Kriti Mehrotra
It was February 24, 1986, when everything turned upside down for John Ruetten and the Rasmussen family as 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen was bludgeoned and shot to death in her home. The former was the one to find her body that same evening, as per ABC’s ’20/20: The Killer Down the Hall’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: Detective Story,’ sha ttering his heart as they’d only gotten married three months prior. However, arguably, what hurt him more in the long run was the fact they didn’t have any answers for 23 years, just for it to ultimately come to light that his ex, Stephanie Lazarus, had killed her.
John Ruetten Admittedly Made Some Mistakes
While not much regarding the beginning of John’s relationship with Sherri is public knowledge, we do know he first met her shortly before the mid-1980s as a fresh UCLA engineering graduate. He honestly had no idea the initial attraction they shared would soon evolve into deep loving care, leading him to get down on one knee for her by the time the winder of 1985 rolled around. They actually tied the knot in November of the same year, unaware she would, unfortunately, lose her life in the worst way imaginable a mere three months later in their Los Angeles-area condominium.
Little did anybody know at the time that John had actually remained in touch with an ex-girlfriend from college while he was dating and then engaged to Sherri, which inadvertently led to the fateful February day. The truth is he had connected with fellow UCLA student-athlete and political science major Stephanie Lazarus over their shared passion for sports while in school, leading to them becoming friends. It didn’t matter to them that he was a year ahead, and they soon even began “necking and fooling around” in his eyes, meaning he was unaware that she was actually getting serious about them.
Stephanie reportedly expressed her feelings to John shortly after he graduated from the class of 1981, which he politely turned down before continuing to keep in touch with her from time to time. This is allegedly part of why she was so heartbroken once she found out he was engaged to be married to someone else, driving her to confront Sherri at their home and at her workplace several times. However, before doing so, she had called her ex-partner in devastation, so he went to her place to talk things out, only for one thing to lead to another until they somehow ended up sleeping together. Sherri later forgave him.
John Never Thought Stephanie Lazarus Could Be Responsible For Sherri’s Murder
Despite the fact Stephanie had almost broken up his engagement by telling Sherri about them sleeping and her reportedly scaring his fiancée, John never once believed she could be her killer. That’s not only because he knew for a fact she was an official at the Los Angeles Police Department but also because he wholeheartedly thought her to be kind, caring, as well as sensitive. Therefore, when the truth eventually did come to light in 2009, he was completely shell-shocked, but as always, he cooperated with the authorities and stated he had no idea Stephanie had been following Sherri prior to her death.
John even testified during Stephanie’s 2012 trial and gave an impact statement during her sentencing, where he broke down while recounting his connection with his loving wife. He even expressed that he was deeply troubled by the fact someone he knew was responsible for such a heinous crime, especially since he had again been intimate with her a few years down the line. In the end, he gave his deepest and most sincere condolences to his former in-laws for the loss and the pain they all had to endure.
John Ruetten Has Since Moved Forward in Life
While John understandably prefers to keep his private life well away from the limelight these days, we do know this Escondido, California resident has long remarried and now has a family of his own. Coming to his professional standing, this UCLA graduate had kickstarted his career as a Product Development Engineer at Hitachi Data Systems, where he proudly served for 5 years.
After that, he did stints as a Project Manager at UTC Aerospace Systems, Product Development Manager at Rexon Inc, and Director of Engineering at MediaLogic ADL before landing the role of Business Unit Director at Sony Electronics. He left the latter in 2000 to join Resource Trends Inc., where he still remains even after more than 24 years, yet the title he now holds is that of President. In other words, he is an extremely successful business executive these days.
Read More: Sherri Rasmussen: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
