Rapist Sentenced To Life In Prison For 1986 Agoura Hills Murder

AGOURA HILLS, CA — A convicted sex offender who evaded capture for more than three decades was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of two 6-year-old boys in the 1980s.

Kenneth Rasmuson, 59, pleaded no contest to the 1981 strangulation of Jeffrey Vargo of Anaheim Hills and the 1986 stabbing of Miguel Antero of Agoura Hills. Rasmuson must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Juan Carlos Dominguez called the victims “two beautiful little boys” and assured their families that Rasmuson “will never see the light of day outside of a prison wall.”

Miguel Antero was exiting a school bus in Agoura Hills on April 8, 1986 when he was snatched by Rasmuson. He was stabbed to death, and his body was discovered the same day in an Agoura Hills canyon.

At the Pomona courtroom, Miguel’s father Gil Antero said that Rasmuson’s crimes continue to devastate his family 35 years later. “It has shattered our lives to pieces,” he said. “Miguel was a wonderful little boy, caring and full of joy.”

“Losing a child is like losing your own existence,” mother Ani Bradshaw said. “There is anger and emptiness.”

Five years earlier on July 2, 1981, Jeffrey Vargo disappeared after riding his bike outside his Anaheim Hills home to look at a fireworks stand. His partially clothed body was found the next day 25 miles away by construction workers in Pomona.

“I had hoped to be at your execution because I wanted to look in your eyes and see the same terror that my son saw at his last moment,” father Bob Vargo told Rasmuson.

Jeffrey’s mother Connie wept as she described the impact of Rasmuson’s murder. “We miss him every single day,” she said. “What kind of monster would leave a little 6-year-old boy in a construction site dead? I still don’t know why.”

Rasmuson was not arrested until 2015, when DNA evidence connected him to Jeffrey’s killing. He was later linked to Miguel’s killing.

He pleaded no contest Feb. 22 to two counts of murder, and admitted the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.

Even though Rasmuson was already being tried in Los Angeles County, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer attempted to try the case in Orange County instead so that he could attempt to seek the death penalty.

“He kidnapped two young, vulnerable 6-year-old boys, sexually assaulted them, and murdered them,” reads a motion filed by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. “Defendant’s background, character, and prospects show he is a dangerous serial predator with no likelihood to ever change.”

Jeffrey and Miguel were far from Rasmuson’s only victims. Two months after Jeffrey was killed,he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy. He was sentenced to prison in 1981 for that assault, but was released in 1985 after he was deemed a “mentally disordered offender.”

A year after he killed Miguel, Rasmuson abducted a three-year-old from the front yard of his LA home and drove away. The toddler was found naked the next day, wandering on the side of the road. Rasmuson was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Rasmuson told doctors that he had committed at least 10 child molestations since the age of 18.

L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon, who is against capital punishment or life in prison without the possibility of parole, called Spitzer’s efforts misguided. According to Gascon, county prosecutors had been working on a plea agreement to keep Rasmuson behind bars for life.

“This was a heinous offense and this individual will not share a sidewalk with the rest of us,” Gascon said in a statement. “The defendant was always facing life in prison, making the rhetoric from tough-on-crime voices incredibly dangerous and removed from reality.”

Gascon said that seeking the death penalty in California, which placed a moratorium on executions in 2019, “would have dragged the victims through decades of legal proceedings for an execution that is exceedingly unlikely to be imposed.”

After the sentencing, Jeffrey’s mother Connie told reporters that she was “so relieved this is coming to a close.”

“We weren’t expecting this at all,” Miguel’s sister Enid Antero told City News Service. “It was almost like we were blindsided by the good news behind a dark cloud.”

Related coverage:

Sex Offender Pleads To Boy's Murder In Agoura Hills Cold Case | Agoura Hills, CA Patch

Sex Offender Charged in 1986 Murder of 6-Year-Old Boy in Agoura Hills | Agoura Hills, CA Patch