'Who is Clark Rockefeller?' Lifetime Movie Looks for Answer

'Who is Clark Rockefeller?', a new Lifetime movie airing on Saturday, March 13th at 9:00 p.m. ET, will take a look at one of the most fascinating con artists of our time. 'Who is Clark Rockefeller?' will try to answer that question for us as the movie based on a true story focuses on the life of this man who was once a member of high society using the name Rockefeller to woo the elite and become a social fixture in Boston. But, as the Liftetime movie will surely dramatize, Clark Rockefeller wasn't who he seemed to be. So who is Clark Rockefeller, and will the Lifetime movie get his story straight?

Funny man Eric McCormack will be stepping into the shoes of Clark Rockefeller who, like himself, was a very convincing actor and well-liked by those he put on a show for. As the Lifetime movie 'Who is Clark Rockefeller?' will likely romanticize, Clark Rockefeller was a bit of a real-life Mr. Ripley, a talented liar capable of charming those around him into believing exactly what he wanted them to. Sandra Boss was a wealthy senior executive at a global management consulting firm who had graduated from Harvard Business School and Stanford University, and she was charmed by the man she believed to be Clark Rockefeller, (or "Crockefeller", as he would become affectionately known by the public). But when she first met Clark Rockefeller, he was wooing her under the alias "Professor Plum"...at a Clue-themed party he was hosting.

Clark Rockefeller won Sandra Boss over with his charm, intellect, and tales of his colorful life. His claims include that he attended Yale at 14; helped struggling nations; was the son of former 40's actress Ann Carter; and that he was mute for seven years as a child. Sandra Boss bought his outlandish tales and respected the man she would marry because she felt that he shared her values about changing the world. Well, Clark Rockefeller definitely changed Sandra Boss' world.

After the two were married, Clark Rockefeller continued his ruse, telling their friends and neighbors that he was a wealthy Yale graduate and owned a business in Canada; he even managed to become a member of Boston's ultra-exclusive Algonquin Club, eventually becoming one of its directors. But while his charm and charisma were winning over the social elite, Sandra Boss was starting to notice that Clark Rockefeller wasn't the man he seemed to be. She became the breadwinner in the family, while he stayed at home, morphing into a "control freak" prone to temper tantrums. Sandra Boss learned in 2006 through hiring a private investigator that her husband wasn't Clark Rockefeller (although she didn't find out who he really was), and she divorced him in 2007. He was granted three supervised visits a year with the couple's 7-year-old daughter, Reigh (Snooks) Boss, and awarded a large divorce settlement. So conman Clark Rockefeller seemingly scored big here and could've continued his high living, if it wasn't for what happened next.

The man known as Clark Rockefeller abducted his daughter on July 27, 2008, which led to a nationwide manhunt and a fascination with Clark Rockefeller's colorful past. For the week that Clark Rockefeller and his daughter were missing, we began to hear details of just who Clark Rockefeller really was, and everyone became concerned for the welfare of his daughter, who may have been in the grasp of a madman.

So who is Clark Rockefeller? The man we know as Clark Rockefeller came to the U.S. as an exchange student from Germany, the son of a painter and homemaker, and his real name was Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, one of many he would be called throughout his life. He married a woman in 1981 allegedly to obtain a green card, and his wife claimed that he left her the day after the wedding (however, the two weren't divorced until 1992). Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter wasn't a bad looking guy, but he defintiely doesn't have Eric McCormack's looks (well, 'Who is Clark Rockefeller?' is a Liftetime movie, so what do you expect?). He met Sandra Boss a year after the divorce at that Clue-themed party, and the rest is illegitimate Rockefeller history.

Luckily, Sandra Boss' daughter was rescued unharmed, and Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter was sentenced to five years in a state prison for kidnapping, with a concurrent two to three years for an assault charge. During the trial, he pled insanity, with his defense team telling jurors that he had telepathically communicated with his daughter who was begging him to rescue her. It was claimed that he was abused as a child and suffered from narcisstic personality disorder, among other things. But Clark Rockerfeller's story doesn't end with his sentencing.

It was discovered that Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter had a number of aliases over the years, including one "Christopher Chichester", a person of interest in the mysterious disappearance and possible murder of Jonathan and Linda Sohus. And the story of Jonathon and Linda Sohus is just as intriguing as that of Clark Rockerfeller, although a lot more tragic.

Christopher Chichester charmed his way into the lives of Jonathan and Linda Sohus, sci-fi enthusiasts who he convinced he was a secret agent. He lived in the couple's guesthouse in the 80's, but the couple disappeared shortly after their marriage in 1985, while Christopher Chichester continued to stay in the guesthouse. He told friends and co-workers that the two were on a delayed honeymoon at first and then began telling a tall tale about the two doing secret government work on the East Coast. In 1989, a man by the name Christopher Crowe tried to sell Jonathan Sohus' car, but was never apprehended, and Christopher Chichester was pulled over once in the late 80's driving Jonathan Sohus' truck. The only seeming communications from the couple were a few post cards supposedly from France, which appeared to be in Linda Sohus' handwriting.

In 1994, swimming pool excavators unearthed a butchered male body buried in the backyard of the Sohus' home, but there was no way to determine if it was Jonathan Sohus (he was adopted, so the DNA of the body couldn't be compared to that of Sohus' parents for a positive I.D.). To many it seems obvious that Christopher Chichester/Clark Rockefeller/Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter is responsible for the murder of Jonathan Sohus and possibly Linda Sohus, but as of now the man that passed himself of as Clark Rockefeller will be out of prison in a few short years.

So who is Clark Rockefeller? It seems that we have only scratched the surface as of right now, and I don't know if Lifetime will have enough time to tell this fascinating story in a made-for-TV movie. However, perhaps piquing interest in his case once again will lead to further investigation into the disappearances of Linda Sohus and Jonathan Sohus, and maybe the question "Who is Clark Rockefeller?" will someday be more completely answered.

SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Rockefeller
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/06/02/2009-06-02_i_didnt_have_clue_he_was_crockefeller_ex_testifies.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/emmyr-award-winner-eric-mccormack-stars-in-the-highly-anticipated-lifetime-original-movie-who-is-clark-rockefeller-84500097.html
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/08/a_colorful_clue.html
http://a11news.com/454/jonathan-and-linda-sohus/