0:00

Two young fathers are shot to

0:02

death outside an iconic Utah restaurant.

0:04

I said, your dad has been

0:06

hurt really bad. The grief was

0:08

disorienting for those left behind, until

0:11

one choice changed everything. I just

0:13

remember writing this letter and it

0:15

wasn't me writing it. Can a

0:17

personal decision shape generations? We're

0:19

all falling for this guy's trick. I'm

0:22

Amy Donaldson. Season 2 of The Letter, Ripple

0:24

Effect, premieres on April 16th. Follow

0:27

us at theletterpodcast.com or wherever you get

0:29

your podcasts. Hi,

0:31

I'm feminist Darian Gibson. And

0:33

I'm homosensual Brian Safi. And

0:35

we're the co-hosts of the Attitudes podcast.

0:38

Where we talk about LGBT plus issues,

0:40

gender issues, and pop culture. Probably with

0:42

much less respect than they deserve. Look,

0:44

it's a wild world and we want

0:46

to help you laugh at it. Plus

0:48

we discuss everything going on in our

0:50

lives. Like what do you do when your

0:52

husband accidentally starts a fire in a dumpster? And

0:55

the best armpit slapping techniques to get rid of the

0:57

bags under your eyes. Thanks for the advice, mom. And

1:00

of course, how to spin a wig around to

1:02

achieve a brand new look. Ah,

1:04

stunning. So if you're a fan of high heel

1:06

shoe chairs or have a crippling fear of pot

1:08

air balloons but also believe in social justice, then

1:10

this show's for you. Listen to

1:13

Attitudes anywhere you get your podcasts. Lemonade.

1:23

Hi, I'd like to tell you about a

1:25

new podcast with an amazing story. It

1:27

starts like your traditional true crime. Two

1:30

fathers are found murdered in a van parked

1:32

outside an upscale Utah restaurant in 1982. The

1:35

killer confessed, but his story about what

1:37

happened and why he murdered Jordan Rasmussen

1:39

and Buddy Booth would create

1:41

more pain, conflict, and impossible questions

1:43

for the families. Questions

1:46

like who was forgiveness for? Does

1:48

remorse matter? And if you

1:50

can inherit trauma, can you also inherit forgiveness?

1:53

Host Amy Donaldson spent a year and a

1:55

half peeling back the layers of this tragedy.

1:58

The story uncovered in the Letter Season 2

2:01

ripple effect shows that sometimes even the

2:03

most personal decisions can resonate through generations

2:05

and change the lives of people we've

2:07

never met. You're about

2:09

to hear a clip from the first episode of the

2:12

Letter Season 2 ripple effect. After

2:14

you've listened, search for the letter wherever you're listening right

2:16

now to hear the rest of the episode. You

2:18

can also click on the link in the

2:20

episode notes or head to theletterpodcast.com. The

2:24

last night of Jordan Rasmussen's life wasn't

2:27

especially remarkable. The only

2:29

reason anyone finds it memorable is

2:31

because those who love him most say

2:34

it perfectly encapsulates who he was. No

2:37

one remembers exactly what time the 32-year-old accountant

2:39

pulled into the driveway of his single-story home the

2:41

night of March 4, 1982. But

2:45

they do remember it was late enough that two of his

2:47

children were already asleep. Jordan

2:49

was working late when he received an unexpected phone

2:52

call. That call would change

2:54

his plans for the following morning. And

2:56

that change of plans would cost Jordan

2:58

Rasmussen his life. When

3:04

he walked into the house, he found a familiar scene.

3:06

His 8-year-old son and his 5-year-old daughter

3:08

in bed, while his youngest, 16-month-old Chad,

3:11

was wide awake. His wife,

3:13

DeAnn, was at home. She was

3:15

playing indoor tennis with a friend, leaving the

3:17

children in the care of a babysitter. And

3:19

as he often did, Chad was protesting

3:22

bedtime. DeAnn remembers it

3:24

was her husband who unlocked the secret of

3:26

getting Chad to sleep. Neighbors

3:29

remember seeing Jordan almost

3:31

every night, walking

3:33

Chad around the block, trying

3:36

to get him to sleep. Was

3:38

he a fussy baby? He didn't

3:40

want to go to sleep. So that

3:42

was kind of their nightly ritual. But

3:48

it was already dark that night, so Jordan offered

3:50

to drive the babysitter to her house, just

3:52

a couple of blocks away. And he

3:54

brought Chad along for the ride. But

3:56

when they returned home, Jordan realized

3:59

the doors were locked. And he didn't

4:01

have his key. I had no idea

4:03

he had locked himself out of the house and

4:06

he was just on

4:09

his own with Chad. In

4:11

the early 80s, cell phones were not an

4:13

option, so Jordan had no way to communicate

4:16

with his wife. He went

4:18

next door to the neighbors

4:20

and across the street to see if they

4:22

by chance had a key to our house,

4:25

which they didn't. They invited

4:27

him in so he could

4:29

wait for me to get home. And

4:33

he said, no, I just want

4:35

to spend some time with Chad. Even

4:38

before sunset that night, the temperature

4:41

dipped below freezing and that

4:43

made Jordan's decision to decline an invitation to wait

4:45

in the warmth of a friend's house a

4:47

bit surprising. But he

4:49

had his reasons. They said

4:52

there was no way we were going to get Jordan

4:54

to come in the house. He was determined

4:56

he wanted to spend just

4:58

a long time with Chad. So

5:02

Jordan carried Chad back into their garage and

5:04

they took refuge from the cold in the family

5:06

sedan. Exactly what happened

5:08

between father and son that night will forever

5:10

remain a mystery. But it's

5:12

easy for DeAnn to imagine it because

5:15

she'd seen similar scenes hundreds of times

5:17

since they'd become parents eight years earlier. I

5:21

could just picture him being in the car just

5:24

hugging and laughing and giggling and

5:27

talking to him. That's

5:30

the way he was. But

5:35

at some point, maybe the chill started to

5:37

seep in. Maybe his weight was longer than

5:40

he expected. Or maybe fatigue

5:42

wore them both down. Whatever

5:44

the reason, Jordan finally decided they couldn't

5:46

stay outside any longer. He

5:49

broke a window in our French

5:51

store, just a little pain

5:54

and reached in and let himself in.

5:58

Because I remember we had to... get

6:01

somebody here to fix the windows the

6:03

next day after the awful

6:05

event happened. That

6:09

awful event was Jordan's murder.

6:13

And it would happen less than 12 hours later.

6:24

From KSL Podcasts, I'm Amy Donaldson

6:26

and this is the letter season

6:28

2, Ripple Effect. In

6:31

the first season of the letter, we shared a transformative

6:34

story of forgiveness and healing. We

6:37

had no plans for another season

6:39

because frankly, we knew what happened

6:41

in season 1 was unique. But

6:43

all of that changed when I got an email

6:46

from a former prosecutor that I hadn't seen in

6:48

more than 20 years. He'd been

6:50

listening to season 1 and he was compelled to reach

6:52

out. He said he'd been

6:54

part of a story that sounded similar. It

6:57

involved families shattered by tragedy, a reckoning

6:59

with remorse, a complicated

7:01

struggle with forgiveness. And yes,

7:04

there was even a letter. But once

7:07

I started looking into it, I discovered

7:09

just how different these stories were. And

7:11

that led me to question what I thought I

7:13

understood about forgiveness. Who is it for?

7:16

Who deserves it? And why people

7:18

do it? This new

7:20

season explores how a very personal

7:22

decision can stretch across time and

7:25

impact generations. Sometimes

7:27

even reaching strangers in ways we could

7:29

never imagine. This

7:32

is episode 1. He didn't

7:34

deserve to live. When

7:45

DeAnn Rasmussen came home from playing tennis and found

7:47

out that her husband and her toddler had been stuck out

7:49

in the cold, she was overwhelmed

7:51

with guilt. But Jordan assured

7:54

her it was no big deal. In

7:56

fact, he'd treasured the solitary snuggle time

7:58

with a cat. It was a

8:00

gift at the end of a long,

8:02

difficult day. Jordan

8:04

was the best dad. He

8:08

adored his children. He

8:11

would do anything in the world for them. When

8:15

DeAnn and Jordan first met as teenagers working together

8:17

at a dairy in Salt Lake City, she had

8:19

no idea they would have three children together. She

8:23

didn't give much thought to what he might be like as

8:25

a father, or even a boyfriend for that matter. She

8:27

was just 17 and he was the

8:29

lanky 19-year-old manager already in college. I

8:33

had no romantic interest in him,

8:35

but he was so nice. On

8:38

nights like this, she couldn't imagine a

8:40

life without his patience and love. She

8:43

was grateful that his kindness convinced her to go on

8:45

a date with him back in 1969, and

8:47

even more grateful that they made the

8:50

commitment to stay together through life's challenges. The

8:52

first test of their commitment came in the summer of 1969

8:55

during the Vietnam War. Jordan

8:57

enlisted in the Air Force Reserve and basic

8:59

training kept them apart for six minutes. Even

9:02

daily letters and weekly calls couldn't ease

9:05

their longing to be together. We

9:07

were quite serious by then. Oh,

9:10

it was really hard. Then

9:12

even before he finished basic training,

9:14

Jordan faced a monumental decision, a

9:17

choice between serving a two-year mission for the Church

9:19

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or

9:21

staying with DeAnn in Salt Lake City. Serving

9:24

a mission was almost expected of Latter-day Saint men.

9:26

It was a rite of passage, and Jordan

9:29

had looked forward to it his whole life,

9:31

a chance to proselytize for his faith. But

9:34

that also meant two more years of loving

9:36

each other through letters. My

9:39

heart was breaking, and his

9:41

worst too. We had the

9:43

discussion and decided that it

9:45

would just be too hard, that

9:47

we needed to be together and

9:50

get married. And

9:52

within a decade, they were a family of five.

9:55

They never regretted their choice and through

9:57

all their challenges and changes. said

10:00

there was one constant for Jordan. The

10:03

most important thing was family,

10:05

his children, and his wife.

10:09

So it was no surprise to DeAnn that

10:11

her husband turned the inconvenience of being locked

10:14

out of the house with a toddler into a play

10:16

date. Because even though life

10:18

had been tough for them in the months leading up

10:20

to this night, Jordan always seemed to

10:22

find a way to make his family feel

10:24

loved. We were

10:26

struggling. A new

10:28

family, we were behind

10:31

mortgage payments. It

10:34

was a hard

10:36

time financially for

10:38

us. It's one of

10:41

the reasons he kept a job that had grown

10:43

complicated and stressful. Jordan worked as

10:45

the accountant for the iconic Log Haven restaurant.

10:48

Since its conversion from a wealthy family's mountain

10:50

retreat to a high-end restaurant, it had become

10:52

the place for weddings and receptions in the

10:54

80s. And while

10:56

balancing the books with Jordan's job, the

10:59

restaurant was also a special place for

11:01

his family. Two of his sisters

11:03

celebrated their weddings at the massive log cabin

11:05

nestled in the scenic canyon.

11:07

But in recent months, Log Haven had

11:09

become a source of tension. Under

11:12

that serene surface, trouble

11:14

was brewing. That

11:19

night, after Jordan put Chad to bed, he

11:21

told his wife that he'd been on an unexpected

11:23

phone call. It had to do with the

11:25

restaurant. Though Log Haven was

11:28

still very popular, it had been

11:30

struggling financially. The relationship between

11:32

the two partners who owned it had

11:34

soured and grown increasingly contentious. One

11:37

partner planned by the other out, and the

11:39

restaurant staff worried about what might happen

11:42

to their jobs, including Log

11:44

Haven's 25-year-old manager, Michael Moore.

11:47

It was Michael who had called Jordan and asked

11:49

for that early morning meeting at Log Haven. He

11:52

said something about Sunday's receipts being asked. DeAnn

11:55

had met Michael several times, including a recent lunch date.

11:57

It was only a couple of days ago.

12:00

of weeks before where

12:02

Jordan went up to log haven

12:05

and he had me come with

12:07

him and so we actually had lunch

12:09

with Mike Moore. So

12:12

when Michael proposed the early meeting, Jordan

12:14

agreed, but he was not looking forward to

12:16

it. Dan was aware of some of

12:18

the issues. Just a

12:21

few months earlier, Jordan had pointed out

12:23

a $30,000 shortfall to one of the partners. He

12:25

was deepened to their books. Notice

12:29

that there was some

12:32

shady deals going on up at

12:34

log haven. Suspected

12:36

that there was some embezzling of

12:39

money. Rumors

12:41

of facts and layoffs created distrust between

12:43

owners and the staff. One

12:46

of the partners had asked Jordan to take over

12:48

Michael's job as manager as soon as the buyout

12:50

was finalized. But this hadn't

12:52

been officially shared with the staff. Speculation

12:55

was rampant and Jordan was caught in the middle.

12:58

Things had been so tense. He even made

13:00

an offhand comment to his wife as they got ready for bed.

13:03

But if his car slid off the road in the

13:05

canyon the next morning, it might not be an

13:07

accident. Dan

13:09

dismissed it as a bit of dark humor. Did

13:12

you ever worry about him or did you think? No.

13:15

Nothing to worry about.

13:17

While Jordan went to bed, Dan stayed up and finished some

13:20

typing work she'd taken on to help them pay their bills.

13:23

I had a big project and I finished

13:25

that project so I didn't get to bed

13:27

till 2 o'clock. So

13:30

Dan was still huddled under the covers when Jordan

13:32

left the next morning. Jordan

13:37

gave me my kiss goodbye

13:40

and he took all use and

13:42

it was my meeting with my kiss

13:44

over. I

13:46

knew it was going to be kind of a, you

13:50

know, uncomfortable meeting. Jordan

13:53

left his silent house just as the sun was rising.

13:56

An overnight snowstorm had transformed the Salt Lake

13:58

Valley into a wintery day. her wonderland. Everything

14:01

was covered in the kind of snow

14:04

that's made Utah world famous among skiers,

14:07

but wreaks havoc on the roads. Log

14:10

Haven is located in Mill Creek Canyon, which

14:12

is about a 20-minute drive from Jordan Indiana's

14:14

home in Sandy, Utah. Maybe

14:17

as he drove, Jordan speculated about what he

14:19

planned to say to Michael Moore, or

14:21

maybe he thought about what was going to happen between

14:23

the two owners who were deciding the fate of the

14:25

restaurant. After months of uncertainty, the

14:28

split of their business assets was supposed

14:31

to be finalized later that very day.

14:34

In fact, after a stop at Log Haven, Jordan

14:36

planned to go directly to the attorney's office where

14:38

the deal was being finalized. But

14:41

he would never make it to that meeting. Jordan

14:45

turned onto Mill Creek Canyon Road and

14:47

almost immediately he pulled over. Fresh

14:49

snow blanketed the narrow roadway and hung on

14:52

the branches of the dense trees that lined

14:54

the route. He wasn't sure his

14:56

car could make the three-mile drive to Log Haven in these

14:59

conditions. Many saw a familiar

15:01

Jeep idling on the other side of the

15:03

road. He watched as the driver

15:05

swung around and pulled off the road in front of him.

15:08

Jordan got out and talked to the man who

15:11

threw a half-smoked cigarette out the window as

15:13

they exchanged a few words. Then,

15:16

Jordan walked around to the passenger side, opened

15:19

the door, and climbed in. Maybe

15:22

he was in a hurry and just didn't

15:24

notice the bullet holes that marred the side of

15:26

the Jeep. One on the hood

15:29

and one just in back of the front tire. Jordan

15:33

was prepared for a tense conversation, but

15:36

he had no way of knowing that

15:38

he was driving to his death. Did

15:50

you ever get hit with a cringy memory

15:52

of your 13-year-old self out of nowhere and

15:54

suddenly your panic sweating and laughing at the

15:56

same time? Don't worry, don't worry. We all

15:58

get that. It's because being an adolescent is

16:00

one of the most visceral shared experiences we

16:02

have as people. And we want to

16:04

talk about it. Join me, Penn Badgley,

16:06

and my two friends, Nav and Sophie,

16:08

on Podcrushed as we interview celebrity guests

16:10

about the joys and horrors of

16:13

being a teenager and how those moments made

16:15

them who they are today. New

16:17

episodes of Podcrushed are out on April 24th, wherever you

16:20

get your podcasts. Freedom!

16:23

Hi, I'm Paul F. Chompkin.

16:25

I'm Lauren Lapkett. And I'm Scott Aucherman. And

16:27

together we make up the show, Freedom! We're

16:29

comedians from Los Angeles who are also friends.

16:32

Yeah, that's weird, isn't it? And on our

16:35

podcast we just chat with each other, have

16:37

fun, play games. It's just a good hang.

16:39

We just talk about everything that's happened in

16:41

our lives ever before and up to now

16:43

and what will happen next. We

16:46

teach at the future. So the

16:48

new season's out now. You can get it

16:51

wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you get

16:53

that. Wherever! Wherever. Bye.