How a mummified body helped unravel the Allenstown murders

BOSTON — New England's Unsolved's Bob Ward traveled to an undisclosed location out of state, to talk to the retired investigator who finally caught Terry Rasmussen: the serial killer behind the Allenstown, New Hampshire murders.  A woman and three children who were found in those barrels.

They're identities are still unknown.

But a mummified body, found in cat litter in a California crawl space helped unravel the mystery.

Ward spoke with retired Contra Costa County homicide detective Roxane Gruenheid. In 2002, she was investigating the disappearance of Eunsoon Jun.Jun was the common-law wife of Larry Vanner, and had been missing for four months. They brought Vanner in for questioning. Vanner told investigators Jun suffered an emotional breakdown and was being treated out of state.

Hidden Identity Revealed

"I always felt he was running from previous crimes," Gruenheid told Ward. "We were able to determine that his identity, the name that he gave us, the date of birth it didn't really go anywhere. it was like a one-sided piece of paper."

Gruenheid's hunch was right. When police ran his fingerprints, they learned he was wanted, under another name, on a parole violation, and he was arrested.

Years later, after Vanner died in a California prison, authorities discovered Vanner's real name Terry Peder Rasmussen.

Roxane and another detective searched the home Rasmussen shared with Eunsoon Jun in Richmond, California. They soon made a disturbing discovery in the garage.

“There was this mound of kitty litter. But through the kitty litter were electrical cords and wires, there were power tools around and lighting hung up."

"A Mummified Foot With A flip Flop On It"

Crime scene services investigators dug through the kitty litter.

They found Eunsoon Jun.

"The thing that came out first was what appeared to be mummified foot, with a flip flop on it,"  Gruenheid said.

Gruenheid told Ward Eunsoon Jun suffered blunt force trauma, the same fate as all four Allenstown victims.

Roxane Gruenheid says she will never forget this case or the chilling conversation she had with this mysterious killer.

"I said, 'Where are you from?' He stopped, just stopped what he was saying, and he was sitting next to me and he leaned in closer to me, like, in my personal space, in a threatening, like a presence, and he looks at me and he goes, 'That’s none of your God-damned business'."

If you have information that could help identify the Allenstown victims, please call New Hampshire State Police Cold Case Unit at  603-223-3856.

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