Clark Rockefeller impostor charged with murder, tells lawyer he didn't do it

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - A German con man who refers to himself as Clark Rockefeller, but whose real name cops say is Christian Gerhartsreiter, insists he had nothing to do with the killing of a California man more than 25 years ago, his lawyer said - a day after Los Angeles prosecutors charged him with murder.

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"He maintains complete innocence as he always has," Boston defense attorney Jeffrey Denner said after meeting Gerhartsreiter for two hours at a prison in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Gerhartsreiter became notorious after his arrest several years ago in Baltimore for kidnapping his daughter. That's when police discovered he had used a string of aliases since the 70s to work his way into wealthy circles in New York, Los Angeles and Boston.

Now, Gerhartsreiter is being charged with killing 27-year-old John Sohus in 1985 when he was living at the home of Sohus' mother in San Marino, a wealthy Los Angeles suburb, the district attorney's office said.

"He doesn't know what to make of it," Denner said of the charge. "He thinks that obviously the notoriety of this (Boston kidnapping) case has generated interest in the Sohus case that didn't exist before."

Sohus' body was dug up from the backyard of the house in 1994. An investigation determined he was killed by blunt force trauma to the head. Sohus' wife, Linda, is still missing.

Gerhartreiter vanished shortly after Sohus disappeared, according to prosecutors. While he was in San Marino he went by several different aliases, including Christopher Chichester.

In 2009 Gerhartsreiter was convicted in the kidnapping of his 7-year-old daughter. He is serving a four-to five-year sentence in a Massachusetts prison.

After his arrest in 2008, Los Angeles authorities quickly named him a person of interest in the disappearance and presumed slayings of the Sohus couple. District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robinson said he has been tied to the disposal of a pickup truck owned by the couple.

Gerhartsreiter could face 26 years to life in prison if convicted of murder in the disappearance of Sohus.

Complete Coverage of the Christian Gerhartsreiter case on Crimesider.