A man held after a woman was found chained up in a metal container has admitted killing at least seven people, say US police.

Investigators said Todd Kohlhepp, a 45-year-old registered sex offender, had confessed to the murder of four people at a motorcycle garage in 2003.

He had also shown officers the graves of two other victims on his sprawling 100-acre property in rural South Carolina.

These were in addition to the body found on Friday at the site, which has been confirmed as that of 32-year-old Charles Carver, the boyfriend of the woman held captive for weeks inside a locked shipping container.

Following her rescue last Thursday, the woman, who is not being named because the suspect is a sex offender, told police she had seen Kohlhepp shoot Mr Carver.


The pair had been missing since August. The woman had apparently gone to the property to do a cleaning job.

The coroner said Mr Carver died of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper part of his body.

He was working with an anthropologist to estimate how long the victim been buried in the shallow grave.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright has said it was possible more bodies will be found at the property.

A tip-off had led police to the property and the woman's discovery.

Sheriff Wright said of solving the 2003 cold case killings: "God answered our prayers."

The wife of one of the motorcycle shop victims said she had believed she would never find out what had happened.

The wife of one of the four people killed in a 2003 shooting at a South Carolina motorcycle shop says the man who authorities say confessed to the killing was a disgruntled customer.

Melissa Ponder said Kohlhepp was a disgruntled customer of the Superbike shop.

Kohlhepp had to register as sex offender after spending time in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl.