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Sherri Rasmussen · Justice For

• JusticeFor: February 24th, 1986 started like a completely ordinary Monday. A young husband headed off to work. His wife stayed home debating whether she might call in sick. Nothing about that morning suggested that by nightfall, one of them would be dead and the other would be walking into a crime scene that investigators would misread for more than two decades. Because when the police first stepped into that quiet condo, They believed they were looking at a burglary gone wrong. What they didn't realize was that this case wasn't random at all. It was deeply, painfully personal. Welcome back to another episode of Justice Four. We are your host. I'm Jackie. And I'm Sam. What the fuck dude? Dude that was a good cold open though. That was. Listen, I need you guys to know she's been talking about this case for months. This was the original live show that she decided not to go with. And I am, I am, I'm here for it. I got a text last night yesterday that said, oops, my script is 20 pages. Yeah. I hope you guys are ready for a long one. Alrighty then. This may or may not be two parts. We haven't decided yet. At least we're giving you the heads up now. That's true. That is very true. Also, I should calm down with this. She really should because honestly, I'm like, ⁓ this is like similar to another case. Which one? I saw the pictures and I can't tell you guys or else you guys are going to start talking about things. I know I have problem. You do have a problem. I have a poisoning problem. You have this problem. ⁓ Also, I hate to do this to you guys. Please do not confuse this with my last episode either that was also a two-parter Our victims name is also Sherry. I can't with her anyway, sorry shameless plug Go follow us on all of our socials, anywhere you listen to ⁓ podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Audible. I Heart Radio, ⁓ at Justice For podcast, also at justiceforpodcast.com. Go ahead and submit cases, buy some merch, check out everything on there. We do have pictures from all of our episodes. We have resources for you. Just make sure you're following and subscribed everywhere you can, because it's free, guys. None of our stuff makes you pay to do any of that. So just make sure you're following so you never miss any updates. We have a lot going on with the Corey Richards trial still. So I am on our Facebook and Instagram and TikTok all the time. So feel free to reach out, talk to us about it. We want to hear your thoughts. We're a little over two weeks into that trial. Yeah. So go watch the recaps, go read everything. It's great. I am so excited for this. Absolutely. I hope you're ready. This is a good one. It's also a nice break from trial. So let's get into this. More than 50 % of women murdered in the United States are killed by someone they once trusted, someone they once loved. It's a statistic investigators know all too well. Because when a woman is killed, the danger usually isn't a stranger in the dark. It's someone already inside the story. But in February of 1986, when 29-year-old Sherry Rasmussen was found murdered inside her condo, police were convinced they were dealing with something else entirely. Kind of. So like, were we blaming the husband? Well, hold, hold. Hold, I'm holding? I mean, okay, on that statistic, know, statistically, it's always the husband. You know what I mean? Like so much so that at my sister's wedding, I literally had them both look at each other in the eyes and go. You are now currently looking to the eyes of the person statistically most likely to kill you. She did. I was there. It was a great time. So that's why I said, I'm pretty sure everything in the picture. The photographer also heard that and laughed and that's why she came and gave us a story. Yes. Well, as I said that I had two people immediately yell, you're the one with the podcast. Yeah, that happened from the very beginning. The case was framed as a burglary that had spiraled into violence. And that early assumption would end up steering this investigation in the completely wrong way for years while quietly driving Sherry's family absolutely up the wall. Because they were actually worried about someone very specific. Who? I'll tell you soon. This story takes place, I'm sorry if I say this wrong, Van News. N U Y S. Okay. It's a quiet suburb pocket inside of Los Angeles San Fernando Valley. So, California finally branching out. ⁓ my gosh, look at us go. I think we've been to California since Stephanie Crow. No, Keddy Kevin Murders was in California. That was my live show. So before we go any further, we need to talk about what 1986 actually looked like. Because neither one of us were alive. Not for another five years. We weren't even a twinkle. How was it, Jen? You were three. My sister wasn't alive yet either. can't ask her. Ma. So Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Okay. Top Gun was packing out movie theaters. I've seen half of it. What? Okay, so listen, I'd never seen it. And then my best friend, Caitlin, remember we talked about her a few episodes ago, she was in the Navy and she came out to visit me and then she discovered I'd never seen Top Gun. And then we started watching it, but we hadn't seen each other in like two, three years. So then we started talking and I never finished it. Mike, I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in you. I'm obviously upset. But continue. I've heard it's great. Goose maverick, woo. I know that because my client's dogs are named that. Okay, so you'll find out. Madonna was everywhere on the radio. Cone boobs. ⁓ Of course, sports. It's not that exciting of a one, but the Bears had just come off of their Super Bowl one. The Bears. Ew. The Bears. I'm going to tell Derek about this. That's my only reference is the Bears. Gas was about 89 cents a gallon. Oh, damn. And the average home cost under $100,000. That makes me want to throw up. Same. most households were still screening their calls on answering machines instead of cell phones. Or caller ID because we didn't have the caller ID out yet. have that shit for a while. And when it came to criminal investigations, modern DNA testing wasn't even part of the conversation yet. It was just a very different time. I mean, I just had a case that was out of the 80s, 85 here. We had some police departments who knew the value of collecting it for later use, and we had some police departments who weren't trying to collect and preserve for like touch DNA later and other stuff that we could do. So I mean, it could go either way at this point in here for what they're police departments talking. We are in Los Angeles. So they should be one of the ones who know about the DNA and to save it for later. But the LAPD is one of the largest police departments in our country. I understand that. But also like who knows if they were doing things like this yet, you know, cause it- Valid. So, mean, get to find out. saying is I don't want to assume that they are doing that because like I had the Springs Police Department who knew that they needed to do this, but we also had Joe Kenda in the eighties doing it. You know what I mean? And I would bet the LAPD, but also they are very, very large police department, which means that it could take a minute for everybody to start implementing this in all of the precincts. That's I'm saying. I'll tell you- Just straight now, they collected. Okay. I'll just tell you right now. It's just, but it is the mid 80s, so it's an iffy time to know what they are, what they look at and know could be useful in the future versus what we now know should be useful. Does that make sense? Okay, I'll let you go. I'll shut the fuck up. No, no, no, no, no. You're good. Oh, this is all, oh God. I don't like it when she looks at me like this because it means that like, I'm saying things for later, but they're not good. I've already mentioned it a couple times, so let's go ahead and talk about the morning of February 24th. It began in 1986, correct? 1986, yes. It began in the kind of normal, uneventful way. ⁓ John Rutton left the condo that he shared with his wife Sherry at around 720 a.m. It was a routine workday. Like I said earlier, it was a Monday. Sherry was scheduled to give a motivational presentation later that day. ⁓ Adventist Medical Center, where she served as a director of nursing. OK. At 29. ⁓ damn. She was the director of nursing at 29. ⁓ you wait till you hear about the rest of her background. And where are we? What hospital did you say? Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Wait till you hear the rest of her background. It's crazy. She had mentioned the night before that her back was bothering her after an aerobics class and that she might just call in sick. but nothing about the morning felt urgent or off by any means. Okay, just wasn't really feeling it, didn't know how we were gonna feel later and didn't wanna like... I saw them aerobics class, you're twisting your hips and your back a lot, I understand how it hurts. As the hours passed though, small things... Oh my god, this was like 80s, like jazzercise with the step ups and the sweatpants and the leggings with the outfits over top. Oh, she did, she done did it. She had them step up kicks and she just... Oh, I know. She was on. was little Richard Simmons action. She sporty, sporty. So she was into it. Sporty spice. Love me a sporty spice. As the hours passed, though, things did start to fill off for John. John tried calling home and got no answer. What really caught his attention, though, was the answering machine wasn't picking up, which was unusual for them. Like it wasn't like it wasn't going to the answering machine. It was just like ringing and ringing. Okay, because folks, for those of you youngins, back in the day, if you didn't have an answering machine hooked up, the phone would just ring and ring and ring and ring until someone hung up or it would like disconnect after so many rings because it would just stop like after a couple minutes. ⁓ And then if you had an answering machine, it would click over and then you could fill that to where it would just say answering machine full and then hang up on you. So we had just a ringing. Yep. But later, Sherry's sister actually also tried calling and got the same silence. OK. Around 9 45 that morning, a neighbor noticed their garage door was open, but Sherry's car wasn't in there. She also drove a BMW. Of course she did. We're director of nursing in California. In Los Angeles. Yeah. And like the outskirts. No, like are we like the outskirts of LA or like? We're in the San Fernando Valley area. OK. So LA is a really big county, isn't it? I always like screw up exactly where everything sits in California sometimes. Like I forget, like Anaheim is so southern as it is. Yeah. So like we're up above Anaheim, like isn't San Fernando Valley between Anaheim and like the heart of LA. Sorry, we're going to pull a map up. Okay, so we're in LA. We are in LA. We are in LA. We are in a high class LA. We are. are north of Calabasas. Where the Kardashians live. And then we are north of Beverly Hills where the Chihuahuas live. Yes. Yes. Anyway, so no, I just wanted to see where we were like if we were like on the outskirts of LA, if we were in the high like profile part of it, you know I mean? Okay. We're in LA. Yeah. So a few hours later, a housekeeper in a nearby unit heard what sounded like two people fighting followed by a heavy thud sound. At the time, she assumed it was a domestic dispute and didn't call the police. Listen, I live in a duplex and I used to have these neighbors. Yeah. And like, I would hear like these like thuds and thuds and stuff like that. And there was one day I looked at my husband and I was like, I swear we are witnessing a murder right now. I swear. Those ones that you lived in the bottom corner unit? No, the ones I live in right now. Oh. We've lived in our current place for almost 10 years. So we've gone through was there listening to them also. Yeah, you've been there. Like, you can just hear, you can't always hear everything next door, but for some reason in the kitchens, you can almost hear clear conversations sometimes. That's fair. And sometimes you can't. But there was one day that there was like this, it was like a thudding and then like you could hear like dragging and then it was like a thud and then it was like a dragging noise. And then like there were some more thuds and then like it sounded like somebody was like being pulled across the carpet. And I was like, I swear someone's being murdered right now. I don't know what's happening. You and I are also nosy as fuck. They moved out two days later. So I feel like I was hearing them try to move heavy boxes. exactly what it was. Oh my I know they were moving out, but like I was sitting there and I'm like listening and it's like in silence and I'm like, what time is it? What is the time of day? Is there anybody outside? I'm like looking at the cars. I'm like, do I need this one day? I would be, I'm that nosy neighbor that's outside with a mop or like were inside. I know, but I'm just saying I would have been... Or just go next door, knock, knock, you good brother? I'm weird like that though. Okay, so when John returned home that evening, the first thing he noticed was broken glass in the driveway. Then he realized Sherry's BMW was gone, which isn't unusual. She was a nurse. went to emergencies often, whatever. By the time he stepped inside the condo, was immediately clear that something was wrong. There were signs of a struggle. Furniture had been thrown, knickknacks were broken, stereo equipment was sprawled all over the floor. Then in the living room, John found Sherry's lifeless body in a pool of blood, but she was also covered in a towel. Like a towel was placed over her head. Okay, so we have remorse. No, it's it technically that is a sign of remorse. a sign of a personal killing. You knew this person when you either try to cover them up or face them or face them down. It is a sign. It tells detectives that she the killer knew this person and they couldn't look at her face afterwards or it was. Yes. I also want to I don't have this written down, but I want to give props to John right now. He did not touch her. He didn't move the towel. He didn't. He did not look at his wife, but he knew it was her. ⁓ Actually, later when police came, they lifted the towel to show him. ⁓ I couldn't imagine. Yeah. at first glance investigators believe they understood exactly what happened. Yeah, no, they fucking did it. I'll tell you that right now. Well, I mean... 1986, it looks like a cut and dry burglary and a grand theft. Her car is gone. She's in there. Stuff is thrown everywhere. It there's glass on the driveway. It looks like a break in robbery gone wrong and take her. Holy ballad. It does. It doesn't even look set up. It doesn't look. I agree. hear. What the fuck is Sherry Rasmussen? I don't know who she is, but I like her. We're going to find out who she is right now. She's the director of nursing at the Glendale. Glendale. was about to say Arizona because Glendale is in Arizona and that's why I was confused about where we were in California. That's fair. So Sherri Rasmussen was not someone who coasted through life. From a young age, she was driven, focused and operating at a level that honestly would have exhausted most people. She was born in, I think this is so funny, Walla Walla, Washington. I love that. Yeah. Walla Walla, Washington. But then she was raised in Arizona. Okay. Not Glendale that I know of. She also graduated high school early and started college at 16 years old. Oh, I didn't think it was gonna be that young, but that it has explained nursing director by 29. She began at La Sierra University before transferring to Loma Linda University, which is a highly competitive nursing program. And once she entered the medical field, she just took off. After graduating, she joined UCLA Medical Center's Coronary Care Unit while simultaneously earning her master's degree in nursing, which she completed in 1980. See, that's why I was wondering where in LA we work. So was like, why isn't she at UCLA hospital? But I knew that, okay, we were getting there somewhere. And from there, she just kept climbing, climbing that chain. Yeah. By her late 20s, Sherry had already become head nurse of UCLA's Coronary Care and Observation Unit. She served as an assistant clinical professor and then eventually stepped into the role of director of nursing at Glendale ⁓ Adventist Medical Center. Damn, Sherry. Sherry's a fucking badass. Yeah, she is. Workers described her as warm but confident, the kind of person who could command a room without raising her voice. She was tall, athletic, and physically strong. She was six foot tall, by the way. We love a tall queen. Tall She was super tall. Mm-hmm. I love her. Love How tall was John then? Because I saw those pictures, and he's taller than her. I think he's probably like six. six-four? That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. Yeah, because he had a few inches on her. Easy. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Dang. OK. ⁓ So her father Nels Rasmussen. Nels, I bring him up a lot. He's lovely. He was deeply protective of her, even though she was one of three. Daughters. Okay. Is she the oldest youngest? Middle. Middle child! Look at, look at, look at this. Look at this middle child just... I thought you were gonna leave me hanging for a second there. Look at this prime middle child on display over here. We're not all forgotten. Oh my god, she's a favorite. I know. It's a middle child who's a favorite. Yeah. Yeah. It's a new concept. I don't understand it. I'm just kidding. Me neither. But Nels was always wanting to make sure she was safe coming home late from hospital shifts. He actually bought her that condo. Okay, is it close to the hospital? Yeah, yeah. But it was mostly because it had a drive-in garage, so she wouldn't have to walk outside alone. Okay, so there's a door to the condo from the garage. So she didn't have to like park her car and like walk back out the garage and go in. Correct. Okay. Okay. Do you remember the picture of the condos above the garage? Yeah. So I figured that it was like my old townhome. I mean, mine, I have a door into my garage. Yeah, you do. So true to her independent streak, though, Sherry insisted on paying him rent equal to the mortgage. Everything about her life was moving forward. Yeah. And then she met John. ⁓ no. I wasn't, I didn't say and then she met John. ⁓ And then she met John. Okay. So who the hell's- Sorry, we're so scorned by husbands who murder their wives that we're just automatically like, fuck you John. That's very But John's probably a very lovely human. So who the hell's John Rutten? I don't know. John Rutten by most accounts was easygoing and social. He attended UCLA from 1978 to 1982, majoring in mechanical engineering. Friends him as likable, athletic, and fairly laid back. ⁓ After graduating, he landed a job with Data Products which is a company that manufactures computer peripherals. Uh solid stable work during early tech boom. Okay. In June of 1984, John met Sherry at a party. John said that he saw her from across the room and she had the most beautiful smile and laugh. So he just had to go talk to her. They clicked right away. Okay. Quickly. And again, by most accounts, their relationship felt very genuine. They shared similar goals, seemed aligned in the direction they wanted to take their lives. Yeah. Who doesn't want that in a partner? ⁓ Friends and family said that they were actually very affectionate with each other and looked great together. Okay. Yeah. Then by November of 1985, about a year and a half later, they got married and settled into Sherry's condo together. Sherry's family said they loved John as one of their own. From the outside, everything looked solid and looking at pictures of them, they seemed like they did genuinely love each other. Okay. When The LAPD detective started processing the scene. They fairly quickly settled on what they believed was the most logical explanation. The burglary gone wrong. Because it's what it looks like. Yeah, absolutely. On paper, there were things that seemed to very much support this theory. Electronics had been stacked near the stairs. Sherry's car was missing. There had very clearly been a struggle. Yeah. Yeah. It makes sense. ⁓ Sherry had significant trauma to her face, was brutally struck on the head with various objects and shot three times in the chest and abdomen. Okay. It was also very apparent that the gun was fired through a blanket to muffle the sound. Also, the gun was a 38 caliber. Okay. She had a deep bite on her left forearm. Her nails were also broken and chipped due to the claw marks that she left in the front door signifying that she was trying to escape. She was also tied up when they found her. Holy shit. A lead detective, his name was Lyle Mayer, said that while they were in the house collecting evidence, he heard quiet sobs coming from the dining room. He said that he saw John sitting at the table just quietly. crying to himself. Quote, his crying should have been more extreme with his wife laying there on the floor dead. End quote. Fuck? Yeah. So while they were talking to John, he said that Sherry was still in bed when he left. And he said he forgot to set the alarm that morning. And he also wasn't sure if he locked the door. Okay. Yeah. I mean, ⁓ I understand not setting the alarm while your wife is still at home, but like locking the door. You guys know how we feel about this. Well, here's the thing. OK, let me do this. You know how sometimes you're you it's a repetitive thing that you do every day so your brain will forget whether or not you actually did it. You can actually recall doing it. It's just like sometimes you have to like sometimes I drive back around to make sure I close the garage door because I can't remember it. get it. So I could see if he's just like, I don't. I usually do lock the front door, so I assume that I locked the front door this morning, but I can't actually remember doing it at this moment. So I can't tell you if I did or not. You know what I mean? Yeah. But hey guys, reminder, lock your fucking doors. Yeah. Yeah. Lock your door. don't care where you live. Lock your door. Thank you. John also ⁓ didn't call Sherry's family to let them know that Sherry had been murdered. However, he did have his dad call them. So this wasn't didn't find out kind of situation, thankfully. When OK, devil's advocate here. Her dad is very close with her. And they accepted him into the family. I could see him having a hard time being able to get those words out or being able to tell her dad that. imagine. And especially because they were married and so therefore her dad trusted him with her life now. so, devil's advocate, I can see that he maybe couldn't have brought him. self to give that news. maybe his dad, you know, dad to dad. Yeah. So Nels did ask John's dad, I want to talk to John. I need to talk to John. Put him on the phone right now. And his dad simply said, quote, John doesn't feel like talking. And. ⁓ hell no. ⁓ His family or I'm sorry, Sherry's family also tried to talk to John while they were at the police station also. because obviously they're going to go down there. But John told them that the police were telling him he can't talk to anyone, including her family. Was that true? Yeah. I mean, it's understandable because they don't know who did this or what yet. So you don't. He knows details that nobody else does now. So he needs those to not be getting out everywhere, or the police do. You know what I mean? How she was found, how the house looked, the towel over her face. I'm betting that's a big one they don't want everyone to know about. Or the fact that she was tied up or some other things in the house. I'd be willing they don't want out. That's fair. So I could see. But they've also done this in other cases, though. He would not even speak to them. All he said was, I'm not allowed to talk to you about anything. ⁓ that's weird. Yeah. So. The family definitely thought that he was acting suspicious. They said it seemed like he was more worried about himself than Sherry, but they didn't believe that John was a suspect and was maybe just in shock and trying to process all of this. OK, to be fair, they were also still considered newlyweds. They had only been married for a few months at that time, three months. OK, OK. The police told Sherry's family that it was a robbery gone wrong, but I didn't tell you guys this. The only things that were stolen from the house were her car, her purse, which was actually found by two gardeners in the area. OK. And their marriage license. Well that's weird. They were uneasy almost immediately. Especially because they knew there was some dark shit happening in Sherry's life over the last three months. She was being stalked by a person in disguise. Way to bury the lead. What do you mean? What do I mean? Continue. The week leading up to her death, she told her family and friends that she saw this person follow her at five separate occasions. She couldn't go to the gym. She couldn't go get groceries without this person showing up. She told everyone that she could see this person's eyes and they had eyes that could penetrate you. I got to see pictures before this episode. I know who it is. I want y'all to hold on to that. And if you're just listening, you better go look at pictures. You better. Yeah. And if you're watching, hold on to your fucking butts. police kept talking to people in Sherry's life every day, they learned that John had an ex-girlfriend that liked harassing her after they got married. ⁓ of her coworkers said that this ex actually showed up to the hospital dressed, they said provocatively. ⁓ the 80s, please. ⁓ Remember another conversation we've had recently she was in shorts and a tank top. ⁓ No, not the short shorts shorts and a tank top ⁓ no, she also this person told Sherry if she couldn't have John then no There was an incident where this same woman broke into her condo and started fighting with Sherry and then she just ran away. What the fuck? The family repeatedly told investigators about this person, this ex-girlfriend, like you need to look into this person, why are you not looking into this person? But the police said they, you guys are just watching way too much TV. I'm not fucking kidding you. You are watching too much TV. And if you're not going to give me a name of this person, we can't do anything about it. I, I, why? Well, if they all knew the name of the person. Well, Sherry never told them. Well, ⁓ Sherry never told them the name of the ex or the person, the ex ultimately. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to figure out which of John's exes. And John. Let me guess, didn't mention any of this to police. He said he has an ex, told him the name, moved on with, basically tried to move on with his life. You mean like from the ex or after Sherry died? After Sherry died. He just kind of was like, and that happened. So I'm just going to go ahead and live my life now. I get into it a little bit later, but basically, ⁓ John told him about this ex and the police said, she didn't do it. She's fine. So we have great detective work. Mm-hmm, yeah. One of the investigators later told 20-20 that they had actually never heard of any of these alleged events about the stalker ex-girlfriend situation. Okay. ⁓ huh. Yeah. The last time that John spoke publicly about Sherry was at her memorial. He called her the best wife that anyone could ever have. Yeah, nothing. I'm just processing. So a month after Sherry's death, less than a mile from Sherry's place, an actual burglary happened. A woman came home to find two men in her home robbing her. One of them, when they saw her, ran and the other one pointed a gun at the lady until he was able to escape. The police were obviously convinced. that this was the same people as Sherry that these two incidents were connected. They actually we couldn't connect the burglary that happened across the street to Lacey Peterson. Girl. Sorry. Don't get me started. So ⁓ the police speak this woman who actually got robbed ⁓ and got sketches done and ended up releasing to public. Didn't go anywhere. I just want to point that out. Sounds good. The police did also find the bite mark a little unusual as bite marks during struggles were much more commonly inflicted by women while the majority of burglars are men. Yeah. However, because they have proof of men having bitten opponents during fights, they were like, totally a burglary. Well, I mean, the other thing with bite marks is you can also you can see that male wise, but usually that's when there's more of like a sexually motivated crime and it's like in that. Not during a burglary. Yeah, but it's like in like the assault and stuff like that that they bite them. So like that's more so when the men come into play. But yeah, yeah. So just rewinding a little bit more. Eleven days after Sherry's death. Her BMW was recovered after an officer saw it parked on the street in a residential neighborhood, roughly two miles away from her home. It was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. Well, crime scene technicians found some possible blood stains and fiber evidence in the car along with four fingerprints. ⁓ Those fingerprints were also not Sherry's or John's. Okay, yeah, so that's our yeah. Sorry, I'm over here stuck on the fact that ⁓ we parked at B &W with the keys in it, unlocked in ⁓ the nicer part of LA in 1986 and it wasn't stolen. In 11 whole days. Well, we don't know how long it was sitting there for, but wasn't stolen. And I bet you that was her hopes. Her hopes? Their hopes. I bet you that was their hopes. They did search the area and they found no other evidence. They could not determine if the car had been there since the murder. We don't know if it was planted there later or directly after. Detective Mayer believed the location strengthened the burglary theory since burglars were known to live in that area. But it wasn't taken after it was planted with the keys and the ignition unlocked. Hey, what do I know? ⁓ OK, sure. So in April, so remember this happened in February. We're now in April. A man was arrested after a burglary in progress at a similar condo of Sherry's where he did actually steal a stereo. This guy instantly became suspect number one. but ended up being ruled out when his fingerprints did not match the fingerprints that were found in the vehicle. That's what I was going to say next. As weeks turned into months, the Rasmussen family grew increasingly frustrated. They felt like the case had been mentally boxed up far too quickly. Did they not run the prints through a system or anything? ⁓ No. ⁓ Interesting. But like, honestly, I don't think the Rasmusons were wrong in feeling this way because everything was just like, no, it was a burglary. It was totally a burglary. Yeah, like they weren't looking at anything else. They weren't looking at his ex. Yeah. Yeah. And this is where the slow burn frustration really kicks in. The investigation didn't dramatically fall apart. It just gradually lost momentum. And by late 1989, ⁓ that LAPD was overwhelmed dealing with gang violence in the crack epidemic that came along. Say crack again. Say crack. We've said that a lot lately. We really have. I'm sorry. If you haven't watched Mean Girls, we're sorry. And the detectives believe they already explained why the case wasn't front and center. Despite the Rasmussen family calling, pushing, and even offering a reward for $10,000 for information leading to Sherry's killer, nothing meaningful moved forward. There were no arrests, no major leads, just time passing. That's crazy. Nels Rasmussen never bought the burglary theory. He would later make it very clear that nothing about his daughter's murder felt random to him. From early on, he believed someone who knew Sherry was responsible. ⁓ Sherry's sister convinced an author in Seattle ⁓ to write book about Sherry's murder and the case. Okay. the author looked into it for a little bit and came back and told her she would ⁓ not ⁓ it. ⁓ do it quote, ⁓ it was hot to handle, end quote. She should have called Nancy Grace. ⁓ Mm-hmm. ⁓ tried go back to the condo and live there. for a little bit, but said it took too much toll on him financially and psychologically. I can see that. So he ended up moving, like leaving and moving in with his parents in San Diego for a while. Okay. John eventually remarried in 1991 when he moved back to LA. He did end up having kids with this lady as well. Okay. ⁓ yeah, he also met up with his ex-girlfriend on a vacation to Hawaii. After Sherry died? ⁓ huh. ⁓ and met up with her on a couple of occasions over the next couple years to hook up. I don't like that. But there were notes from detectives showing that he did call before all of these meetups to confirm that there was absolutely no link between his ex and Sherry's murder. So he calls the cops, are you sure that she didn't do this? And they're like, yeah, no, she didn't do it. So he's like, all right, I'm gonna go get my dick wet. ⁓ man. Detective also retired and handed the case over to someone else in 1991. ⁓ Sherry's family thought this the perfect time to swoop in and try to get them to reopen the case. Yeah. ⁓ Now that DNA testing getting up and rolling, ⁓ they were hopeful that could do a test from the DNA that was collected. They. also offered to pay for it. Ooh, that also helps. Yes, but the police refused and said it had to be tested against the subject and they just don't have one. They also said that when they would call the police office to talk to someone, they would just be left on hold indefinitely or hung up on. What the fuck? Uh-huh, yeah. Detective Mayer originally told them that the struggle that Sherry was in most likely lasted 45 minutes to an hour and a half. and Sherry probably just finally gave in. But the family was dead set that there was no way their six foot tall, sporty and fit daughter slash sister would have been able to be subdued so easily. They believe that she was most likely shot first since the shooter, ⁓ and since the shooter used a quilt to muffle the gunshot. ⁓ I also, I didn't say this before. but the shots were point blank in her chest. Okay. With a quilt covering it. That seems calculated and deliberate, not an accidental death of a struggle. No, but I could see how they were in that struggle and like since she was tied up or whatever, I could see if they, cause she had injuries to her head. She got hit over the head, knocked out, tied her up, had her tied up and then. Honestly, you can put the quilt on and shoot her. It'd be lot easier. But she's six foot. So it's going to take like, I'm going to assume that we either had a struggle getting her knocked out or struggle with her tied up after she was no longer knocked out because there's the claw marks on the door. So. Yep. Yep. Also, I want you to think about this for a second. Have you ever seen a robber just hanging around the place that they're robbing for almost two hours? No. Hell no. Robberies are generally short because they don't know well enough. Yeah, they want to get in. They want to get out. And if they're going to take you out, they're going to take you out to get done what they need to do. You know, not make it. This is very planned. Yeah. ⁓ I also mentioned something a little bit later that I'm going to hold close to my heart that I want to tell you. That won't make sense. That'll fill in some holes. Kind of sort of. Okay. Kind of sort of. So for years, for years, Sherry Rasmussen's murder sat in a cold case file until DNA finally forced everyone to take another look. By the early 2000s, forensic technology had evolved in a big way and departments began revisiting older cases with fresh tools, including Sherry's. In 2004, criminalist Jennifer Francis entered the chat. She went to test the DNA in the case, but noticed that some of the evidence that might have had the suspect's DNA was missing after it was investigated in 1993. Okay. Usually, Francis had access not just to a sample, like when they reopen a case, they don't just give you this sample, they give you the entire case to determine what needs to be analyzed. Boxes, I mean everything, all the evidence, all the case files, it's boxes and boxes and boxes of evidence and papers and everything, depending on how much it is. And she noticed that a good majority of it was gone. Holy shit. So the DNA test on the blood revealed that Sherry had a rare blood subtype, which inaccurately suggested two separate sources for the blood collected at the scene. So basically that just confirmed all of the blood samples that were taken came from Sherry. Weird. I've never heard that before. Yeah. Is she like the, what's the, what's the universal one? Is it like the O positive or O negative or something like that? Something like that. Is it like the universal one that does a weird thing maybe? Maybe I'm not too sure. Because like the universal one, anybody could take it or have it and also could be one of those like, since it's universal, like if it melded with the other blood it like. The early 2000s is when, I mean obviously they had it before but it was a little bit different, is when you could very much separate out A, with the positives, negatives, all that jazz, and I think that's what really separated it. Got you, that they could finally really So she had to have had one of those rare ones. whether it, she may have been a universal, but... But there's also that one guy... who his blood was so, it was like that perfect blood that he like saved a whole bunch of babies and like kids and stuff. And he finally just passed away. Do you know what I'm talking about? But yeah, he like donated so much blood over his lifetime because it contained a certain plasma or a certain something in it that could be used for this one thing. So she could have one of those blood types. Absolutely. It could have been Dylan O'Brien in Maze Runner. He had something special in his blood. Nevermind. ⁓ So with all of the blood being Sherry's, she had to turn to something else, which the bite mark on her arm. They did take a swab of it. Thank God. She turned to the bite mark swab, which was actually missing from the property log. Shocking. ⁓ huh. She called the county coroner's office and initially found it missing there too until she reached the criminalists who was the one who originally collected it. he told her that samples that were old had not been logged into the computer's database when it was established because it was 1986. OK, it was thankfully found after searching the lab's freezers. Good. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. And then one of the detectives told her before she. ran it that Sherry most likely bit herself. And then the DNA was just gonna come back to Sherry. Right, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Like Ellen Greenberg stabbed herself in the back of the head and the neck. You know it. So, did not, her name is Jennifer, I'm just calling her by her last name, police thing, okay? So, Frances did not find any matches in CODIS, but did find that the saliva had come from female. look at that. And that undermines the initial burglary theory. Upon discovering that the biter and likely perpetrator was female and distinct distinctly different from Sherry's DNA, she reviewed the case file and came across a report of a third party female who had allegedly harassed the victim at her job and residence before the murder. She believed this might have been. a Glendale nurse angry with Sherry at being passed over for a promotion. Okay, you know, not a bad starting point. So, Francis asked the detective supervising her if this woman would have been investigated, to which he supposedly responded with, ⁓ you mean the LAPD detective? End quote. What do you mean? What do you mean? What do you mean? She's a detective. ⁓ I slept up earlier with a her and it's because I saw pictures and we just we just went past that like I didn't say what I just said. And so therefore in the pictures, I thought she was firefighter. I didn't think she was an LAPD detective. I thought she was firefighter EMS. So clearly, Francis was stunned. He explained that the detective, the woman was too stunned to speak. Uh-huh. He explained that the detective was the former girlfriend of the victim's husband. ⁓ And then he also went on to say, quote, she was not a part of this, end quote. He insisted that the case was simply a burglary, likely committed by a man. and a woman then working together as the department had long concluded. No other detective would pursue the case and the evidence went right back into the files. Well you know evidence missing makes a whole lot more sense now. I buckle up for two seconds. The DA actually made Jennifer, Jennifer Francis, out to be a crazy person who quote, got too close and emotional, end quote, about the case. They called her paranoid and obsessed. They actually ordered her to do mandatory counseling and branded her unfit for duty. Wow. She did later say that it felt like retaliation. I mean, I'm pretty sure you could open up Webster's dictionary and it's the definition of retaliation. Pretty much. Pretty much. Hey guys, guess what? So we warned you in the beginning about this. We did warn you. ⁓ We did. This is the end of part one. It is. I'm really sorry I'm making another Sherry case a two parter, but... We don't want to lose you. And it's very worth it. ⁓ I'm so excited to finish the rest of this. When she showed me one picture, I thought I knew this. And I think that it's from the second half of this that I do believe that everything will click. It's kind of clicked a little bit. I'm not sure if I've heard this or not. I've kept you guys dangling. You really have. mean, that's what I do. Call me Cliff and hang me off a rock. Jesus Christ. Anyway, that note. me Tom, because I'm feeling petty. We're putting you guys on All right, 50 cent, calm down. So we are putting you all on a two parter. Bladesam for this. I haven't done this to you guys in a while. So anyway, make sure you are liked, following, subscribed so you don't miss when part two does drop. Make sure you're watching Corey Richins' trial this week. Please comment and talk to us on Facebook, Instagram, wherever about what you're seeing, what you're hearing. We want to hear from you. Message us. Yes. Comment on Spotify. Make sure you looked at all the pictures on the website or social media for this part one. I want you guys to tell me what your theories are. Yes. We want to hear your want to know your theories on this. I mean, obviously, I know what happened, but I want to know what you guys think happened. Yes. Please. Please let us know. So with that being said, we will catch you guys next week for part two. Please come back and find out what happened, especially because there's this much information, and I've given you all this much. Oh, yeah. I'm so excited. It's a good time. It's a good time. Anyway, we will catch you guys next week. Please, please, please have a very safe weekend, especially because next week is St. Patrick's St. Patty's Day. And if you're celebrating this weekend, be safe. And also just a heads up, next week St. Patty's Day is our 100th episode. I cannot believe we have we will have 100 episodes next week guys. 100. That's crazy. Yeah. I'm so excited. It's so awesome. Anyway. OK. Well. We'll catch you guys next week. Yeah, we'll catch you guys next week. Okay. Love you. Bye.