"Fatal Attraction" - The Murder of Sherri Rasmussen: The FULL MK Confidential Series
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What is the opening premise of the "Fatal Attraction" episode?
Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at noon east.
Hey, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show and our weekend mega episode. Oh, this is a good one today. It's our full series on the Sherry Rasmussen story, which we are calling Fatal Attraction. I've gotten so many text messages about this case, friends who have seen this story told elsewhere, who learned so many brand new facts. Our crack research team does such a good job finding the obscure but interesting things around stories like this. So we're going to get into the murder, the arrest, after the case had gone cold, and an exclusive interview with two of Sherry's sisters. Well, she only had two, and they're both with us. Enjoy, and we will see you Monday. It is around 12 o'clock on a Monday in Van Nuys, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, 1986.
Retiree Anastasia Valenitis is at home in her condo where she and her husband Gus have lived for many years, just doing chores, enjoying her day. she looks up and sees out the window two hispanic men in work clothes crossing the driveway coming toward her house they look like gardeners the men knock on her door and when she answers anastasia sees one of them is carrying a brown leather woman's purse the men don't speak any english only spanish after a few attempts to communicate one of the men just hands anastasia the purse she looks inside of it finds a wallet and in the wallet a driver's license anastasia knows the face in the picture The young woman from Unit 205, directly across their shared driveway.
Her name is Sherry something. Her eyes dart over to the name on the license. Sherry Rasmussen, 29 years old. Right, the nurse. She's a newlywed. Anastasia hands the purse back to the Hispanic man and points him towards Sherry's condo just across the way. Within five minutes, the men are back, purse still in hand. No one answered at Unit 205. Anastasia takes the purse from the men. She can return it later when her neighbor is home. But her neighbor is home. Sherry has been lying in her favorite bathrobe on her living room floor, dead, since earlier that morning, her face beaten and smeared with blood. Six more hours pass before anyone finds Sherry. Outside, the condo complex moves through a normal Monday. Cars come and go through the gate, neighbors leave and return, school pickups, groceries, a stop at the pharmacy.
Inside Sherry's home, the refrigerator hums, clicks off, and starts again. On a chair nearby sits a quilt Sherry's grandmother made for her, with sleeves sewn into it so she could wear it around the house when she got cold. Then the phone rings. It is Sherry's sister, Teresa, calling during her break at work. Teresa leaves a message and says she'll try again later. At 5 p.m., Sherry's husband John leaves work. On the way home, he stops for the dry cleaning and picks up a package at UPS. Ordinary errands at the end of what he thinks is an ordinary Monday. And all this time, Sherry is there, lying alone on the living room floor, one eye open and unblinking, the other swollen shut. At six o'clock, John arrives home.
Later that night, he tells police what he saw when he walked inside.
And it's right in front of me. When I walk in the door, I saw her lying on the ground. I knew right away that there was she was dead.
Before the night is over, a Los Angeles police detective will stand in John and Sherry's living room and decide he knows exactly what happened there. He will write it down and he will be very wrong. The truth will remain hidden for 23 years. I'm Megan Kelly and this is MK Confidential. Let's go back to the start of the day Sherry is killed, Monday, February 24th, 1986. John Rutten wakes a little before seven in the Van Nuys condo he shares with his wife of three months, Sherry. She has lived there for more than five years. John moved in last summer. That morning, Sherry stays in bed. She's thinking of calling in sick, and she asks John to call her later in the day. John showers, dresses, and takes the stairs inside the condo down to their garage.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the opening premise of the "Fatal Attraction" episode?
0:00–15:58
2
How did Sherry Rasmussen’s murder unfold on the night of February 24, 1986?
15:58–30:55
3
What evidence initially led detectives to theorize a burglary was involved?
30:55–46:53
4
How did the bite‑mark DNA evidence finally point to a suspect?
46:53–1:02:18
5
Who is Stephanie Lazarus and what was her connection to Sherry’s case?
1:02:18–1:18:43
6
How did Jim Nuttall revive the cold case after 23 years?
1:18:43–1:33:48
7
What surveillance tactics did detectives use to obtain DNA from Stephanie Lazarus?
1:33:48–1:50:18
8
What were the key moments and outcome of Stephanie Lazarus’s trial?
1:50:18–2:12:43
Speakers
10 identifiedMore from The Megyn Kelly Show
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