The Murder of Linda Sobeck

Murdered Model

Charles Rathbun was one of the best in the business.

As an automotive photographer, he had a special talent for making fast cars look faster and sleek cars even more glamorous. He also had a particular talent for posing beautiful women next to these shiny four-wheeled subjects.

Dubbed “cheesecake-and-car” shots, Rathbun’swork frequently appeared in automotive magazines.

It was ironic, then, that the very thing that brought him a measure of fame and fortune was also the thing that sent him to prison for the rest of his life. Rathbun was convicted of murdering Linda Sobek, a model and former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader, during an assignment in which he was photograph her driving a sport utility vehicle.

Charles Rathbun

Initially, he claimed he accidentally ran over Sobek while trying to demonstrate a high-speed turn. He said he panicked and buried the body. But the investigation revealed that Sobek was raped and died from asphyxiation.The defense tried to prove there was no rape, that the sex was consensual.

The defense offered the court a set of photographs it claimed Rathbun took in the back seat of the vehicle during the alleged sex act. However, using sophisticated computer technologies, detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office compared the pictures with photos taken of Sobek after her death. It was unmistakable. The woman in the pictures was not Linda Sobek. Infact, it wasn’t even the same vehicle.

Images of Linda