Marathon Man The latest Netflix true-crime mini-series
is a show called Worst Roommate Ever, and it’ll make you rethink the severity of all
your horrible roommate experiences.
Instead of focusing on one criminal for the entire series, like in The Tinder Swindler
or Bad Vegan, Worst Roommate Ever focuses on a new criminal per episode.
Episode three, 'Marathon Man' is about a Texas woman named Callie Quinn who moved to Chile
in 2011.
Little did she know that her new roommate, Youssef Khater, was a serial fraudster.
Some of his crimes include scamming Palestinian charities, stealing money from his housemates,
and even trying to bury Callie alive.
He only served 602 days in jail before being sent to Denmark in 2014, where he served another
three months.
Once out, Youssef adopted several fake identities to keep scamming people.
But this was just the beginning.
Youssef's story runs much deeper than you could ever imagine.
Two-sided Coin There are two sides to every coin.
In this instance, the "coin" is the relationship between Youssef and Callie.
Youssef was the oldest of the housemates.
He identified as a Palestinian, born in Israel but raised in Denmark.
After spending a few years in the Palestinian special forces, he moved to Chile under the
Federación Palestina de Chile, an organization representing Chile's large Palestinian population,
the largest outside of Palestine.
As an impressive athlete, the organization sponsored Youssef to break the record for
running the 2,653-mile length of Chile.
Youssef told his housemates about his intense physical training with the Danish special
forces during meals and downtime.
That training included standing in a room full of mace or swimming to the bottom of
a forty-foot-deep pool.
Two of the housemates, Ed and Sabi, loved listening to his stories.
Callie just rolled her eyes.
Callie was a bright-eyed girl who moved to Chile for her love of travel, sense of adventure,
and the easy visa process.
She taught English and moved into a twelve-bedroom house that seemed more like a hostel.
She became friends with all her housemates except for Youssef, who complained that she
talked too much.
But even Callie had to admit that Youssef seemed like an impressive guy.
When one of his friends or housemates got sick, he would run to the grocery store to
make them a vitamin C smoothie.
He gave away the sportswear he received from his sponsors, administered free acupuncture
to friends, and gathered his housemates for random movie nights with chocolate.
Callie was starting to come around to Youssef.
According to Youssef, he was born to a hard-working mother and a cruel father.
Youssef was one of five children.
In school, he was a popular, athletic kid who began running marathons at 11.
When his parents separated, he joined the Danish infantry at 18 and became one of the
few selected for the special forces.
But he was a wanted man in Denmark.
Even after charges were brought against him with plenty of evidence, Youssef maintained
his innocence with the stone-cold demeanor of a psychopath.
The Offer One day, Youssef mentioned to Callie that
he had just bought two new condos downtown and offered to rent them out to her and another
housemate, Molly.
He offered them a low price, and they accepted for just $1,000, which included the first
month's rent and security deposit.
The day before move-in, Callie set up a meeting with Youssef to get the keys to her new place.
Youssef arrived late to their meeting, because he was apparently planning a search and rescue
mission for three Danish women stranded in the Atacama desert.
Pretty noble, huh?
Youssef invited Callie out for dinner after and was surprised to find that she enjoyed
his company.
When their housemate Sabi called him, Callie could hear that she was upset.
Youssef owed Sabi money and hadn't paid her back for several months.
He promised to send the money back to the house with Callie.
During dinner, Youssef talked about a house that burned down in town that apparently had
a golden toilet.
He suggested they go and find it and Callie agreed.
They snuck into the burnt home, and as soon as Callie saw the regular beige toilet seat,
she turned to leave.
She had to be up early for work the next day, and it was already getting late.
Then Youssef attacked her.
He went on and on about owing people money and that it was all Calli's fault.
Callie passed out, and Yousseff left her there, never expecting her to return.
Exposed A frantic Sabi was nervous because Callie
hadn't answered her calls in hours.
Callie was supposed to be bringing home the money Youssef owed her—nearly $1,000.
She heard Youssef come home and start knocking on everyone's doors, asking if they'd seen
Callie.
Another housemate, Ed, suddenly saw Callie in her long puffy coat in the distance.
He and Youssef ran outside.
Callie began yelling at Youssef immediately, asking how he could do that to her.
Sabi and Molly saw Callie's wounded head and called a cab to the hospital.
Callie told them everything.
After Yousseff left her unconscious, Callie dreamed her family was screaming at her to
wake up.
She finally snapped awake to find she'd been wrapped in a tarp, stuffed in a closet, and
buried beneath a foot of ash.
Molly and Ed wanted to believe her but thought she must have been confused.
Youssef could never do something like that.
Ed and Sabi returned to the house.
Youssef pretended to be sympathetic when they described what happened to Callie but denied
the attack.
Youssef told Molly that his mother had died in the middle of the night, and he needed
to go back to Denmark.
He disappeared without a trace.
The next day, Callie woke up still coughing up ash.
She had Molly file a police report on her behalf.
A man came to take Callie's information, but she had difficulty remembering the entire
story.
To outsiders, it didn't make sense.
If Youssef tried to hurt her, why weren't there bruises on her neck?
Why would he get violent over such a small sum of money?
The report noted the incident as a dispute between two foreigners.
In the meantime, Molly tried to get in touch with Callie's family.
Finally, she reached her brother, John, on Facebook.
Callie's parents received word of the attack and Skyped with their injured daughter.
They wanted to hop on a plane and see her, but Callie said no.
She couldn't risk it with Youssef still on the loose.
But this is only the midpoint of Youssef's story.
Let's go back to the beginning.
Layers Carlos Medina was a member of the Federación
Palestina and an avid Chilean soccer fan.
Medina and his friend, Carlos Krauss, helped raise $8,000 to sponsor Youssef in the Atacama
race, a 155-mile race through the Atacama desert in Chili.
Medina and Krauss were excited to show a different side of the Palestinian people.
But on the second day of the race, Youssef dropped out, saying that the marathon organizers
noticed a tear in his leg and forced him to exit the course.
Youssef said it was racially motivated.
So, Medina and Krauss took Youssef to get the "tear" examined by a doctor and prove
wrongdoing.
But when the diagnosis came in—no muscle tear—Youssef stopped responding to their
texts and calls.
Medina and Krauss contacted Youssef's friend, Dominic Rayner, a fellow marathoner from England,
who said Youssef owed him money.
Rayner previously bought him $12,000 worth of Under Armor gear and paid $38,000 to purchase
properties in Brazil that Youssef suggested they could invest in together.
The real estate broker kept giving excuses for why he couldn't send Rayner a receipt
and then accidentally signed one email as "Youssef."
Rayner demanded his money, and Youssef gave him two options: the money could be wired
to him, or he could come to Chili and get it.
Rayner decided to meet Youssef at the airport in Chile.
But of course, Youssef was nowhere to be found.
Twelve hours later, Yousef met Rayner in the city and took him on a walk to show him where
he was living.
It was the house that Callie would move into two weeks later.
The next day, Youssef took him on a 3-hour hike to the city's outskirts where their lawyer
worked.
At one point, Rayner dropped down to tie his shoe.
Then, Youssef charged at him with a walking stick and struck him.
Youssef charged at Rayner and was about to take his life when he noticed two people watching
nearby.
He pushed Rayner into a ditch and urged him not to tell anyone what happened.
He told Rayner that he spent all his money, a total of $55,000.
Rayner left Santiago the next day and filed a report with the British Metropolitan Police
Service and Interpol.
No one knew where Youssef was hiding.
The Takedown Criminal attorney Roco Berríos heard Medina,
Rayner, and Callie's stories and wanted to track down Youssef.
It seemed like everywhere he went, money disappeared.
He stole cash from a friend's bag and blamed the hostel owner.
Then, he persuaded a Norwegian athlete to invest $10,000 in property in Brazil and then
stole the cash.
He even convinced people in Denmark to transfer $28,000 to purchase flights and then kept
the money for himself.
Youssef's crime spree was documented across Denmark.
Though arrested in 2009 for several of his crimes, he failed to appear in court for his
trial in January 2011.
He was still wanted for arson, embezzlement, forgery, and fraud.
Palestinian activist Maher Khatib heard about Youssef's crimes and was furious at how he
was damaging the reputation of the Palestinian people.
After tons of research, he found Youssef's sister on Facebook, who was a lawyer in Copenhagen.
As soon as she picked up the phone, she started crying, saying that Youssef had destroyed
her entire family's lives.
Not only that, but he created an entire web of lies.
He wasn't born in Haifa; he was born in Beirut.
He wasn't even Palestinian.
He was Lebanese.
Berríos communicated all of this to Youssef's victims via email.
Together, they figured out the perfect plan.
They discovered that Youssef had just written to his ex-girlfriend asking for money for
an arm and leg amputation.
If she wired him the money, the police could get him when he picked it up.
But the night before the transfer, Youssef told his ex he was sending a Taiwanese "sponsor"
named Lin Chia-Min to pick up the cash instead.
Officers tracked Chia-Min to a Chilexpress money agency, where they found Youssef sitting
in the car and arrested him.
Two days before Callie's 24th birthday, she received an email from Berríos saying, "We
got him."
But still, he denied attacking Callie.
A psychologist saw him at Santiago Uno jail, awaiting trial without bail.
After many tests and interviews, Youssef admitted to striking Callie in the head but said he
never intended to hurt her.
He just wanted to confuse her into thinking he had returned her condo deposit.
The psychologist said that Youssef displayed narcissistic, paranoid, and asocial traits.
He lacked empathy and used his friends.
He showed many of the classic psychopath traits—he was charismatic, egotistical, promiscuous,
and a liar.
Most importantly, he had no conscience.
Light Sentence Youssef was basically out of prison in three
years between his sentences in Chile and Denmark.
In Chile, there are two kinds of attempted murder charges.
One is for those who try to hurt someone and fail.
The other is for those who have a plan and then abort the mission.
The latter carries a much softer penalty.
Berríos believed Youssef was guilty of the first charge but tried to prove the second
because the witnesses, aka Callie's old housemates, were scattered around the world and couldn't
testify.
On the other hand, Youssef's attorney believed he could win him a short sentence because
he was a first-time offender in Chile.
Berríos showed the judge Youssef's criminal record from Denmark, but it had little effect.
The judge sentenced Youssef to 541 days for attempted murder and 61 days for fraud.
Youssef, however, had already served more than half of his sentence while awaiting trial.
After prison in Chile, he was extradited to Denmark, facing five more charges.
Unfortunately, they acquitted Youssef of three charges and released him three months later.
Back at It One September day, Callie received an email
from Berríos with a link to a news article about Youssef.
He apparently fled to Costa Rica, where he met a Canadian Traveler named Sheena Taylor
and scammed her out of $19,000.
Taylor was a down-on-her-luck single mother, and Youssef was just what she needed.
He held a birthday party for her daughter, brought her breakfast in bed, and took her
shopping.
But there were some red flags, like when Youssef said he could leave her in the jungle and
nobody would find her, or when he pressed a pillow to her face.
But she looked past these things because of the happiness Youssef brought her.
One day, Youssef never returned to their room in the hostel.
A concerned Taylor went to the bank only to discover that someone had drained her bank
account.
Youssef took her bank card and memorized her PIN.
All her savings were gone.
When he arrived in Quepos, Costa Rica, the previous June, Youssef adopted the alias "Joseph
Carter" so no one discovered his real identity.
He asked a Texas-born store owner, Todd Flanders, to spot him for $3,500 of Under Armor clothes,
promising that his sponsors would reimburse him later.
Flanders was known around the town of Quepos for his incredible generosity and big personality.
When Youssef told Flanders that thieves stole $10,000 from him, Flanders agreed to spot
him during a tough time.
The two became friends and went to a boxing gym together.
When Flanders told Youssef that he was getting divorced and fighting for custody of his children,
Youssef offered to help by getting ahold of second-hand cellphones that Flanders could
sell at his shop and use the profits for legal fees.
But the cellphones never arrived, and neither did the money from Youssef's sponsors.
Taylor found Flanders by tracing one of Youssef's sportswear packages.
Taylor and Flanders started piecing together Youssef's story through Danish and Chilean
newspaper articles.
When Flanders confronted Youssef on Whatsapp, he stopped responding.
Flanders and Taylor reported Youssef to Costa Rica's FBI.
But just like Callie's case, they dismissed Youssef's activities as "disputes between
foreigners."
When Callie heard about this, she was heartbroken.
After everything she went through, Youssef was still at it—destroying people's lives.
Callie emailed Taylor, who never responded.
Then, Callie found out that Flanders took his own life after losing one daughter and
a fierce custody battle for the others.
Aftermath Still, Youssef roams free.
Callie imagined him walking the streets of Costa Rica, charming women, and swindling
strangers.
But Digital Spy reported that Youssef moved to Nicaragua in 2019, where he served a few
months for fraud and was extradited back to Denmark.
He probably started life under a new name and will do it all over again.
Click to watch one of these next videos!
And let us know in the comment section what would you rather do right now, have to take
on a roommate OR have to pay double your rent or mortgage!