"Who is Clark Rockefeller?" Movie Reveals the Incredible Con of Sandra Boss

"Who is Clark Rockefeller?", a Lifetime original movie, brings to life the story of what is called "the longest con the FBI's ever seen." The movie depicts how con-man Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter insinuated himself into the life of Sandra Boss, a successful lawyer, by portraying himself as one of the New York Rockefellers. He would later kidnap his and Boss' daughter, Reigh,in 2008. But the man who was captured six days later was found to be someone other than who Sandra Boss thought she married. So just who was Clark Rockefeller?

Clark Rockefeller's story started falling apart shortly after his wife, who was seeking a divorce and custody of their daughter, told a court in 2007 that she believed her abusive husband had lied to her about who he really was. She had hired a private investigator in 2006 to look into his background and the private detective quickly found out that Clark Rockefeller wasn't a member of the noted Rockefeller clan, nor was he Clark Rockefeller. However, the detective could not determine Rockefeller's true identity.

That would take an investigation that included the FBI, the Massachusetts State Police, the Boston Police Department, and various other law enforcement agencies before Gerhartsreiter, who had abducted his daughter, was discovered in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was using another fictitious name, Charles "Chip" Smith. The bogus Clark Rockefeller was arrested, his daughter returned to her mother.

During the investigation, the FBI was able to identify Clark Rockefeller as Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who came to the United States from Germany in 1979 as a foreign exchange student, via his fingerprints. Although there are varying reports as to his age, he was either born in February,1960 or 1961. He told Boston Police that he was born to an American child actress of the 1940s named Ann Carter, but she has denied that Gerhartsreiter is her son. The Rockefellers also denied knowing "Clark" Rockefeller. But the matter was moot, as the FBI had fingerprints and a positive identification by Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter's German brother.

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, whose defense lawyers during his trial used the insanity defense (mixed personality disorder with narcissistic and anti-social traits), was convicted of parental kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in June 2009. Strangely enough, he was found not guilty of using a false name. He was sentenced to 4-5 years for kidnapping with a concurrent 2-3 years for the assault charge.

"Who Is Clark Rockefeller?" chronicles the life of a man who would not only con his way into the life of a highly educated woman but also into the highest circles of society as well. Eric McCormack ("Will and Grace") stars as Clark Rockefeller, while Sherri Stringfield ("ER") plays the duped Sandra Boss.

"Who Is Clark Rockefeller?" premiered on Lifetime network Saturday evening. A New York Times review of the original movie noted that the movie failed to probe the whys of Clark Rockefeller's story, that it gained "glossy mediocrity" and McCormack's lines made it feel "like "Will & Grace" all over again."

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Sources:

Zap2It.com

NYTimes.com

Boston.com