NOTORIOUS MURDERS > WOMEN WHO KILL

The Murder of Sherri Rae Rasmussen

By Tricia Romano

Robbery Gone Awry

Investigators had focused on the possibility that the crime had been a robbery—Sherri Rae's car had been stolen. The silver BMW was discovered two miles from the couple's house ten days after the murder. Because stereo equipment had been stacked next to the body, police fixated on the possibility of a botched robbery.

Their hunch was reinforced by events that occurred just after the Rasmussen murder. A few days after the slaying, two men had robbed a woman at gunpoint. A few months after the murder, they held another unsuspecting woman at gunpoint after she walked into a break-in. Her house was just a few blocks from Rasmussen's house. They were described as Latinos between 5 feet, 4 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches tall. They therefore emerged as the primary suspects in Rasmussen's death, but they were never found.

Other than the car, the only other object taken from the scene should have given investigator's pause: the couple's marriage license was missing. Also undermining the random theft theory were the deep bite marks left by the assailant on Rasmussen's breasts.

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1. Introduction
2. Rising in the Force
3. Robbery Gone Awry
4. "If I can't have John, then nobody else will."
5. Something out of Law and Order
6. Announcing the Cracking of the Cold Case
7. Redemption: "I told you so."
8. New Details
9. On the Other Side of the Thin Blue Line