A South Carolina man has been arrested for keeping four people captive in his basement, some allegedly for years.

Police began investigating 35-year-old Donnie Ray Birchfield Jr. in August  after one of the people he was holding died, WSOC reported.

The warrants for Birchfield’s arrest accuse of him holding the four people against their will, denying them food, medical treatment, and a means to communicate with the outside world.

The warrants say one of the victims died, but her death was not reported until the following day. They also say that Birchfield kept a girlfriend prisoner and routinely choked her, telling her knows how to dispose of a body because “past experience.”

He’s also accused of stealing money from the victims and using it to pay his credit card bills and shop at Walmart.

He was arrested on August 1 and charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult, false imprisonment, and domestic violence, but the charges were not made public until last week, the Charleston Post & Courier reported. He has also been charged with fraud and exploitation as well.

Warrants say the woman who died on July 24 and her husband, who was also kept in the basement, were “vulnerable adults” and Birchfield was their caregiver. The other two victims were women in romantic relationships with Birchfield. According to the court documents, one had been at the home since September 2024 and tother had lived there since 2015.

The documents say Birchfield controlled every aspect of the victims’ lives — when they ate and used the bathroom, when they could leave the basement, and when they could access their cell phones, which he kept to prevent them from calling for help.

Teresa Henson told WRAL that the man found in the basement was her brother, who was developmentally disabled but living independently until he disappeared a few years ago. His wife was the woman who died in July.

“He really didn’t say anything, because I think he was still like trauma and in shock,” she said of her visit with her brother in the hospital. “I walked out of the room and just busted out crying, because it was just so heartbreaking.”

Birchfield is being held on a $150,000 bond, and more charges are possible. His attorney told NBC News that he “maintains his innocence.”