Michael_Levenson: Hi all,
Michael Levenson here, from the Globe's metro staff. I'll be happy to answer questions about the Clark Rockefeller case, so please send them my way.
hellogrl__Guest_: Does anyone know if "Clark" has had plastic surgery? His nose in the teenager picture looks alot different than it does in the more recent photos...
Michael_Levenson: Hi Hellogrl. Interesting question. I haven't heard anyone talk about him having had plastic surgey, but it's worth looking into. More about this case seems to develop every day.
tallsteve__Guest_: Do you think that this guy has mentalissues and should be subjected to a psychiatric eval soon?
Michael_Levenson: It's a serious question. I'd be interested to talk to psychologists about the type of person that engages in this sort of deception and assumes different identities.
Michael_Levenson: So far, I haven't heard anyone official suggest that he has a mental illness, however. And Clark Rockefeller's attorney has not suggested that his client suffers from any mental illness, either.
curious__Guest_: any news if he is divorced from the first wife? is the first wife guilty of polygamy?
Michael_Levenson: I believe his first wife did obtain a divorce several years after they were married in 1981 in Wisconsin. She is now remarried and still living in Wisconsin.
mysteriew__Guest_: Question Most of the media is saying that Rockefeller came here as an exchange student
Michael_Levenson: right. the term "exchange student" is not really apt, however, because he was not part of any formal exchange program. By his family's account and the accounts of the families who hosted him in Berlin, Conn. in the late 1970s, he had come to the US on his own, seeking fame and fortune.
tallsteve__Guest_: is the evidence strong for his connection to the murder in CA?
Michael_Levenson: the officials in California are saying they are still a long way from bringing charges in the presumed slayings of John and Linda Sohus, the young married couple that had rented a guesthouse to Clark Rockefeller in the early 1980s.
Michael_Levenson: For starters, the bones that were unearthed behind the Sohus home in 1994 are presumed to be those of John Sohus, but have never been definitively identified. Police have said they are performing DNA tests on those bones to try to make a definitive match.
tallsteve__Guest_: what did you htink of he lawyer's statemetn about teh acceptbility of using aliases?
Michael_Levenson: (Rockefeller's laywer said yesterday that there's nothing wrong with using aliases, as long as they're not intended to defraud).
Michael_Levenson: I'm not a lawyer, and would have to check with legal experts to be certain. But my sense is he's right. I think of all the actors who use stage names, the writers who adopt noms de plumes, and I imagine there's nothing illegal there.
jkstraw__Guest_: If anonymity was Rockefeller's lifeblood, why would he do something so dramatically public?
Michael_Levenson: Great question. I assume you're referring to the charge that he kidnapped his daughter off a Boston street on July 27.
Michael_Levenson: We don't know why he would engage in an alleged crime that would almost certainly draw the attention of police.
Michael_Levenson: His lawyer, Stephen B. Hrones asserted yesterday that "He had the right to take that child. He loved it, he raised it. Morally speaking, he is the one who should have the child."
curious__Guest_: is it likely that there may be charges against his first wife? why isn't she talking?
Michael_Levenson: I haven't heard anyone suggest that the first wife, whome he married in Wisconsin in 1981, will be charged. It's not clear why she isn't speaking publicly. Her current husband had initially said that the family would release a statement. They have not done so, to date.
plus__Guest_: Have they taken the DNA samples yet?
Michael_Levenson: A law enforcement official said yesterday that the authorities are seeking to take DNA samples from the family in Germany. As of yesterday, those tests had not been taken. The tests are, of course, part of the effort to definitively determine Rockefeller's identity.
tallsteve__Guest_: what are the next steps in this case? any predictions?
Michael_Levenson: The immediate next step, according to the LA County authorities, is to interview the 10 or so people who have come forward since this story broke to say that they knew Rockefeller when he was living in San Marino in the 1980s.
Michael_Levenson: Police in California also floated the idea of going back and X-raying the grounds around the home where the Sohus couple lived, to see if there are more remains buried there.
Michael_Levenson: they have not done so yet, however, and say that an X-ray survey is not the first priority in their investigation right now.
therealrockefeller__Guest_: Can you tell us anything we don't already know???
Michael_Levenson: I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability. Certainly, if we find anything out in this case, we'll report it as soon as possible.
Nicky__Guest_: Am I the only person wondering if there are other unsolved murders in this person's wake?
Michael_Levenson: I haven't heard police suggest that he is wanted for questioning in any other murder cases. They are, of course, still trying to unravel his long and winding journey across the US.
tallsteve__Guest_: did he do any work at all?
Michael_Levenson: Amazingly, he worked for several years in the late 1980s as a coroporate bond salesman on Wall Street. He bounced between several jobs there and his former colleagues say he didn't seem to know much about corporate finance.
Michael_Levenson: Yet he was quoted in a trade publication, talking about his analysis of the market, and was mentioned in a press release when he was hired by Nikko Securities International in 1987.
Lindy__Guest_: So, Clark "Rockefeller" is obviously not insane but he is delusional. My question is, is he trying or is his lawyer trying to lay the foundation for him pleading not guily by reason of insanity when he is tried for the murder of the two people in California? The selective amnesia act is a nice touch.
Michael_Levenson: His lawyer, Hrones, has not raised the possibility of an insanity defense and has noted that Rockefeller is not charged with anything related to the disapperance of the Sohus couple.
Michael_Levenson: Officiallly, he's a "person of interest" in the case, LA authorities say.
Moondoggy__Guest_: WHY ARENT THE FEDS INVOLVED?
Michael_Levenson: the FBI is involved, and has been working with federal authorities in German to identify Rockefeller.
Michael_Levenson: Thank you all for your questions.
Michael_Levenson: I've enjoyed this chat, and hope you'll stay in touch. You can reach me at
[email protected]
Michael_Levenson: thanks
http://chats.boston.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=loadeventtranscript&webtag=bc-newsmain&ptpw=y
This case is going to continue to have twists and turns all the way up to trial.
