DA's 'Smear' Should Nix Conviction: 'Rockefeller'

(AP) - A German man who called himself Clark Rockefeller and spun fantastic stories about himself during 3 decades in the US was sentenced today to 4 to 5 years for kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter. Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter was convicted of parental kidnapping today for taking the girl during a supervised visit and of assault for injuries suffered by the social worker who was with them. More»

(NEWSER) - A Boston jury found the con man known as Clark Rockefeller guilty of kidnapping and assault today in the abduction of his young daughter last year, the Boston Herald reports. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced this afternoon. The jury found him not guilty of using a false name—he was born Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter in Germany—and on a lesser assault charge. His lawyers had mounted an insanity defense, which almost never succeeds in Massachusetts. More»

(AP) - Jurors in the kidnapping trial of the German man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller ended deliberations for today without a verdict. The Boston jurors got the case shortly after noon, and later asked the judge questions about one of the charges, that of providing a false name to police. Rockefeller's real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. More»

Others fed into his narcissistic personality disorder, she says

(NEWSER) - Lawyers for accused kidnapper “Clark Rockefeller” began their insanity defense today with testimony from a psychologist who said he has a deluded sense of self-importance and fantasies of unlimited power, the Boston Globe reports. “If there is a continuum of narcissistic personality disorder, he is on the far end of the continuum,” she testified, saying the condition kept Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter from recognizing “the wrongfulness of his actions.” More»

Sandra Boss 'thought we had a lot in common'

(NEWSER) - The ex-wife of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter—aka “Clark Rockefeller”—testified today that the accused con artist was “charming” and “very intelligent” when they first met, but quickly became domineering and unpredictable, the Boston Herald reports. In her first public remarks since Gerhartsreiter allegedly kidnapped their daughter, Sandra Boss said she believed her husband’s made-up back-story and described how they met at a theme party. More»