Sep 9, 2026 · 32 min
Lost evidence leaves a 1986 murder unsolved for decades
Fatal Attraction: The Body in Unit 205 — Ep. 1 | MK Confidential
The episode shows how an early burglary theory and mishandled clues shaped 23 years of unanswered questions for Sherry Rasmussen’s family.
- 1Sherry Rasmussen’s violent death in Van Nuys was quickly framed as an interrupted burglary despite signs of a struggle.
- 2A bloody fingerprint and other anomalies challenged the theory, but crucial evidence was never preserved or tested.
- 3The case remained unsolved for 23 years while Rasmussen’s family lived with investigators’ assurances and no arrest.
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The episode reveals that investigators left a stereo component carrying a bloody fingerprint uncollected and untested.
The brief
In 1986, John Rutten returned to a Van Nuys condo and found his wife, Sherry Rasmussen, dead after a violent attack that investigators initially treated as a burglary.
Rasmussen’s family remembers her as funny, devoted, and central to their lives, giving the case a human dimension beyond the crime scene’s physical details.
Gunshot wounds, severe beating, a bite mark, possible restraint injuries, and blood evidence suggested a struggle, but detectives built a theory around stolen property and an escaping intruder.
The strongest contradiction was a bloody fingerprint on a stereo component; investigators never collected, tested, or preserved the object, leaving a potentially decisive clue behind.
Against a Los Angeles climate shaped by fear after the Night Stalker killings, the burglary explanation seemed plausible, and Rasmussen’s family waited 23 years without answers.
What was said on this episode
5 statements · 1 positive · 3 negative · 1 mixed
Sherry may have tried to block the gun during the shooting.
“One of her fingers has black soot on it too, indicating she may have tried to block the gun.”
Listen at 12:51
The bloody fingerprint conflicts with the burglary sequence.
“The blood suggests a sequence of events that does not line up with a burglary.”
Listen at 21:34
DNA testing was unavailable to criminal investigators in 1986.
“In 1986, DNA testing is not yet available to criminal investigators.”
Listen at 30:42
1986 saliva testing could identify blood type but not provide DNA-level identification.
“Saliva can be tested for blood type, Useful for excluding someone, maybe for narrowing the field, but nothing close to what DNA will eventually make possible.”
Listen at 30:48
The preserved bite-mark evidence would become readable nearly 19 years later.
“One day. They will, but not for nearly 19 years.”
Listen at 31:49
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