March 18

Rockefeller impostor on trial for murder

Linda Deutsch / The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — After 27 years, the murder trial of a man who posed as a member of the fabled Rockefeller family is getting under way with opening statements to the jury.

click image to enlarge

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who called himself Clark Rockefeller, enters court for his kidnapping trial in Boston in this June 1, 2009, photo. He says he is not guilty of the cold case killing of John Sohus.

AP

Seven women and five men were selected to as the jury to begin hearing the case Monday of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. He was known for 20 years as Clark Rockefeller. He says he is not guilty of the cold case killing of John Sohus.

Sohus disappeared with his wife, Linda, in 1985 while Gerhartsreiter was a tenant at the home of Sohus' mother.

The prosecution's case is circumstantial, based on a bag of bones found buried at the property and fuzzy memories of San Marino residents who knew the defendant.

The defense says there was no motive for the defendant to kill anyone. Linda Sohus vanished without a trace.

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