Full coverage: Rockefeller impostor on trial
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, 52, is standing trial in the 1985 murder of San Marino resident John Sohus. Gerhartsreiter routinely assumed aliases and pretended to be from prominent families, including the Rockefellers, to gain access to high-finance and social circles. Sohus and his wife, Linda, disappeared in February 1985, when Gerhartsreiter was living in their guesthouse. John Sohus' bones were excavated from his San Marino backyard in 1994. Linda Sohus vanished without a trace.
4:57 PM PDT, April 10, 2013
Rockefeller impostor 'continues to maintain his innocence'
This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.
12:23 PM PDT, April 10, 2013
Sister of victim in Rockefeller imposter trial: 'It's finally over'
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter showed no emotion Wednesday as he was found guilty of murdering his landlady’s adult son nearly three decades ago.
11:23 AM PDT, April 10, 2013
Rockefeller imposter found guilty of first-degree murder
A German native who consorted for years with New England’s social elite by pretending to be a Rockefeller was convicted Wednesday in Los Angeles of first-degree murder, capping a nearly three-decade-old mystery involving a missing couple and a body buried in a San Marino backyard.
April 9, 2013
Prosecutor urges jury to convict Rockefeller impostor in killing
A prosecutor urged jurors Monday to find a man who pretended to be a member of the Rockefeller family guilty of murder, saying he was a "master manipulator" who buried the victim's body in a San Marino backyard nearly three decades ago.
6:10 PM PDT, April 7, 2013
A simple fabulist, or a killer clever at covering his tracks?
He mixed with the well-to-do in the upscale suburb of San Marino, proclaiming himself an English baronet who taught film at USC.
10:02 AM PDT, April 4, 2013
Defense rests its case in Rockefeller impostor murder trial
Defense attorneys for a man who pretended to be a Rockefeller and is now charged with the cold-case murder of his San Marino landlady's adult son wrapped up their case Wednesday.
7:15 PM PDT, April 3, 2013
Rockefeller impostor trial focuses on handwriting evidence
Defense attorneys for a man charged with the cold-case murder of his San Marino landlady's adult son wrapped up their case Wednesday by focusing on an enduring mystery in the nearly 30-year-old whodunit: What happened to the victim's wife?
6:49 PM PDT, April 2, 2013
Fake Rockefeller trial: Friend was suspicious of defendant's identity.
During a telephone conversation in 1988, a friend asked Christian Gerhartsreiter a simple question: “Who...are you?”
11:54 PM PDT, April 2, 2013
Wife of Rockefeller impostor hired detective to look into his background
For more than a decade, Sandra Boss thought she was married to a Rockefeller.
2:26 PM PDT, March 26, 2013
Accused killer tried to sell bloodstained rug, witnesses say
A correction has been made to this story
March 18, 2013
Rockefeller impostor deceived and murdered, prosecutors claim
For years, German-born Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter had convinced his people, his wife included, that he was Clark Rockefeller, a member of the billionaire family and New England high society.
March 18, 2013
Rockefeller impostor accused of killing man in 1985 goes on trial
Jose Perez, working for his father's swimming pool business, was digging into the backyard of a San Marino home in 1994 when he made a grisly discovery: human bones wrapped in plastic and buried several feet underground.
January 29, 2012
San Marino murder case is talk of the town
The walls of Jann Eldnor's San Marino barbershop are packed with silver-studded horse saddles and Western memorabilia, but a painting of a bespectacled man behind bars is the hub of conversation.
January 25, 2012
Rockefeller impostor ordered to stand trial in 1985 killing
The tale of the brazen con man known as Clark Rockefeller who lied and charmed his way into New England high society has captivated the nation, so much so that it was made into a book and a Lifetime movie.
January 23, 2012
Rockefeller impostor tried to sell rug with blood, witnesses say
A one-time Rockefeller impostor accused in a three-decade-old San Marino cold case murder tried to sell a rug with what appeared to be a blood stain on it, witnesses said Monday, testimony the judge said he would allow as an "adoptive admission."
January 21, 2012
Rockefeller impostor's defense may focus on victim's wife
Attorneys representing a one-time Rockefeller impostor accused in a three-decade-old San Marino slaying gave the first indications of their defense strategy Wednesday, hinting that they may be poised to blame the victim's missing wife.
January 19, 2012
Man who posed as a Rockefeller is back in court
Jose Perez had dug into hundreds of backyards for his father's swimming pool business, many of them in ritzy San Marino, with its tough soil of clay and rock.
July 8, 2011
Phony Rockefeller pleads not guilty to San Marino murder
The man known to the world as Clark Rockefeller appeared briefly in an Alhambra courtroom Friday and entered a not guilty plea to a charge he killed his landlady's son and buried the body in San Marino three decades ago.
March 16, 2011
Longtime suspect charged in 1985 San Marino killing
In the early 1980s, he was known as Chris Chichester, a would-be film producer who lived in a San Marino guest house, claiming to be a relative of Lord Mountbatten and ingratiating himself with local matrons.
August 22, 2008
Lawyer speaks out in San Marino case
A Boston man whom authorities describe as a "person of interest" in the 1985 disappearance of a San Marino couple barely knew Linda and Jonathan Sohus and left town months after they vanished, his attorney said Thursday.
August 8, 2008
Man charged in kidnapping keeps mum on cold case
A Boston man who detectives hoped would shed light on the 1985 disappearance of a San Marino couple has refused to speak with Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives, authorities said Thursday.
August 16, 2008
New fingerprint evidence revealed
FBI officials in Boston announced Friday that a fingerprint from a "person of interest" in the disappearance of a San Marino couple in 1985 matches that of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a native of Germany who legally came to the United States as a student in 1970s.
August 3, 2008
Missing girl found safe; dad arrested
A man accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter during a supervised visit in Boston last weekend was arrested in Baltimore and the girl was found safe, authorities said.
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