06x11 - Photo Finish

[bunniefuu]

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.