Jury Selection in 'Rockefeller' San Marino Murder Trial to Begin Monday

Jury selection in the trial of Christian K. Gerhartsreiter, the man accused of the 1985 slaying of his landlord in San Marino, is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Gerhartsreiter, who called himself Christopher Chichester in San Marino in the 1980s, rented a guesthouse on Lorain Road and is accused of murdering his landlord John Sohus, who lived in the main house with his wife, Linda, and his mother, Ruth "Didi" Sohus.

The married couple went missing in 1985 and John's remains were later found in 1994 when contractors digging a backyard pool at the Lorain Road home unearthed his bones. Linda has never been found.

Gerhartsreiter, who has also claimed to be well-to-do Clark Rockefeller of the famous American family—though the Rockefellers have claimed no such relative exists—is currently serving a four- to five-year sentence in a Los Angeles jail for kidnapping his daughter during a supervised visit. He was previously serving the sentence in Massachusetts, but was extradited to California in 2011 after the murder charge arose.

Previous court proceedings for the case against Gerhartsreiter took place in the Alhambra Superior Courthouse, but the trial will take place in Downtown Los Angeles.

See links to all previous Patch coverage of the Gerhartsreiter/“Rockefeller” case and its local connections here.

Did you know "Christopher Chichester"?