Hyper Local News Pages

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

08/06/08 Top Story - Murder Suspect Detained In Greenwich Then Allowed To Go Free - Con Man Continued To Hang Around Town


L.A. Lawmen To Grill Accused Kidnapper Dad

WJZ Baltimore

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has confirmed it is sending two homicide detectives to Boston to interview the father accused of kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter during a visit in Boston.

The man known as Clark Rockefeller was arraigned in Boston on charges stemming from his July 27 disappearance with this daughter, Reigh. He was caught Saturday in Baltimore, and the girl was found safe.

Los Angeles authorities confirmed to CBS station KCBS-TV in Los Angeles that they are looking into a possible connection between Rockefeller and the 1994 discovery of human remains in Southern California.

California homicide detectives have been wanting to talk to Rockefeller for some time, but they didn't know him as Clark Rockefeller, a source tells CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston.

According to the Pasadena Star News, California authorities they knew him as Christopher Chichester - yet another of his numerous aliases.

Pasadena Star News reporter Frank C. Girardot, said a growing number of investigators are convinced Rockefeller and Chichester are the same man.

WBZ-TV reporter Jonathan Elias spoke with Girardot, who has been following the case of the missing California couple for years. Girardot said detectives are in Massachusetts because they have a link between Rockefeller and that missing couple.

"Law enforcement officials have been telling me that the fingerprint they have links Rockefeller to Chichester," Girardot said.

Chichester was being questioned in the disappearance of John and Linda Sohus - a young couple he was renting a room from in San Marino, an upscale suburb of Los Angeles.

John and Linda vanished and Chichester told their families they were doing work for the government and were on a top secret mission. Linda's mother even got a letter supposedly from her daughter with a postmark from Paris.

Police were called in and they began questioning Chichester. And then he vanished.

Four years later, in 1989, Chichester surfaced again. "He was stopped in Greenwich, Connecticut driving a car registered to Sohu... Police in Greenwich notified the police department that they had this truck linked to a missing person from Los Angeles County, but the case never went anywhere and Chichester disappeared again," Giradot said.

Then, five years later, in 1994, new homeowners of the Sohus' home started digging a pool and found bones. Investigators strongly believe they are the remains of John Sohus.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis confirmed that a fingerprint match places Rockefeller in California in the 1980s.

However, investigators in California told WBZ-TV they actually recognized Rockefeller's picture. ....

AND:

Boston man questioned in 1985 Calif. mystery

SAN MARINO, Calif. — When Clark Rockefeller was arrested on the East Coast on charges of kidnapping his daughter, he told police he didn't remember anything about his past.

Police think otherwise and they want him to fill in the blanks that could connect him to a bag of human bones and a married couple who vanished nearly a quarter century ago in this wealthy Los Angeles suburb.

Two homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were in Boston on Wednesday to question Rockefeller about Jonathan and Linda Sohus, who vanished without a trace in 1985.

After his arrest in Baltimore, police realized Rockefeller's fingerprints matched those on an old license application submitted by Christopher Chichester — a man who lived in a guesthouse on the Sohus' property and was a target of the initial investigation.

"We have begun the interview process," Steve Whitmore, sheriff's spokesman, said Wednesday. "The hope is when we come back, we have more information involving the Sohus missing person case."

The development was the latest in an intriguing case that has repeatedly frustrated investigators since Jonathan Sohus' mother filed a missing persons report 23 years ago.

Police explored various possibilities, including that Chichester had been in love with Linda Sohus and murdered her husband in a fit of jealousy, Frank Wills, San Marino's former police chief, told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

But then Chichester disappeared, too, and Sohus' mother died in 1988 without any answers.

Lili Hadsell, a former San Marino police sergeant who took the initial missing persons report, said the mother later reported receiving postcards from Linda Sohus from Paris. She died believing her son and daughter-in-law had moved to Europe and forgotten about her.

Then, in 1994, the new owners of the Sohus house were digging a swimming pool when a backhoe uncovered human remains in three plastic bags. Investigators also found horse and chicken bones.

The badly damaged remains were those of a man believed to be Jonathan Sohus — but were never positively identified, Hadsell said. No sign of Linda Sohus was ever found.

The case eventually faded from the public eye, but investigators have searched for Chichester for years.

In 1994, homicide detectives circulated a news release that described Chichester as a con man who "surfaces in affluent neighborhoods and mingles in social circles before making friends with wealthy, influential people."

They never found him and never interviewed him, Hadsell said.

"I thought my jaw was going to hit my desk," Hadsell said Wednesday of the possible connection to the Rockefeller case in Boston. "I was absolutely shocked and very, very pleased. It was really thrilling to see that maybe we've got him and maybe we're going to come to some kind of resolution for John and Linda."

Authorities came close to Chichester in the late 1980s when he was pulled over in Greenwich, Conn., driving Sohus' truck. But by the time the Department of Motor Vehicles had confirmed it was Sohus' truck, Chichester and the vehicle had vanished.....

...When the Los Angeles detectives came to the Boston jail where Rockefeller is being held without bail, Rockefeller refused to meet with them.

"He's not accepting any communications. He's not granting any interviews," said Peter Van Delft, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.

Rockefeller's attorney, Stephen Hrones, said he advised his client not to speak to the Los Angeles investigators. He said Rockefeller "denies absolutely" any connection between him and the California case....

Please Also See:

The Suspect Known as Clark Rockefeller on Wall Street

Universal Hub

Dave Copeland, who knows something about criminals and New York, makes some calls to learn about "Rockefeller's" less than illustrious career on Wall Street back in the Gordon Gekko days:

... But after two days at Lehman, Rockefeller told his supervisors that he needed to take time off to search for his parents, who he said had gone missing in Afghanistan. Sources said Rockefeller – who told co-workers at Nikko he was film director Christoher Crowe – was dismissed by Lehman. Rockefeller even invited co-workers to the Greenwich, Conn. guest house he was renting for screenings of “his” movies. Rockefeller claimed he was living in the guest house because his own home was being renovated, a claim that co-workers assumed was one of his tall tales.

Within days of his dismissal from Lehman, Connecticut State Police detectives arrived at the offices of both Lehman and Nikko looking to question Rockefeller. ...

One guess what they might have wanted to question him about. Yep.

MORE:

08/01/08 The Fake Rockefeller Has A Greenwich Connection In Doctor Hedi Leistner

AND:

08/06/08 Did The Greenwich Police Department Question Clark Rockefeller And Then Let Him Go Free?


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08/06/08 Breed could consider pursuing broadcasting as a full-time career, but he says he enjoys the balance he has found at Sunningdale.


Michael Breed, right, shows blind golfer Suleiman Rifai how to hold the club.

Sunningdale's Breed behind mike for PGA Championship

Journal News

By Sam Weinman - sweinman@LoHud.com.

The path Michael Breed has taken to this week's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club outside of Detroit isn't much different than that of a player. The head pro at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale started locally, worked his way through the minor-league Nationwide Tour, and now finds himself in the spotlight at a major championship.

The difference is Breed won't be wielding a golf club, but a microphone. As a testament to his growing national profile, Breed will be doing on-course commentary at the PGA this week for PGA.com and a live feed of the tournament on DirecTV. The decorated teaching pro will also be featured in instructional segments during the tournament on both TBS and CBS....

... to an impressive broadcasting resume. After several years hosting a golf radio show on WGCH in his hometown of Greenwich, Conn., Breed also began doing commentary at Nationwide and some PGA tour events for The Golf Channel. Along the way, he has ..

...It's not something I want to do full-time, but it is something I enjoy doing and it helps add to the credibility of what I'm doing, and it helps to get Sunningdale Country Club's name out there, which is good," Breed said. "From the club's standpoint, they want me to represent them as well as I possibly can, so they've been very supportive."

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08/06/08 Greenwich Post Newslinks For Wednesday: Greenwich Mansion Goes Up In Smoke


Firemen respond on Cat Rock Road

Firefighters responded to a fire on Cat Rock Road Tuesday night at 10:41 to find the structure 'fully ablaze,' according to Fire Chief Peter Siecienski. The chief said damage to the unoccupied structure, which was a home under construction, was heavy and investigators were at the scene Wednesday at press time trying to determine a cause. Three firefighters were treated and released for heat exhaustion -related issues, but there were no other injuries. — Kristen Riolo photo

Field is safe but ball players go home

Is the game over for the town’s Wiffle ball field?

Whether because of parents’ fears of asbestos or simply a protest of the destruction of the original field, a visit Tuesday afternoon to the new Wiffle ball field set up at the International School at Dundee showed no teens in sight despite the weather being 83 degrees and sunny.

August is peak time for West Nile infection



Culex pipiens mosquitoes trapped in Greenwich on July 15 have tested positive for West Nile virus, according to the state’s Mosquito Management Program. These are the first positive mosquitoes identified by the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station in Greenwich this year.

Lions lend a hand


Joan Irish, chief executive officer of the Greenwich Chapter of the American Red Cross, was presented with a $500 donation from the Lions Club of Old Greenwich by Ben Menegon, treasurer, to provide relief to victims of disasters and help Greenwich residents prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

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08/06/08 Did The Greenwich Police Department Question Clarke Rockafeller Then Let Him Go Free?


This is Clark Rockefeller’s booking photo taken by Baltimore Police on Monday

HEADLINE:

Greenwich Police Department May Have Let Murdering Con Man Who Later Kidnapped A Little Girl Go Free

QUOTE:

Robert Stack said, "Authorities want to speak with a German native named Christian Gerhard Streiter, aka Christopher Chichester, aka Christopher Crowe" -Unsolved Mysteries TV Show

THE STORY:

Is Clark Rockefeller really Christian

Boston Herald

By Jessica Van Sack

A
look at what we know about Christian Gerhart Streiter and Clark Rockefeller.

1961: Christian Gerhart Streiter is born in Germany.

1985: John and Linda Sohus of San Marino disappear, last seen in February by Christopher Crowe Mountbatten Chichester, a man claiming to be the son of a British aristocrat and the lone tenant of their guest house. Authorities come to believe Chichester is an alias of Gerhart Streiter. Relatives and friends receive postcards from Paris signed by Linda Sohus, but investigators are unable to determine if the handwriting is the missing woman’s.

Chichester leaves the guest house in April. 1988:

A truck belonging to the Sohuses turns up 3,000 miles away in Greenwich, Conn. A man calling himself Christopher Crowe had tried to sell it to the son to a local minister. Rather than buy it, he reports it to police. Authorities determine Chichester and Crowe are the same person.

1993: A man calling himself Clark Rockefeller turns up in New York City, quickly ascending to high society and boasting of his priceless art collection.

1994: Workers digging a hole for a pool at the former Sohus property on Lorain Road in San Marino unearth a trisected skeleton wrapped in plastic bags. Authorities believe it is the body of John Sohus and want to question Chichester, described as an urbane gentleman who endeared himself to the rich.

1994: Clark Rockefeller weds Ivy League-educated consultant Sandra Boss on Nantucket. No marriage certificate is filed.

1995: The TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” airs a segment on the Sohus case, titled “Chichester - San Marino Bones.” It concludes by saying authorities want to speak with a German native named Christian Gerhard Streiter, aka Christopher Chichester, aka Christopher Crowe.

May 24, 2001: Reigh Storrow Rockefeller is born.

2006: Boss buys a $2.3 million Beacon Hill brownstone.

Jan. 17, 2007: Boss files for divorce in Suffolk Probate Court. Rockefeller is permitted supervised visits while Boss, now living in London, gets full custody of Reigh.

December 2007: The former couple’s divorce is finalized. Meanwhile in Baltimore, a man calling himself Charles “Chip” Smith and claiming to be a contract captain of luxury vessels in Chile, begins searching for a home for him and his daughter.

April 2008: Chip Smith begins renting an apartment in Baltimore.

July 2008: Chip Smith hires movers to transport his belongings from a U-Haul facility in Cambridge to his new house at 618 Ploy St., Baltimore. Clark Rockefeller purchases $300,000 in gold bullion from an Arlington dealer.

July 27 12:45 p.m. - During a supervised visit with his daughter in front of 5 Marlborough St. in Boston, according to police, Rockefeller pushes a social worker and takes Reigh away in a waiting SUV.

Aug. 2: Rockefeller is caught in Baltimore and Reigh is found safe inside an apartment.

Aug. 4: Rockefeller waives his right to extradition in Baltimore.

Aug. 5: Rockefeller is held without bail in Boston Municipal Court on charges of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and endangering a minor.

Homicide investigators say they are probing a possible link between Clark Rockefeller and the cold Sohus case.

PLEASE ALSO SEE:

08/01/08 The Fake Rockefeller Has A Greenwich Connection In Doctor Hedi Leistner

Hedi Leistner, a Manhattan pediatrician who has known him for years and whom he often described as his aunt.

"She has fielded all the calls of crisis in Clark's life," said a friend.

Leistner who lives in Greenwich, Conn., would not discuss her relationship with Rockefeller yesterday. She also would not say if she had been in contact with him since the abduction.

"Her father wouldn't hurt her," was all Leistner would say of Snooks.

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08/06/08 Greenwich Time News Links - A Pumped Up Pecora Speaks Up For The Building Committee


TOP STORY
HEADLINE:

What's Up With Gung-Ho SAL "Hey It's Only Half A Mil" Pecora

First A Sheepish Sal Pecora Wants To Resign From The Building Committee, Then He Becomes The Committee Spokesman In The Greenwich Time.

QUOTES:

"We've all been shooting to get these kids in earlier, but only God knows exactly when they'll get in," said Sylvester Pecora, a building committee member. "Do you realize the cost you're facing if this fails?" Percora continued, "It'll be worst of a bad situation." Then Sal added, "We need to get this building finished at all costs," and Sal then went on to say,"If that means a little extra money, and a little extra time, that's okay."

THE STORY:


Half mil for Ham Ave.

Colin Gustafson

Staff Writer

The Hamilton Avenue School building committee yesterday agreed to inject an extra half-million dollars into the delay-mired project to push it across the finish line without cutting too much into the academic calendar.

The additional funding will help ensure that the building is completed by Aug. 15. School may not begin until Sept. 15 because of the time needed to move in. That's two weeks after the Aug. 27 start for the district, and a week after the Sept. 8 target school officials had hoped for...

....Both options have a slew of consequences, however.Starting school Sept. 8 could force staff to sacrifice snow days, vacation time, even national and religious holidays, such as Rosh Hashanah and Columbus Day, to meet the state's minimum 182-day requirement.

And if the school year is delayed another week, to Sept. 15, teachers could be forced to sacrifice their traditional five-day break in February - a change that could have collective bargaining ramifications, education officials have warned....

....In the days ahead, the school board will meet with Buildings Department officials to assess whether meeting the Aug. 15 deadline is realistic, Bodson said. The board will also consult the parent-teachers association to assess whether a three-week move-in period is even feasible.

Please Read The Full Greenwich Time Story

THEN IT WILL BE TIME FOR THE REST OF THE STORY!!!

PLEASE SEE YESTERDAYS GREENWICH ROUNDUP STORY:

08/05/08 Reader Submotted Comments Update on Hamilton Avenue School
  • There's No Conflict Of Interest Here
  • Syl Pechora offered to resign from the committee,
    but they said that wasn't necessary since Pecora Brothers was being hired by theBoard of Ed and wouldn't report to the committee and it wasn't a committee vote to hire Pecora Brothers;
Don't wory Sal won't let that

BIG FAT BOARD OF EDUCATION PAY CHECK

influence his vote on the school building committee.


Please Read The Rest Of Greenwich Time's Incomplete News Stories That Were Published Today:

New program eases end-of-life decisions
For many years, hospital administrators have faced family members with conflicting wishes about the care of a loved one.

STAMFORD - A judge in state Superior Court in Stamford granted a motion Tuesday to suppress a photo array identification of the accused "dinnertime bandit" but denied a motion to suppress evidence turned over by the man's brother.

Library project delayed
Books aren't the only thing overdue at the Byram Shubert Library. So is a $4.8 million expansion project at the library, which has evoked harsh criticism from Byram neighborhood leaders and residents.

By The Way, Have Greenwich residents just stopped writing letters to the editor of the Greenwich Time?

Since Wednesday uly 3oth, The Greenwich Time has featured the same letter bashing Lee Whitnum from Democratic State Committee member and local attorney David Singer on it's

Letters From Readers Page

Please see:

Whitnum is to blame for lack of convention role
To the editor: In her "rebuttal" to Sarah Darer Littman's column July 22, petitioning candidate Lee Whitnum claimed that she was somehow shut out of the nominating convention to select the Democratic Party's candidate for Connecticut's 4th Congressional District ("Column was an unfair attack on 4th District campaign," Greenwich Time Opinion page, July 25).....

Has the Greenwich Time Editor's been republishing Ms. Singer's letter everyday, for the last eight days because they are endorsing Jim Himes,?

Please see:


In most primary elections, it's really the concerned party's business as to who it picks to represent it......

Or are the Greenwich Time editors repeatedly running Mr. Singer's letter for eight days in a vain attempt to kiss and make up with the local Democratic party for firing Sarah Littman

Please see:

07/26/08 Bill Clarke Has The Inside Scoop About What's Going On At The "Yellowich Time"

  • Local Rag Hita A New Low
  • Just when you thought, dear reader, that it was impossible for the local rag, aka Yellowwich Time, to get any worse than it's been for lo! these many years, it has sunk to yet another new low. The Amazing Incredible Shrinking Dollar has nothing on the morons who bring you the daily swill, fresh from the overflowing sewers of the seamy side of Greenwich. Now they have fired probably the most talented writer in Greenwich, Sarah Littman, at the behest of......
Has The Greenwich Time just thrown away everyone else's letters to the editor, or will they be published on the Greenwich Time website at a later date?

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