Rockefeller impersonator got chain saw

ALHAMBRA, Calif., Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A witness at a preliminary hearing in California for a Rockefeller impersonator facing homicide charges said he loaned a chain saw to the defendant.

William Stewart told a Los Angeles County Superior Court the defendant, whose real name is Christian Gerhartsreiter, returned the tool several months later in good condition, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Gerhartsreiter faces homicide charges in the 1985 death of John Sohus, 26, of San Marino, whose body parts were found wrapped in plastic in a box in 1994 by workers digging a swimming pool.

Sohus' wife, Linda, also disappeared in 1985 and has never been found.

Gerhartsreiter, who was born in Germany, lived for a period of time in the home of Sohus' mother.

Authorities said Gerhartsreiter was a con man who took on a myriad of aliases and personalities. For many years he used the name Clark Rockefeller, pretending to be a member of the prestigious New York family.

In California, one of his aliases was Christopher Chichester, the name Stewart knew him by.