Results tagged “Rockefeller” from Crime Scene

Some media outlets have reported that the Los Angeles District Attorney is ready to indict Clark Rockefeller in connection with the disappearance and presumed murder of a San Marino couple.

DA Spokeswoman Jane Robison said the Sheriff's Department is investigating but there is no indictment pending.

"That is absolutely false," Robison said.

Rockefeller is on trial on the east coast on charges he kidnapped his daughter. Jurors are deliberating in that case today.

I've been catching as much coverage of the trial as possible on television, and the witness testimony all seems to have a common thread -- Rockefeller's a liar. 

He seems relaxed and subdued, really. Not crazed.

Suffolk County DA spokesman Jake Wark has been doing some writing of his own with lively press releases. Here's an excerpt from today's media memo, following the testimony of Sandra Boss, Rockefeller's ex:

Cross-examination of GERHARTSREITER's second ex-wife is expected to take place tomorrow morning. For planning purposes, his first ex-wife and an FBI print examiner may take the stand thereafter, but this is not set in stone.

Beth Karas, of InSession, formerly Court TV will be using Twitter to cover the Rockefeller case from Boston. Here's the link.

From a courthouse BlackBerry: Ten jurors in ROCKEFELLER have been seated with another six to go. At this pace, we may see opening statements and testimony as early as tomorrow

Obama picks a Supreme.

California Supreme Court takes a stand on Prop. 8

Jury selection begins in Clark Rockefeller case, who is he?

 

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, aka Clark Rockefeller, stands trial Tuesday morning in Boston on charges stemming from the abduction of his daughter Reigh "Snooks" Boss last summer.

This from Suffolk County DA spokesman Jake Wark:

BOSTON, May 22, 2009--The defendant formerly known as "Clark Rockefeller" will go to trial next week, 10 months after he allegedly abducted his daughter from the heart of Boston's tony Back Bay and led investigators on a manhunt that ended in Maryland but sparked international curiosity as to his true identity.
        Jury selection in the trial of CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61), a native of West Germany who most recently lived across from the Boston Public Garden, is scheduled to begin Tuesday. He is charged with parental kidnapping for the July 27, 2008, incident in which he absconded with his daughter, then 7, during a post-divorce visitation supervised by an independent social worker.
        Under Massachusetts law, kidnapping a minor relative is a felony punishable by up to five years in state prison.
        In addition to that lead charge, Gerhartsreiter is also accused of three additional offenses: assault and battery for allegedly shoving the social worker as he hustled his daughter into a waiting sport-utility vehicle driven by an unwitting accomplice; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - the SUV - for instructing that driver to "go" as the social worker clung to the door handle and fell to the ground, suffering minor injuries; and furnishing a false name to police after his Aug. 2 arrest in Baltimore.
        The latter charge, developed in the course of a far-reaching investigation in the Suffolk County Special Grand Jury, reflects the defendant's identification of himself as "Clark Rockefeller" during an interview with Boston Police detectives and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under Massachusetts law, providing a false name to police for a dishonest purpose carries a one-year jail term.
        Gerhartsreiter made off with the young girl shortly before 1:00 on the third day of their first visit following his December 2007 divorce from the child's mother. The driver who chauffeured them from the scene was allegedly told in advance that the court-ordered social worker monitoring the visit was a "clingy" acquaintance from whom they would have to make a quick escape.
        Gerhartsreiter allegedly instructed the driver to drop them off at Massachusetts General Hospital, from where he took a taxi to the Boston Sailing Center. There he met a second unwitting confederate he had promised $500 for a ride to New York City under the pretense of making a Long Island boat launch by 8:00. During the course of that ride, prosecutors say, Gerhartsreiter prevented the driver from using her phone - and learning of the Amber Alert that followed the child's abduction - by secretly turning it off and overtly telling her not to use it.
        From New York, Gerhartreiter made his way to Baltimore, where he had earlier purchased a home with cashier's checks. He had allegedly identified himself as "Charles Smith" to his realtor and assigned a false name to his daughter as well. On Aug. 1, the realtor recognized Gerhartsreiter from media reports of the abduction and notified the FBI. That notice led rapidly to Gerhartsreiter's arrest and his daughter's rescue.
        Gerhartsreiter was returned to Boston, arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court on Aug. 5, and ordered held without bail. Following his indictment by the Special Grand Jury, a Suffolk Superior Court clerk magistrate set bail in the amount of $50,000,000; a Superior Court judge later revoked that bail at prosecutors' request. The defendant has remained in custody since his arrest.
        Jury selection is expected to last at least one full day and possibly several days. There will be no court proceedings on May 29. Once a panel of deliberating and alternate jurors is selected, an estimated 10 to 15 days of testimony are expected to follow.
        Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, led the grand jury investigation and is prosecuting the case. Gerhartsreiter is represented by attorneys Jeffrey Denner and Timothy Bradl. Judge Frank Gaziano is presiding over the case in courtroom 906 of the Suffolk County Courthouse, located at Three Pemberton Square in Boston.

CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSTREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61) is expected in court this afternoon for a motions hearing in connection with his pending parental kidnapping case.  The hearing has been rescheduled to 2:00 in courtroom 906 with ADA David Deakin; attorneys Jeffrey Denner, Timothy Bradl, and Stephen Hrones; and Judge Frank Gaziano.

He got more gold coins returned, now Clark Rockefeller hopes a judge will allow him to present an insanity defense in the kidnapping of his daughter Reigh "Snooks" Boss, this past summer.

Rockefeller, aka Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, aka Christopher Chichester, will make an appearance in Suffolk County Court Friday, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

"It's a hearing on his potential use of an insanity defense," Wark said.

A doctor who examined Rockefeller's mental state will testify in court, officials said.

Rockefeller has been named as a person of interest in the 1985 disappearance of John and Linda Sohus, a San Marino couple. In 1994, bones were discovered in the backyard of the Sohuses home on Lorain Road. Those bones are believed to belong to John Sohus, although no positive identification has ever been made.

 

 

Cop shoots dog in Whittier.

Clark Rockefeller back in the news (twice over Thanksgiving weekend).

Woman shot in El Monte.

Deputy back on duty after gun incident.

Clark Rockefeller has hired a new lead defense attorney, Jeffrey Denner, of Boston. The move came earlier this week and may have gone unnoticed if Denner hadn't asked for the FBI to return about $280 large in gold coins Rockefeller had in his possession when arrested.

That's not the only Rockefeller news.

Los Angeles County investigators are seeking access to Rockefeller's sealed divorce records in Suffolk County Probate Court. The Suffolk County DA has already taken a look at the papers, so it seems likely LA County will get their own look as well.

What might be in the papers in anyone's guess.  One theory floating around is that Rockefeller confessed to his wife that he wasn't Rockefeller -- and she made note of that in the proceedings.

That could go to a consciousness of guilt in a homicide prosecution. As in, why else would he change his name?

The obvious defense is that Rockefeller had already assumed several identities after coming to the country in the 1970s as German foreign exchange student Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter.

I think the proseution theory is a good one though. And I'm wondering if there may be something even more damaging, like a confession to Sandra Boss that he was Christopher Chichester and he once lived with a couple in San Marino that disappeared.

Whatever is in there, the cops and DAs office are being extremely closed-mouthed.

Here's a link to today's story on the case.

 

 

 

SHeriff's homicide detectives are seeking the divorce records of Clark Rockfeller, officials said Wednesday.

The detectives are hoping the papers will shed some light on their investigation into the disappearance of a San Marino couple from their home 23 years ago.

I'll have more on this later.

 

*I got this message from the Suffolk County DA's office this afternoon. Looks like Clark Rockefeller's attorney Stephen Hrones is going to ask that bail be reduced from $50,000,000 for the one time fugitive:

The defense attorney for CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER, a.k.a. Clark Rockefeller, is expected to be in the First Session of the Suffolk Superior Court tomorrow at noon for a bail hearing before a judge; Assistant District Attorney David Deakin is representing the Commonwealth.

From the Suffolk County DA's office:

BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2008--A Suffolk Superior Court clerk magistrate today set bail at $50 million cash for the kidnapping defendant formerly known as Clark Rockefeller, "based on what I perceive the risk [of flight] to be."

Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson did not adopt prosecutors' requests to continue holding CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61) without bail, but set it at an amount well beyond the $25,000 recommended by Gerhartsreiter's attorney.

Gerhartsreiter may also post 10 times the cash amount in property as surety - in this case, $500 million.

At the agreement of Assistant District Attorney David Deakin and defense attorney Stephen Hrones, Wilson also scheduled Gerhartsreiter's trial for March 23.

Wilson was prepared to allow both parties a full year to prepare for those proceedings. Indicted Friday by a Suffolk County grand jury, Gerhartsreiter today pleaded not guilty to single counts of kidnapping a minor relative, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and furnishing a false name to police officers.

AP article on Gerhartsreiter's plea:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGbAirbzAI5iGCtDGLR58A4-gYQwD93GELI00 

O'Ryan Johnson at the Boston Herald writes:

The man once known as Clark Rockefeller was formally charged today with crimes he allegedly committed in early August when he ran off with his daughter during a supervised visit with a social worker.

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter was indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury for parental kidnapping, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and providing a false name to police, according to the Suffolk District Attorney's office.

Gerhartsreiter fled from the Back Bay, prompting a week-long manhunt, during which authorities began to uncover a twisted pattern of false identities and possible ties to murdered California newlyweds.

 

Here's a press release from the Suffolk County DA's Office:

BOSTON, Sept. 26, 2008--A Suffolk County grand jury today returned indictments charging CHRISTIAN KARL GERHARTSREITER (D.O.B. 2/21/61) with parental kidnapping, assault-related offenses, and providing a phony name to the Boston Police detectives investigating the case, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.
Currently held without bail on similar district court complaints, the indictments move Gerhartsreiter's case to Superior Court, where it will be adjudicated. Conley said he expects Gerhartsreiter to be arraigned on the indicted charges Monday.
Gerhartsreiter - formerly known as "Clark Rockefeller," among other aliases - allegedly kidnapped his daughter on July 27, during their first scheduled visit following his divorce from her mother.
Under the terms of their 2007 divorce, Gerhartsreiter and his ex-wife agreed that she would have legal custody of her daughter and that Gerhartsreiter would be allowed a limited number of visits each year, with those visits monitored by an independent social worker. In addition to the kidnapping charge, Gerhartsreiter is also charged with assault and battery for allegedly shoving that social worker to the ground during the abduction and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - the sport utility vehicle in which he escaped - for allegedly directing his driver to accelerate when he knew the social worker was holding on to the moving vehicle's door. Those charges carry maximum penalties of 2½ years in a house of correction and 10 years in state prison, respectively.
Finally, Gerhartsreiter was also indicted today for giving a false name to a police officer, a crime punishable by up to a year behind bars from and after any sentence for the underlying offense for which he was arrested. Gerhartsreiter incurred that charge by identifying himself as "Clark Rockefeller" to the Boston Police detectives interviewing him upon his August arrest.
"That the victim in this case is the defendant's own daughter doesn't minimize the wrongness of his actions," Conley said. "He took her across state lines without her legal guardian's knowledge or permission - it's any parent's worst nightmare. People on the run take risks they wouldn't in other circumstances, and we're all very lucky that this young girl suffered no long-term physical injury as a result of her ordeal."
Gerhartsreiter's arraignment will likely take place Monday morning in the Magistrate's Session of Suffolk Superior Court, located on the seventh floor of the courthouse. The defendant is represented by attorney Stephen Hrones.

For most of last week, I was second guessing myself. Did the bones I'd seen at the Coroner's consist of more than the top portion of a skull?

Those bones are likely all that remains of John Sohus. The used to reside in the basement office of Steve Dowell, a tool mark expert who examines such things over at 1104 North Mission Road.

Mystery man Clark Rockefeller is a person of interest in the disappearance of Sohus and his wife Linda. And, Sheriff's homicide detectives would like to talk to him about the bones and a possible murder at the Sohus home on Lorain Road in San Marino.

I read in the Boston Herald that when the skeleton was recovered it had been trisected and placed into three plastic bags before burial. That's when the second guessing started. Surely if that was the case there would be more than a few pieces of skull.

Fortunately, my memory was validated by Dowell and Coroner's assistant Chief Ed Winter who assured me that those pieces are all that's left. There's no jaw and no teeth --- thus no easy identification. Because John Sohus was adopted getting a DNA match will be difficult as well.

Winter said the rest of the remains were likely cremated several years ago to make room for other remains. In a place that handles 10,000 bodies a year, it's not a unreasonable conclusion.

But what of the plastic bags? Of the fiberboard box or any clothes the skeleton may have had...still no answer there. Sheriff's Lt. Paul Becker said his detectives are searching for that evidence.

Coroner's officials are also attempting to piece together the archived file that contains an autopsy report and other findings from the scene, Winter said.

Needless to say there's still a lot of this tale left to tell.    

1961: Christian Gerhartstreider born in Bavaria, West Germany, Alexander Geihartstreider, who claims to be his brother, told the Boston Globe.
1980-81: Christian Gerhart Reiter turns up in Berlin, Conn. as a German exchange student with the Savio family, according to the Associated Press. He attends high school there and ends up living with a teacher named Christopher Chichester.
1981-82: Christian Gerhartstreider moves to Elm Grove, Wis., and marries Amy Jersild, 22, in a civil ceremony at the Dane County courthouse in Madison, according to public records and a sister of Jersild.
1982-83: Christopher Chichester appears in San Marino and South Pasadena, as the host of a weekly public access television show broadcast on local cable, according to Don Appleby, with Time Warner Cable in South Pasadena.
1984-85: Chichester moves into a cottage in the back of the San Marino residence of Didi Sohus, her son John and his wife Linda.
Feb. 1985: John and Linda Sohus disappear.
April 1985: Didi Sohus files a missing persons report with the San Marino Police Department.
1987-1989: Christoper Mountbatten Crowe obtains a job on Wall Street sales manager, according to various sources including blogger Don Copeland. He's fired for not making sales.
1989: In Greenwich, Conn., Christopher Crowe attempts to sell a truck registered to John Sohus. Apparently his fingerprints match fingerprints left behind by Chichester in San Marino. Greenwhich authorities notify Los Angeles County authorities, but Chichester and the truck disappeared.
1993: Clark Rockefeller surfaces in New York and is introduced to Sandra Lynne Boss, his future wife, according to the Boston Herald.
1994: The bones of a man believed to be John Sohus are unearthed during a swimming pool excavation in San Marino. Detectives issue a bulletin seeking Chichester and identify several aliases including Christian Gerhartstreider and Christopher Mountbatten Crowe, according to the Pasadena Star-News.
1995: Clark Rockefeller marries Sandra Lynn Boss. BH
2001: Reigh "Snooks" Boss born.
2007: Boss and Rockefeller divorce in a probate hearing, during the proceedings, Rockefeller refuses to provide proof of his identity, according to Wikipedia.
July 27, 2008: Reigh Boss is abducted, according America's Most Wanted.
August 2008: Clark Rockefeller arrested in Baltimore, extradited to Massachuttets and charged in the abduction. Detectives from Los Angeles County fly to Boston to interview him, but are rebuffed and return to Los Angeles.