The creepy “Clark Rockefeller” case that riveted New Yorkers gets the Erin Moriarty/“48 Hours” treatment Saturday (10 p.m./Ch. 2) — featuring Moriarty’s exclusive jailhouse interview with slippery, German-born con man Christian Gerhartsreiter (aka “Clark Rockefeller,” “Christopher Crowe” and other aliases).
He’s currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of the 1982 murder of John Sohus in California. (Sohus’ wife, Linda, vanished and has never been heard from since).
That murder came into focus when, in 2008, Gerhartsreiter — then passing himself off as Clark Rockefeller (of the Rockefellers) and living in New York City — abducted his 7-year-old daughter which, in turn, led to his shady past being exposed. “On the one hand he is creepy, and on the other hand, here’s a guy who came to this country at age 17 and, purely by what he read and saw on TV and in the movies, created these personas that fooled people — and he did it for almost 30 years,” says Moriarty. “There’s almost a begrudging respect on my part. But in other ways the people he fooled abetted his schemes . . . I really think we’re giving him more credit than he deserves because, in a way, he became what people wanted him to be.”
Moriarty says there was a lot of tension during her sitdown with Gerharsreiter. “He refuses to give me his name . . . and then he pulls back,” she says. “He’s one of the most difficult interviews I’ve ever done, because he wasn’t there to be open and honest — he wanted to see if he could pull the wool over our eyes.
“He won’t deal with his feelings, or how he feels about his daughter or the victims of his scams,” she says. “He’s constantly playing a game of chess in a losing position. Though he’s in prison for life he says it’s just a ‘minor inconvenience.’ ”
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Last, but not least …
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (“The Help”) reteams with her movie co-star Allison Janney when she guest-stars on Monday’s “Mom” (9:30 p.m./Ch. 2) . . . Broadway’s Emily Bergl (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”) has joined Showtime’s “Shameless” as a twice-married mother involved with Frank (William H. Macy) . . . Sunday on Jonathan Clarke’s “Out Of The Box” (Q104.3): The Band’s Robbie Robertson talks about a newly unearthed 1971 concert of The Band (at the old Academy Of Music) . . . Exec producers Pierre David and Tom Berry really knockin’ em out — three movies airing over the next three Saturdays on Lifetime: “Missing at 17” (Oct. 19), “The Husband She Met Online” (Oct. 26), “The Preacher’s Mistress” (Nov. 2).