Kenneth Rasmuson Gets Life Without Parole For Killing 2 Children In 1980s
POMONA (CBSLA) — A man convicted of murdering two children in Los Angeles and Orange counties in the 1980s had to once again face the photos and family members of the children he killed Tuesday before being sentenced for his crimes.
Kenneth Rasmuson, a convicted sex offender who pleaded no contest to two counts of murder in February, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
"I'm the mother of Jeffery Vargo, a happy little 6-year-old brown-eyed boy who was kidnapped and murdered on the Fourth of July in 19981," Connie Vargo said. "Forty years have passed since we've seen him. We miss his every single day."
Vargo said her son's body was found in Pomona, just 25 miles from their home in Anaheim Hills, one day after he disappeared.
"He was murdered and left in a construction site," she said. "What kind of a monster would leave a little 6-year-old boy in a construction site dead? I still don't know why."
The killing remained unsolved for decades until a DNA hit connected Rasmuson to the crime. He was arrested in Idaho in 2015.
The child's father, Bob Vargo, said he was now left with the painful memory of the last time he saw his son — at his funeral.
"Because of your evil acts, the last time we saw our son was to view his scarred and lifeless body lying in a casket with his favorite toys," he said.
Investigators also used DNA evidence to link Rasmuson to the 1986 killing of Miguel Antero who went missing from his home. That same day, the 6-year-old's body was found in an Agoura Hills wash.
In a recorded message, Shankara Antero, the child's father, said in a recorded statement that he felt his son's pain the day he was killed.
"I was in my office working, and I doubled over in pain when he was stabbed twice," Antero said.
One after another, family members spoke before the judge handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the now 59-year-old.
Some family members wanted to see the death penalty in the case, but the state has a moratorium on the practice.
Rasmuson will remain in protective custody when transferred.