Sex Offender Pleads To Boy's Murder In Agoura Hills Cold Case

POMONA, CA — A convicted sex-offender pleaded no-contest Monday to abducting and murdering two young boys in Los Angeles County decades ago in a case that lurched district attorneys in Los Angeles and Orange County into a heated battle over the death penalty and sentencing reform.

Kenneth Kasten Rasmuson, 59, pleaded no-contest to multiple murders Monday, seemingly sparing himself a death sentence. He is expected to be sentenced on April 27 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The plea deal in Los Angeles was announced just days after Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer made the unusual announcement that he would charge Rasmuson for one of those same murders because the victim was kidnapped in Orange County though his body was found in Pomona. Spitzer said he didn't trust District Attorney George Gascon to pursue justice for the family. Gascon has taken fire from his own prosecutors and district attorneys across the state for directing his prosecutors to largely refrain from sentencing enhancements that lead to harsher sentences including life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The plea deal, however, would send Rasmuson to prison for the rest of his life.

“This was a heinous offense and this individual will not share the sidewalk with the rest of us,” said Gascón. “The defendant was always facing life in prison, making the rhetoric from tough-on-crime voices incredibly dangerous and entirely removed from reality. Splitting this case up or seeking the death penalty in a state with a moratorium would have dragged the victims through decades of legal proceedings for an execution that is exceedingly unlikely to be imposed. Spending exorbitant amounts on a death penalty prosecution that is ultimately just for show would force the families of these victims to relive their trauma through decades of litigation. That’s not in the interests of the victims, nor is it in the interests of the public.”

Spitzer did not immediately respond to a Patch request for comment on the plea deal. Earlier this month, he attacked Gascon's approach to the case.

“I refuse to allow the LADA’s ‘one-size fits all approach’ to prevent the family of a 6-year-old murdered child from achieving the justice that they deserve. His crimes are the stuff of parent’s nightmares and I will do everything in my power to ensure that this pedophile is held accountable for his crimes and is off the streets for the rest of his life," said Spitzer. "We will not take any chance of having this sexually violent predator come in contact with one more child. If George Gascon refuses to follow the law in prosecuting a pedophile murderer, I will.”

The plea deal, however, would send Rasmuson to prison for the rest of his life. It remains to be seen if the plea deal resolves the unusual jurisdictional battle between prosecutors in Los Angeles and Orange County. Neither the Gascon or Spitzer responded immediately to requests for comment Monday.

Rasmuson, 59, is charged with the July 2, 1981, killing of 6- year-old Jeffrey Vargo of Anaheim Hills whose body was found by construction workers in Pomona. Rasmuson was ordered to stand trial in Los Angeles County in August 2016 on charges of killing Jeffrey and 6-year-old Miguel Antero, who was slain five years later.

Rasmuson was arrested in March 2015 in Sandpoint, Idaho, after DNA evidence allegedly linked him to the 1981 killing. Construction workers found the boy's body in Pomona a day after the youngster left his home to visit a fireworks stand, according to authorities.

While Rasmuson was awaiting trial in that case, he was charged with the April 8, 1986, killing of the other boy, whose body was found in a wash in Agoura Hills the same day he was discovered missing from his home. Rasmuson was also allegedly linked to that killing by DNA evidence, prosecutors said.

Rasmuson was facing special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and that the killings were done during the commission of a lewd or lascivious act on a child.

Rasmuson was previously convicted in 1981 of sexually assaulting another boy, prosecutors said.

Orange County prosecutors intended to let Los Angeles prosecutors handle the case, but stepped in on Feb. 11 by filing a criminal complaint of their own because Spitzer believes the defendant should at least face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Spitzer has also been a vocal critic of Gov. Gavin Newsom's move to suspend the death penalty in the state.

In a court filing, Spitzer's office argued that his office "has an interest in this case because the victim... was a resident of Orange County at the time of his murder. His parents and next-of-kin have remained residents of Orange County to the present."

“Jeffrey’s family will have justice,” Spizter said in announcing his bid to try the case in Orange County.

Spitzer's prosecutors also noted the boy was kidnapped in Orange County and argued that Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, who took office in December, is not moving to dismiss the special circumstance allegations "because there are proof problems or because it would be fair and just to do so, but because of a series of special directives through which he endeavors to fundamentally change criminal procedure by way of executive fiat. His attempt to do in this case is manifestly contrary to the furtherance of justice."

Rasmuson is accused of "horrific" crimes, according to the motion filed by Spitzer's office.

"He kidnapped two young, vulnerable 6-year-old boys, sexually assaulted them, and murdered them," the motion reads. "Defendant's background, character, and prospects show he is a dangerous serial predator with no likelihood to ever change. He has served two prison terms for molesting an 11-year-old boy he lured into seclusion before sodomizing him and he abducted a 3-year-old boy from the boy's front yard before later sodomizing him and leaving him wandering naked on a street the next day."

Authorities found child pornography in the defendant's possession when he was arrested in 2015, "and his internet history revealed multiple searches for child pornography," according to the motion.

Two months after the Orange County victim was killed, Rasmuson "lured an 11-year-old boy into seclusion by asking him to help find his handicapped dog" in Santa Barbara, according to Orange County prosecutors. Rasmuson sexually assaulted the boy, who lied to his attacker that he liked it so he could get away, which worked, prosecutors said.

Rasmuson was sentenced to prison for the 1981 sexual assault, and when he completed that prison term, he was deemed a "mentally disordered offender," Orange County prosecutors said. He was released from prison in 1985 and ordered to undergo sexual disorder treatment, and during this time he killed Miguel, prosecutors alleged.

A year later, Rasmuson abducted a 3-year-old boy from the front yard of his Los Angeles home and drove away. The boy was found naked the next day, wandering on the side of a road, and Rasmuson was eventually convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

After Rasmuson served his time, he was designated a sexually violent predator and was committed to the Atascadero State Hospital. He was released in 2007.

Rasmuson "admitted" to doctors that he had "committed at least 10 child molestations since age 18, a period of time in defendant's life comprising only four and a half years of freedom from incarceration," but was Orange County prosecutors alleged. "Defendant grabs unsuspecting children off the streets of their neighborhoods, or even from the front yards of their houses. He is brazen, impulsive, and unconcerned with the suffering of others, all of which make him highly dangerous."

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City News Service contributed to this report.