Youssef Khater: His Worst Roommate Ever True Story Explained (& Where He Is Now)

One of the most chilling and prolific criminals documented in Netflix series Worst Roommate Ever was Youssef Khater, the subject of season 1, episode 3, “Marathon Man”. The Netflix true-crime series Worst Roommate Ever focuses on a different case each episode, each centering around people who ended up being roommates with criminals. In “Marathon Man”, narrator Callie Quinn tells the story of her time living in Chile with Youssef Khater.

Like several episode subjects in Worst Roommate Ever, Youssef Khater conned his victims into trusting him before revealing how sinister he truly was. When staying in a hostel in Chile with Callie Quinn and several others, Khater carried out a sustained campaign of fraud. However, his conning took an especially sinister turn - one made all the more shocking when it emerges where Youssef Khater is today.

Who Is Youssef Khater

The Subject Of "Marathon Man" Is A Prolific Scam Artist

Youssef Khater was one of the most prolific fraudsters featured in Worst Roommate Ever on Netflix. Originally from Denmark and born in 1978, Khater had been convicted of a string of crimes, some of them violent. The joint Danish and Lebanese national was arrested in 2009 for fraud, embezzlement, and forgery, as well as arson.

While charged, Youssef Khater never arrived in court in Denmark to stand trial. Instead, he headed to Chile, and his activities there are mostly what Worst Roomate Ever covers. Details about Youssef’s life prior to his crimes in Denmark and time in Chile are difficult to determine, mostly because he was a prolific liar.

For example, Youssef told many of his peers while living in Chile that he’d served in the Danish military as part of a special forces unit. This hasn’t been verified, though it is known that he served for a decade in Denmark’s Naval services (via Radio Times). It’s also confirmed he was dishonorably discharged for fraud when he was 28 years old.

What Did Youssef Khater Do In Worst Roommate Ever

Months Of Cons Led To Attempted Murder

The Netflix series Worst Roommate Ever gained Youssef Khater a significant amount of infamy. Episode 3, “Marathon Man”, focused on Khater’s crimes while in Chile during the early 2010s. Yousef used fraud to gain entry into Chile, posting as a marathon runner. This persona would be an integral aspect of his fraudulent activities while in the country.

While in Chile, Youssef Khater conned Dominic Rayner, a British athlete, out of around $100,000. As Worst Roommate Ever also disclosed, Khater also made victims of Rayner’s roommates, swindling various amounts from each. However, while incredibly devious, the fraud wasn’t the worst of Khater’s crimes during the time he was living in Latin America.

The most shocking of Youssef Khater’s crimes, and likely the reason he was selected as a subject for an episode of Worst Roommate Ever, is attempted murder. In 2012, Khater tried to kill both Dominic Rayner and his roommate Callie Quinn as details of his deception came to light. As shown in the Netflix series, Youssef Khater was tried and convicted for attempted murder. However, he only served 61 days in prison, after which he was extradited to Denmark.

Other Youssef Khater Scams That Weren’t Covered In The Netflix Show

Worst Roommate Ever Was Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

While the series of events shown in Worst Roommate Ever are shocking, they’re not the only crimes committed by Youssef Khater. Like many of the subjects in the show, the story that gained them attention is one of many. Khater was a prolific criminal, with his attempted murder of Callie Quinn and Dominic Rayner simply being a single incident in his history of lawbreaking.

After he walked free to Denmark following the events of Worst Roommate Ever, Youssef Khater returned to traveling the world.

After he walked free to Denmark following the events of Worst Roommate Ever, Youssef Khater returned to traveling the world. He next made headlines in 2014 in the Costa Rican town of Quepos. Once again it was for fraud, as he took on the name Joseph Carter to scam a Canadian woman out of $19,000. Once she figured out his real identity, he tried to smother her with a pillow in another case of attempted murder.

It’s also known that during this time, Youssef Khater was still pulling marathon-based cons, as he was spotted at a running event in Costa Rica. While still in Latin America after his prison sentence seen at the end of Worst Roommate Ever, Youssef Khater also tried to con a Texan man out of $3,500 with a scam involving phony orders for sportswear equipment. He was questioned by the local authorities for both cases, but there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against him.

Where Is Youssef Khater Now

The Would-Be Murderer Still Walks Free

One of the most shocking details of Worst Roommate Ever episode 3 is how little Youssef Khater was punished for his fraudulent activities and the attempted murders of Callie Quinn and Dominic Rayner. Firstly, his initial sentence of 600 days by the Chilean courts didn’t seem harsh enough.

While he hadn’t been successful in his murder attempt, the callous nature of all of his crimes showed he presented a clear danger to those around him.

While a sentence of under two years feels incredibly relaxed in and of itself, Youssef Khater didn’t even spend half of it behind bars. He was extradited to Denmark before the end of his sentence and released relatively soon by the Danish penal system.

He was re-arrested in Nicaragua for fraud in 2019, but once again found his way back to Denmark and a swift release from prison. From there, he continued traveling the world, and there have been multiple sightings of him since. The WordPress blog Youssef Khater - Scammer keeps tabs on sightings of the infamous fraudster, with reports of Khater attempting to con people in several countries over the years.

The most recent sightings of Youssef Khater were in the town of Hjorring, Denmark, in early 2023. Prior to this, he had been said to have been residing between the Italian island of Sardinia and France’s Corsica in 2022. It’s shocking that after so many murder attempts and successful fraud attempts, both including those seen in Worst Roommate Ever and in the time since, Youssef Khater is still free and, if reports are to be believed, continuing his criminal activities.