As the title suggests, Netflix’s ‘Worst Roommate Ever’ digs deep into those tales wherein seemingly ordinary housemates turned out to be nothing but hustlers, felons, and in some cases, even murderers. This anthology series thus not only examines matters such as that of infamous serial killer and murderer, but it also looks at people like Youssef Khater (in ‘Marathon Man’).
Youssef Khater is a Danish citizen of Lebanese origin who has reportedly been conning and manipulating people for his own selfish, financial benefits for years. In fact, the episode suggests that he has gone to such extremes in his (needless) pursuits that even his family has “kicked him out” and cut off ties with him (likely before the 2010s). He claimed to be a youth football trainer, a military veteran, and an athlete over time, yet the only thing that every report agrees upon is that he’s a dangerously charismatic individual who often uses his skills/looks to deceive others.
Youssef had managed to convince over 50 people in his homeland to give him thousands of dollars for a trip to a prince-owned “sports city” in Dubai. When the travel period approached, though, he made countless excuses for the delay and then eventually alleged that every single penny was lost in a “fire” of his home. He was then indicted for arson, embezzlement, forgery, and theft, making it come to light that he’d been dishonorably discharged from the Danish Marines after ten years of service – at 28 – for fraud as well.
However, Youssef fled before he was to stand trial for the various schemes he’d concocted by pretending to be a Palestinian origin runner who wished to represent his roots at the ultra-marathons in South America. He actually influenced the local leaders of the Palestinian community to finance his entire trip, which is how he went from Denmark to Brazil and ultimately landed in Santiago. It was there that Youssef cheated many more, including girlfriends as well as roommates, and ended up attacking Dominic Rayner before almost killing Callie Quinn to not get caught.
Youssef Khater had essentially buried his housemate, 23-year-old Callie Quinn, alive in an attempt to save face — he’d told his creditors he’d give her a bag full of cash to pay what he owed, so her vanishing would get him off the hook. But thankfully, she survived, returned, and fought hard to get some justice, even after he’d escaped from their shared place the morning after by claiming that his mother had passed. He was apprehended following a sting operation just a short while later, and the ensuing trial led to him being convicted for her attempted murder.
Youssef was sentenced to only 600 days behind bars in 2012, after which he was deported to Denmark to face legal proceedings for the pending charges against him. The felon was acquitted of three out of five counts there, leading him to spend just another short stint – three months – in prison before he was a free man for good. That’s when he traveled to Costa Rica and allegedly committed additional frauds, only for no subsequent arrests to stick.
Since there have been no further developments in the case, we only know that Youssef was last positively located in his home country, Denmark, back in 2018. He has used the alias’ of Joseph Carter and Josef Maria in the past, indicating that he may be using them, or a new name, right now. With that said, it also means that no one knows where the male who has even been accused of seducing “many kind, generous, and smart women along the way” is these days.
Carlos, the organiser of the Marathon that Youseeff attended, was so moved by the stories of the victims, that he started a blog to update the public about Youseeff .
