Suspect 'talked a big story'

The man known as Clark Rockefeller slipped into Baltimore months ago with ambitions to restore historic city property, quickly passing himself off as the owner of a local real estate agency with ties to the New York City elite.

"He talked a big story," said Bruce Boswell, a North Baltimore man who said he sold a 26-foot catamaran to Rockefeller for $10,000 in cash at the beginning of the summer. "He's a very engaging guy with big ideas. I trusted him completely."

Rockefeller told Boswell that he owns Obsidian Realty Co. - a claim seemingly substantiated when they did a business deal in the company's Fells Point office after hours, Boswell said.

Company employees declined to comment yesterday, other than to say Rockefeller was not an owner and never worked there.

As confusing details of Rockefeller emerged yesterday, police and federal authorities sought yesterday to learn more of this mysterious man and why he chose Baltimore to apparently establish a new life. They indicated they weren't even sure Rockefeller was his real name - and the wealthy family has made it clear he is not related.

After a weeklong international hunt that had law enforcement searching from New York to the Caribbean, Rockefeller was arrested in Baltimore's Mount Vernon neighborhood Saturday afternoon, his 7-year-old daughter found unharmed in an apartment he had been renting for about a month.

Boston police said that Rockefeller struck a social worker last weekend after a supervised visit and disappeared with Reigh Boss. The girl was reunited with her mother, Sandra Boss, yesterday.

Rockefeller was charged in a warrant yesterday with kidnapping a minor by a relative, battery and assault, according to court records. He was being held without bail at Central Booking. A court hearing is scheduled for today.

Boswell was floored to learn yesterday that he had sold his boat to the man at the center of this national news story.

"Aw jeez," he said. "That is amazing. Are you pulling my leg?"

He said that two months earlier, a man calling himself Chip MacLaughlin approached him at the marina and asked to purchase his boat. "I was happy to sell that boat," Boswell said.

But details about the deal struck Boswell as odd. The man sought to register the boat under another name. He wanted to use Chip Smith.

"He said he didn't like the name MacLaughlin," Boswell recalled.

Boswell said the man took him to Obsidian's Fells Point offices, punched in an alarm code, entered the office and wrote up a bill of sale. But the man did not seem to have a personal office there, which also stuck Boswell as odd.

In the end, the pair decided to do the deal in cash. Boswell got a $500 deposit that day. The pair later met and Boswell received the balance of the $10,000 in cash - all in $20s and $50s. State records reviewed by a law enforcement source shows the boat is still registered to Boswell.

The two became friendly, sharing a drink at a neighborhood bar. There Rockefeller described his plans to purchase the historic Mayflower Theater in West Baltimore from the city and restore it.

He talked about his friends at the Century Club, a tony New York City social center. But, Boswell observed, the man said negative things about women.

Rockefeller told Boswell that he had chosen to move to this area to be closer to a sister. He suggested that he might look to set up corporations in Delaware, Boswell said.

Boswell said his brother Harry owned the slip at Anchorage Marina where the boat is kept and was leasing it to Rockefeller for $2,200 a year.

Harry Boswell declined to be interviewed.

Related topic galleries: Real Estate Agents, Clark Rockefeller, Mount Vernon, Law Enforcement, Fells Point, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maritime Accidents

• BUSINESS OFFICE MANAGER

• AUTO MECHANIC

• AUTO BODY

• ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

• HEALTH SCIENTIST ADMIN

• View all Top Jobs