,000) would be distributed to Brown, while the other half would go to the families of his other victims.
According to a press release from Investigation Discovery, filmmaker Maria Awes enlisted FBI profiler John Douglas for the show, which is called Serial Killer: The Devil Unchained. It will air from 9-11 PM Monday, with two more two-hour episodes airing on July 29 and August 5. -- EB
R. Kelly is reportedly being held in solitary confinement. At a bail hearing last week, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber ruled that the singer and subject of Surviving R. Kelly (a The Blotter Presents selection from earlier this year) would remain in custody without bond, as it’s believed a flight risk.
Speaking with TMZ, Kelly attorney Nicole Blank Becker says that the singer would fear for his life were he in the general population of the federal prison in which he is being held. That said, as Kelly allegedly suffers from a learning disability that leaves him incapable of reading or writing, as he’s alone he can’t figure out “what's on the commissary list,” she says.
Kelly’s arrest has reportedly increased interest in a recently published book on his alleged crimes. Called Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly, it’s the result of about two decades of work by journalist Jim DeRogatis -- yes, the same guy who wrote that bombshell “sex cult” story about Kelly for BuzzFeed back in 2017 -- and it dropped in June. Nieman Reports published a brief excerpt of the book last week, and it was compelling enough that I added the tome to my reading list. Here’s a snip:
It must feel liberating for these women, after years of keeping their stories and their hurt bottled up, to finally have the support of a sympathetic audience. It took extraordinary courage for them to speak out, and I’m sure it’s emboldening to feel that our culture has reached a tipping point. Bravo to them. I am not shaming or judging anyone who’s finding some mix of recompense and catharsis after being hurt by Kelly; and these stories needed to be told. Sadly, some of the women who summoned the courage to tell them have suffered. Lizzette Martinez lost her corporate job at a national restaurant chain after my story first published her name in May 2018. She appeared in—but did not watch—Surviving R. Kelly. “I need a break from all of this. This is a big mess in my eyes,” she said.“I’m struggling bad. I lost my job at Benihana months ago, and things are not so good, but I’m trying to stay upbeat.”
You can check out the book on Amazon here -- when I checked over the weekend, the Kindle version had been knocked down to $9.99, as frequently happens when sales shoot up. If you’ve read it or expect to, let me know and we can make a plan to discuss it! -- EB
Netflix and the BBC are planning a dramatic adaptation of the Bikini Killer case. Charles Sobhraj, who was also known as “The Splitting Killer” and “The Serpent,” has led a wild life -- he was imprisoned in India from 1976 to 1997 following his conviction in at least 12 deaths and countless robberies, thefts, and scams. He was briefly released, then returned to prison in 2003. His is a truly improbable tale, one that’s been adapted into a Bollywood movie called Main Aur Charles and provided the basis for Law & Order: Criminal Intent’s notorious “Slither” episode, in which Michael York played a character inspired by Sobhraj.
The eight-episode series, which is entitled The Serpent, will star Tahar Rahim as Sobhraj, Variety reports. In a press release touting the series, Rahim says he has dreamed of playing Sobhraj “since I read a book about him when I was 17 years old,” an admission which I am sure is not intended as creepily as it comes across. The show will run on the BBC in the UK, and on Netflix in the U.S. and elsewhere. -- EB
Crime Junkie is hitting the road. The popular podcast, which in its most recent episode covered the 2006 disappearance of a woman named Brandy Hall, will embark on a 15-city live show tour beginning on September 13. Expect everything you “love about our weekly show,” co-host Ashley Flowers says, “but with an entire visual component we don't normally get to share in podcasting.” Tickets went on sale last Thursday, and can be found, along with the full lineup of stops, here.
Writer and critic Kate Tuttle took the the pages of the New York Times in an effort to unpack her true crime obsession. Her essay, headlined “Why Do Women Love True Crime?,” ran in the NYT’s books section, which is where the paper seems to stash a lot of its crime coverage these days. Citing the high percentage of women who provide Amazon reviews for the genre, she suggests that “when women are connected to crime, we’re much more likely to be victims or survivors. Perhaps our fascination with these stories stems in part from wanting to learn from them. If a woman escaped her attacker in this particular way, we think, perhaps I could too.” Do you think that’s the reason more women than men seem to be attracted to the topic? Check out Tuttle’s theories and let us know what you think. -- EB
Tuesday on Best Evidence: No One Saw A Thing, Olivia de Havilland, and the Speed Freak killers.
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