From the LASD on Nixle: On March 15, 2011, the LA County District Attorney’s Office filed murder charges against Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter for the 1985 murder of John Sohus(26).
Gerhartsreiter, of German nationality, is also known as Christopher Chichester or Clark Rockefeller.
“In February of 1985, John (26) and Linda Sohus (28) disappeared from their home in the 1900 block of Lorain Road in San Marino, California. In 1981, prior to their disappearance, Gerhartsreiter arrived in San Marino. He eventually rented a guest house from Ruth Sohus, the mother of John Sohus. Shortly after John and Linda’s disappearance, Gerhartsreiter also disappeared.
On May 5, 1994, during a swimming pool excavation on the Lorain Road property, unidentified human remains were unearthed by the construction crew. San Marino Police were called to the scene, followed by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau personnel and Los Angeles County Coroner’s personnel. Those remains were eventually identified as John Sohus. Linda Sohus was never heard from or seen again, and her remains have not been found. Efforts to locate Gerhartsreiter in 1994 failed and the case went cold. From 1994 to 2008, Gerhartsreiter was still a suspect in this case.
On July 27th, 2008, Gerhartsreiter kidnapped his daughter in Boston, Massachusetts. He was sentenced to prison in June of 2009 and is currently serving time in Gardner State Prison in Gardner, Massachusetts. He will be eligible for parole in 2012. Once Gerhartsreiter was found in 2008, Detectives Tim Miley and Delores Scott from the Cold Case Unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau, reopened the investigation into the murder of John Sohus.
Through the use of modern technology combined with evidence gained at the crime scene, as well as recent investigative leads, Sheriff’s Cold case homicide detectives presented the evidence to the Office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney for consideration for filing an allegation of murder against Suspect Gerhartsreiter. The D.A. filed the case Tuesday alleging murder, and the judge issued an arrest warrant. Sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide detectives are seeking extradition of Gerhartsreiter from the state of Massachusetts.
Sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide detectives are asking for the public’s help dating back to 1985. Linda Sohus has never been found. Possibly someone has information about this case and did not share it because they thought it was minor, yet it may actually be an important link to this case.”
If you have any information please contact the Sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide investigators at 1(323) 890-5500. If you want to remain anonymous contact LA Crime Stoppers by dialing 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or, text the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637) or, use this website http://lacrimestoppers.org
