Clark 'Rockefeller' Ex To Testify In Upcoming Trial
Clark Rockefeller during his arraignment at a Boston municipal court, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008.
BOSTON (CBS/AP) A Wisconsin woman who married the man who calls himself "Clark Rockefeller" is expected to testify at his upcoming kidnapping trial.
Rockefeller's real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter - a German national - who authorities say has used a string of aliases since the 1970s to work his way into wealthy circles in New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
Amy Jersild Duhnke of Milwaukee married Gerhartsreiter in 1981 in Madison, Wis. The marriage enabled him to get a green card. He left the day after they got married, according to divorce records.
Now Jersild appears on a list of potential witnesses for the trial, scheduled to begin May 26 in Boston.
Gerhartsreiter, 48, is accused of snatching his daughter, Reigh, during a supervised visit in Boston in July. Their disappearance touched off an international manhunt. Father and daughter were found in Baltimore six days later, and the girl was unharmed.
His defense lawyers have repeatedly said that Gerhartsreiter was distraught after losing custody of his daughter to his ex-wife, Sandra Boss. They have said they plan to use an insanity defense.
Gerhartsreiter's lawyers are asking that prosecutors be prohibited from playing for the jury an emotional videotaped plea Boss made while her daughter was missing. The message was broadcast by media outlets while authorities searched for the girl.
California authorities have labeled him a "person of interest" in the 1985 disappearance of a newlywed couple from San Marino. He has not been charged in that case.
In addition to parental kidnapping, Gerhartsreiter also faces a charge of providing a false name to police and two assault charges.
He is accused of pushing a social worker who was supervising the father-daughter visit and putting the girl into a waiting car. The social worker suffered minor injuries.
Prosecutors filed a motion Monday asking the judge to allow them to play for the jury the social worker's 911 call.