Con artist who pretended to be member of Rockefeller dynasty is charged with 1985 murder

A con artist who claimed he was a member of the super-rich Rockefeller family in order to ingratiate himself with the wealthy, was charged today with the 1985 murder of a California man.

Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter - who also pretended to be a heart surgeon and a rocket scientist in order to win over the rich and powerful - has been charged by a Los Angeles court with murdering a San Marino man whose body remained undiscovered for ten years.

According to ABC News, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian filed the complaint this morning in Alhambra Superior Court.

Gerhartsreiter is currently in a Massachusetts jail after being convicted of the 2008 kidnapping of his daughter.

In the new charge, Gerhartsreiter is accused of murdering John Sohus, 27, who was last seen in early 1985. According to police, Gerhartsreiter was living at a San Marino guesthouse owned by the Sohus family, but disappeared at the same time as Mr Sohus.

Mr Sohus' body was eventually discovered in 1994, when it was ruled that he was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.

Balian will ask that bail be set at $10 million for Gerhartsreiter when he is arraigned, according to a statement from the prosecutor's office.

Gerhartsreiter faces 26 years to life in prison if he is convicted.