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Fake Rockefeller’s lawyer rips into gullibility of ex-wife

LOS ANGELES — Testimony in the murder trial of a Rockefeller impostor turned dramatic yesterday when the defense demanded to know how his ex-wife could be so dumb.

Sandra Boss became increasingly defensive as attorney Jeffrey Denner listed the preposterous lies of the man she believed was “Clark Rockefeller”:

* He claimed he couldn’t speak until age 10 or 11 because of aphasia, but when he saw a dog, he suddenly said “woofness” and was able to speak perfectly.

* He said he entered an advanced-math program at Harvard at 14 without any formal schooling.

* He claimed he gave the US Navy $50 million to settle a lawsuit, but never contributed a dime to his and Boss’ household.

* He said he had a master key that would allow him to enter doors all over Rockefeller Center.

* He asserted he was a member of the Trilateral Commission and had been appointed to the Federal Reserve.

To these and several other whoppers, Boss replied, “I didn’t form an opinion [about what] he told me.”

During 90 minutes of cross-examination, Boss referred only to “the defendant,” not calling him Rockefeller or his real name, Christian Gerhartsreiter.

Gerhartsreiter, a former exchange student from Germany, is on trial in the murder of John Sohus, in whose San Marino, Calif., guest house the defendant lived before Sohus and his wife vanished in 1985.

Gerhartsreiter adopted a series of aliases after moving to the East Coast and was “Clark Rockefeller” when he met and began dating Boss in Manhattan in 1993.

Denner pounded away at Boss, suggesting to the jury that someone as brilliant as she was, earning more than $1 million a year as a financial consultant, couldn’t be as gullible as she claimed.

“He was not always forthcoming with his activities with me,” she said.

“You believed him? He did not tell you anything?” Denner replied.

“What do you think?” she said loudly and glared at the defense attorney.

Laughter and snickers were heard from the jurors and Superior Court audience as Denner listed the various lies.

Under questioning on the alleged Rockefeller Center master key, Boss conceded, “I guess now I know it was probably a lie. I think he lied pretty consistently.”

The defense did not call Gerhartsreiter to the stand and rested after questioning two handwriting analysts to suggest John Sohus’ wife, Linda, is alive. The defense has suggested she could be responsible for the murder.