Breathtaking beaches
and beautiful bodies
Explain why southern california
is often the first choice
For motion-picture
and still photographers.
In 1995, linda sobek,
a busy model
With a growing reputation,
Vanished on her way
to a photo sh**t.
Linda's photographic
images
Helped launch
her career
And would also solve the mystery
of her disappearance.
Hermosa beach, california,
Is just 15 miles south
of downtown los angeles.
The sun, surf, and sand
attract the young and beautiful.
Linda sobek, a 27-year-old
blond model and actress,
Lived right
off the boardwalk.
She was a cheerleader
for the los angeles
raiders football team
And was a popular
bikini, lingerie,
and calendar model.
She also aspired
to be an actress.
At 5'3", 103 pounds,
and 24-inch waist,
She was too short and athletic
for high fashion work,
But her good looks
and well-toned body
Brought many assignments.
On thursday morning,
november 16, 1995,
Linda was paged
for a last-minute photo sh**t.
Linda grabbed
some clothes,
Left a message with her mother
that she'd call later,
And headed off.
She was never seen
or heard from again.
Man: "hey, don't worry,
you know.
"Linda's got things to do.
She's out working.
She probably just took off
and was doing something."
And mom kept saying, "no.
No. I know something
else is wrong."
Narrator: later that day,
linda had an audition
For the married...with children
television series,
But she failed
to show up.
Anyone that knew linda
knew there's no way
She would ever have missed
that interview or that audition,
And that really was
a signal to her parents
To start
an intensive search.
The family had been
distributing numerous fliers--
I think, like, 53,000 fliers--
with a $20,000 reward.
Woman: I had one
of her address books,
And I just started making
phone calls to all of the girls.
Narrator: apparently, linda had
broken some of her own rules
About modeling
assignments.
No one knew where she was
or the name of the photographer.
Since she took this assignment
outside of her modeling agency,
They had no information, either.
In a trash bin,
A worker in the angeles
national forest
Found some pictures
of a beautiful woman.
He took them home
because they were so well done.
Robinson: he went home.
He had the pictures
in his backpack,
And he forgot about it
until monday night,
And he was
watching television,
And he saw the tv coverage
of the sobek investigation.
Narrator: when the man
realized
The photos were of the model
reported missing,
He immediately
called police.
Just a short distance away,
The skeletal remains
of another blond model--
Were discovered.
Like linda, kim had been
called at the last minute
For a modeling assignment
With an unknown
photographer.
Her m*rder
was never solved.
But the thought
that linda was somewhere
In the angeles national forest
was daunting.
It's an area approximately
About the size
of the state of rhode island.
As the days passed,
Investigators
suspected foul play.
Narrator: a few days
After linda sobek's
disappearance,
Charles rathbun, a commercial
freelance photographer,
Called police
with some information.
He said he was with linda
at a denny's restaurant
On the morning
of her disappearance.
Woman: here's
my older pictures...
He said they discussed
her portfolio,
And after the meeting,
rathbun said the two
went their separate ways.
Linda's car was found
In the parking lot
of the restaurant.
Tests on the vehicle
found no evidence of foul play.
But police were starting
to get suspicious.
Among the items
found in the trash bin
In angeles
national forest,
Along with linda's photographs
and datebook,
Was a rental agreement
For a lexus
sports utility vehicle.
The name on the document
was charles rathbun.
Rathbun said
the rental agreement
Probably got mixed up
with linda's portfolio
during their meeting.
Rathbun shot photographs
of the lexus later that day
For autoweek magazine,
And he returned the car
the next day.
Even though the lexus
had been washed thoroughly
Inside and out,
Police found a number
of clues.
In the backseat was
a suspicious red stain.
A phenolphthalein test
revealed the stain was blood.
Further tests showed
it was human blood.
In the cargo area
was a car cover
Which tested positive
not only for blood,
But traces
of human saliva.
With no other leads,
Investigators wanted to know
if the lexus had been
In the angeles
national forest,
Where linda's photographs
were discovered.
Man: basically,
we put vaseline on a tire,
Roll it across posterboard,
And then use magnetic
fingerprint powder
To enhance that tire track
that's on the posterboard.
Woman: and it essentially makes
a tire print on this board
That's indicative
of the tire tread
That might have been left
back at a particular scene.
Narrator: but finding
a tire impression
In a forest covering
over 1,000 square miles
Wouldn't be easy.
Not surprisingly,
charles rathbun was
interrogated again,
And this time,
he changed his story.
Rathbun now said he hired
linda to model for him
in the photo sh**t
With the lexus
sports utility vehicle.
Rathbun and sobek
drove to el mirage,
A dry lake bed about 2 hours
north of hermosa beach.
Linda's assignment was to drive
the vehicle in tight circles
While rathbun took
photographs.
Can you show me?
You think you got
a feel for it or--
No.
You want me to show you?
All right. Yeah. This'll
just take a second.
[Closes car door]
Narrator: rathbun
demonstrated the maneuver
While linda stood by
and watched.
Rathbun said he lost control
of the vehicle
And accidentally hit
linda, k*lling her.
According to rathbun,
he panicked,
Put linda's body
in the vehicle,
Drove to a deserted location
in the angeles national forest,
And buried the body
somewhere there.
Bowman:
he was very vague.
He kept saying,
"I can't remember."
He would break into tears
And say, "I'm not sure,
I'm not sure.
"I don't know
where she is exactly,
But I can take you there."
Narrator: the lexus showed
no signs of exterior damage
Consistent
with an accident.
Investigators thought linda
might still be alive
And pressed rathbun
To lead them
to her grave.
But the search
was unsuccessful.
Bowman: he was leading them
on a wild goose chase.
He knew exactly
where she was,
And he was trying to stall
to buy more time,
Hoping that
linda's body
Would be decomposed by the time
we did find it.
Narrator: investigators
pushed rathbun yet again
For information,
This time touring the forest
in a helicopter.
After a number
of failed attempts,
Rathbun finally lead them
to linda's body.
She was buried
next to a tree
In a shallow 2-foot grave.
The left tire impression
of the lexus was found
In the soft sand nearby.
Robbins: she,
surprisingly,
Was perfectly preserved.
For a 9-day burial,
I was not optimistic
That we would have a lot
of soft tissue left
To diagnose exactly
what happened,
And I was surprised.
Narrator: a forensic
archeologist
Was brought in to retain
anything of evidentiary value.
The autopsy would reveal
the true cause of death,
Whether it was
an accident or homicide.
Narrator: linda sobek's autopsy
revealed an enormous amount
Of information about her death.
Except for blood
above her right ear,
Her body showed
no external signs
of an automobile injury.
Her blood alcohol level
Was 0.13,
Well above the state limit
for intoxication.
She died not from
an automobile accident,
As charles rathbun
claimed,
But by asphyxiation.
Woman: she struggled
against it.
It caused a hemorrhage
in the lungs,
As well as all
in the neck and the eyes,
Which is typical
for somebody
Who's being asphyxiated
against their will.
So she was aware, awake,
Struggling for her life
at that time.
Asphyxiation is the most
common mechanism used
In homicidal
sexual as*ault.
Narrator: and there
were other injuries--
Bruises, a twisted wrist,
And ligature marks
on her ankles.
Hill: that showed that her legs
had been forcibly spread apart
And held
in that position.
She struggled
against those restraints
Because there
were abrasions
Up and down her legs
indicating a struggle.
Narrator: and the body
appeared to have been washed.
She was not
wearing makeup,
And it appeared that
her clothing had been
changed before burial.
Robbins: I call this
a girl thing,
But I was very troubled
With the position
of her clothing.
The position of her zipper
was such that it was all
the way up to her neck,
And this concerned me
Because I don't think
that's a natural position.
Most women wear clothing
sort of in the mid-chest region,
And this was
an unnatural position.
Narrator: there was also
evidence of forcible sodomy.
A look into
charles rathbun's past
Revealed a man
with a mercurial personality
Which had cost him a number
of freelance projects.
Robinson: he could be
very personal and charming.
He could lose his temper
and almost go ballistic,
Throw things around
at a photo sh**t.
He could talk to models
And be very personable
and polite to them
And then go
behind the camera
And say very derogatory things
about them.
Narrator: a few years
earlier,
In columbus, ohio,
Charles rathbun
was arrested
And charged with the r*pe
of a married coworker.
Rathbun claimed the encounter
was consensual,
And he was acquitted.
The search
of rathbun's home
Revealed a collection
of over 200 g*ns.
Of particular interest
Was a .45-caliber
semiautomatic p*stol.
Robbins:
the g*n was examined
For the presence of blood,
Due to the hypothesis
That the sexual as*ault expert
had that this was used
In the sexual as*ault
of the victim.
In doing so,
you initially examine the w*apon
With just regular
room lighting,
And no blood was observed.
But when I tested
the g*n chemically--
Or I used presumptive
blood tests
In the examination
of the g*n--
I did detect a positive
presumptive test for blood
On the breach-face surface
of that w*apon.
Well, we found a lot of evidence
from his house
And from talking
to his friends
That he did have
a dislike for blonds
And that he did have a dislike
for some women in particular,
That he had referred to linda
as a little bitch
And being difficult
to work with.
Narrator: charles rathbun
was arrested and charged
With first-degree m*rder
And sodomy
with a foreign object.
Rathbun continued
to maintain
That linda's death
was an accident.
He said linda
was drinking that day,
And after striking her
accidentally with the lexus,
She began kicking
and screaming.
While trying
to subdue linda,
Rathbun accidentally
suffocated her.
Man: almost ludicrous
To think that she would drink
while on a photo sh**t,
Especially when you think
that she had an interview
With a television program
Scheduled for later
that evening,
Um, that she would
compromise herself.
Narrator: then rathbun
delivered a bombshell.
He claimed his sexual encounter
with linda that day
Wasn't forced at all,
That it was
consensual,
And he claimed to have
nude photographs to prove it.
Ok, babe.
Looking good.
Narrator: charles rathbun
claimed that linda sobek
Willingly engaged
in sex with him
Before
the automobile accident
And had taken photographs
of linda that day
Which would prove it.
Ah, that's hot.
That's really,
really hot.
The defendant
told his brother
That there were some photographs
in the desert
That would prove
his innocence
And prove that linda consented
to sexual relations with him,
Drew him a map of where to find
these rolls of film,
And that the defendant's
brother robert rathbun
and his girlfriend
Drove out up
into the mountains
And were able to find
these 5 rolls of film
In the middle
of the desert
After months of exposure
To the sun and the wind
and the rain.
Narrator: robert rathbun
found 5 rolls of film,
But instead of turning them
over to police,
He developed
the film himself.
G-rated pictures
Of linda posing at el mirage
in 2 different outfits.
In some
of the pictures,
Linda's outfit
looked disheveled,
And there was a hole
in her thigh-high stockings,
Raising questions about whether
linda posed willingly.
That's good, babe.
Oh, perfect.
The fifth roll
was water-damaged,
double-exposed,
And pornographic.
Robbins: the fifth roll
of film was a series
Of double-exposed pictures,
Of a vehicle,
And 11 images which were fairly
x-rated and pornographic
Of female genitalia.
You could see no head,
no face, really no body,
Just hands
in a couple sh*ts
And primarily a closeup
of female genitalia.
Man: the mystery of this
was it was clouded
by the water damage,
So we're only seeing
bits and pieces
Of these various frames
or various photographs.
According to the defense,
those pictures indicated
That linda sobek
had engaged
In consensual sexual behavior
with the defendant
On the day that they took
the pictures in the vehicle
And the day she disappeared
and died.
Narrator: but were
the photographs
Of linda sobek?
With the help
of the sheriff's photolab
and an aerospace company,
The pictures
were enhanced.
Robbins: the aerospace
corporation
Scanned these images in
And assisted me for 3 days,
going over, pixel by pixel,
The significance
of what we were seeing.
Narrator: in the background,
You could see
some of the elements
Of the automobile's
dashboard,
But the logo
on the steering wheel
Was not that of a lexus.
It was an oldsmobile
prototype
Rathbun photographed
on a previous project.
Robbins: the steering wheel
on the questioned vehicle
Has an entirely different logo
than the lexus.
It has cruise controls
that are in the steering wheel
That the lexus vehicle
does not have.
Narrator: but were
the nude pictures of linda?
Investigators compared the body
of the woman in the photographs
To pictures taken
during linda's autopsy.
Hill: it was clear
That this was not
linda sobek,
And in no way did it show
any type of consensual act.
The dress was wrong,
the car seat was wrong,
The hands that you see
within the pictures
Have a very
masculine appearance
And don't appear to be
consistent with our victim.
You know,
the list goes on and on.
Narrator: and prosecutors
did not believe rathbun's
accident scenario.
They suspected
that when rathbun
Was taking photographs
that day,
For linda, it was a job;
To rathbun,
an opportunity.
The forensic evidence suggested
that rathbun struck her
On the right side
of the head,
Twisted linda's arm,
tied her ankles,
And sexually assaulted her,
possibly with his g*n.
He may have forced her
to consume the alcohol.
The deep bruises
on her ankles
Indicated linda
desperately tried to escape.
After the as*ault,
Rathbun caused linda's death
by asphyxiation.
Linda's blood and saliva
Were found
on the car cover
In the cargo area,
And evidence suggests
rathbun washed linda's face
And redressed
the body
In an effort to conceal
what happened.
He later disposed
of linda's personal items
In a dumpster
But made the mistake
of including
The lexus rental agreement
in his name.
Charles rathbun
was convicted
Of first-degree m*rder
and sodomy
And was sentenced to life
in prison without parole.
Bowman: I think mr. Rathbun had
not emotionally matured
Past probably the age
of 18 or 19 years old
And was not able
to handle rejection by women
And acted out
those poor feelings
In very inappropriate ways
Ranging from inappropriate
comments to sexual advances
To touchings
to actual r*pes
And finally culminating
in linda's m*rder.
The forensic evidence
in this case, I think,
was all-important.
Those photographs
that he introduced
To save him
and provide his defense
Were, in fact, what
caused his conviction.
Narrator:
the sobek family
Believes
that robert rathbun
Should have been charged
with evidence tampering
For his role
in the discovery of the film.
Robert rathbun
admitted on the stand
That he had destroyed
the map
That his brother had drawn
And that had led him
to these canisters of film.
Of its own accord, he has
admitted to his own guilt.
Narrator:
prosecutors suspect
That charles rathbun also
may have been involved
In kimberly pandelios'
death.
Kim met an unidentified
photographer
At a denny's restaurant
On the day she disappeared,
And her remains
were discovered
Just a few miles
from linda sobek's.
06x11 - Photo Finish
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.