Rathbun Apologized in Early Interview

In a wide-ranging interview with two detectives on Nov. 22, photographer Charles Rathbun, later accused of murdering model Linda Sobek, talked about her last day and his feelings about her death.

The interview took place six days after Sobek disappeared, and three days before Rathbun led investigators to the body.

Rathbun, who had been drinking and vomited on his shirt, told Hermosa Beach Police Det. Raul Saldana and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Investigator Mary Bice that he had accidentally swerved a car into Sobek on a dry lake bed. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office later said Sobek had been sodomized and that her injuries were not consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

“She’s a friend of mine, she really is,” Rathbun said at one point. “I care about Linda. She’s a nice lady. . . . She’s, she’s a good person. I don’t care what she looks like--the model part doesn’t matter.” Here are excerpts from Rathbun’s talk with detectives, according to transcripts filed in court.

Rathbun: “Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, I screwed up. . . . I hurt Linda. I hurt her parents. I hurt my parents. I hurt all my friends. I hurt her friends. Just by (expletive) not paying attention. . . . Just trying to get a little more dust off the tires, little more action out of the car.”

Saldana: “You were trying to do your job.”

Rathbun: “My job isn’t killing people, though. . . . What (expletive) good is a picture if you killed somebody to get it? Oh, man. If they would give me the electric chair it would be a mercy.”

Several times Rathbun made tearful apologies and talked about ruining his life as well as those of Sobek and her family.

“Talk to Mrs. Sobek and let her know I’m sorry,” he told Saldana. “Oh, God, I know I let everybody down. I have. Oh, man, I’m here covered with vomit. I was gonna get drunk today, take care of it all. All I did was get drunk and throw up on myself.”