Brandon Johnson Stalked and Threatened His Ex-Wives Before They Teamed Up to Take Him Down. Here's Where the Don't Date Brandon Subject Is Today By Samantha Stutsman

Brandon Johnson is no longer hiding behind lies.

The Paramount+ docuseries Don’t Date Brandon, which premiered Oct. 28, unpacks the Washington native’s more than 20 years of history of alleged deception and violence.

His first wife, Athena Klingerman, and second wife, Amber Rasmussen, were among those who fought hardest to expose him. After years of alleged harassment, threats and stalking — including reported suicide threats, break-ins and even GPS tracking — both women secured protective orders against him. They were two of six women who did so, per The Sacramento Bee.

They launched the podcast Ex-Wives Undercover in 2020 to warn others and give a voice to his other victims.

“We always talk about Brandon being a hurricane — you’re stuck in the eye of the storm and can’t see out, but everyone else can see in,” Rasmussen said in Don’t Date Brandon.

Johnson pleaded guilty in 2023 to assault and attempted kidnapping with intent to rape a different victim, per The Sacramento Bee. He has also admitted to 10 counts of attempted first-degree theft in a separate fraud case, according to the docuseries.

So, what happened to Brandon Johnson? Here’s everything to know about his crimes and where he is today.

Who is Brandon Johnson? 

Born in the late 1970s in Aberdeen, Wash., to Barbara Tolomei, Johnson’s troubling behavior toward women began early, according to The Sacramento Bee.

At just 19 years old, he was hit with his first restraining order in 1997. Over the years that followed, he faced more than 17 protective orders from six different women who reported similar patterns of harassment, intimidation and control, per the outlet.

Those tendencies reportedly emerged in his teens, per Don’t Date Brandon. In 1992, while still a student at Aberdeen High School in Washington, Johnson began dating a classmate named Kelly. Their relationship quickly deteriorated as he allegedly became possessive and controlling, she told Don’t Date Brandon cameras.

“There was times when I really wanted to be just with my friends, but that wasn’t allowed,” she said. “He always wanted to be there.”

What did Brandon Johnson do?

Johnson met his first wife, Klingerman, on Match.com in 2007, per The Sacramento Bee. They welcomed a daughter, Sydney, in 2009 and married two years later. But within weeks of the wedding, the relationship unraveled. Klingerman alleged in Don’t Date Brandon that Johnson was cheating and mistreated her older daughter, Lexus, from a previous relationship.

When she tried to end the marriage, things escalated. Klingerman claimed in the docuseries that Johnson cheated on her, refused to move out and threatened suicide. Their divorce was finalized in 2012.

In 2013, Johnson met his second wife, Amber Rasmussen, on Tinder. He proposed just a few months later, in January 2014, and they married in May 2017. When Amber began to question his behavior, Johnson claimed he had leukemia — but he never allowed her to accompany him to treatment or doctor visits, she told Don’t Date Brandon cameras.

Eventually, Rasmussen uncovered the truth: Johnson had been using dating apps to talk to other women and was even posing as Klingerman on a shared family app to create fake conflicts and manipulate both women, per Don’t Date Brandon. After Rasmussen reached out to Klingerman, the two compared stories and realized they had been living nearly identical nightmares. They discovered his record included three previous charges of domestic violence and one of entrapment, for which he got a suspended sentence, per The Sacramento Bee.

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When Rasmussen told Johnson on Valentine’s Day in 2019 that she wanted a divorce, he allegedly threatened to kill Klingerman and himself, she told Don’t Date Brandon cameras. He was soon arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment and threatening to kill Klingerman, according to the docuseries; a court later ordered him to have no contact with either Klingerman or Rasmussen for five years.

Johnson disappeared for several weeks before suddenly reappearing at his daughter Sydney’s school. She got into his car but secretly texted her mother, who immediately contacted the police, she told Don’t Date Brandon cameras. Officers quickly located Johnson and a high-speed chase ensued. Fearing for Sydney’s safety, police eventually backed off — allowing Johnson to slip away. He later left Sydney at a local pizza restaurant, where Klingerman rushed to pick her up.

In 2020, Klingerman and Rasmussen launched a podcast called Ex-Wives Undercover, where they shared their experiences. The podcast continued to grow as more alleged victims began contacting them — including a woman named Rachel.

How many women did Brandon Johnson deceive? 

Johnson reportedly victimized at least six women in three different states, according to The Sacramento Bee.

In March 2021, Brandon began dating Rachel, a woman from El Dorado Hills, Calif., per Don’t Date Brandon. When she ended the relationship, he refused to let go. He allegedly placed listening devices in her home and a GPS tracker on her son’s car, her friends told docuseries cameras.

In February 2022, a court granted Rachel a protective order prohibiting Johnson from contacting her. But just weeks later, he allegedly broke into Rachel’s home in the middle of the night, threatened her and sexually assaulted her.

On March 11, 2022, Johnson returned once again. Rachel was in her bedroom with a friend named Austin when Johnson forced his way inside, armed with a taser and a knife. He attacked them, per video footage.

Austin managed to overpower Johnson long enough for Rachel to call 911. After officers arrived, Johnson tried to escape while being handcuffed and was only subdued after police tased him. A search of his vehicle turned up items consistent with a planned abduction — including handcuffs — while duct tape was found hidden inside his jacket.

Where is Brandon Johnson now? 

In 2023, Johnson was formally charged with assault and attempted kidnapping with the intent to commit rape in Rachel’s case, and ultimately accepted a plea agreement. He is now serving a 10-year sentence at a state prison in California, per The Sacramento Bee.

As part of separate criminal proceedings launched in 2019, he also admitted to 10 counts of first-degree attempted theft for stealing $392,000 from his former employer, HTC. A judge sentenced him to 36 months in prison for that case, to be served concurrently with his 10-year term, according to Don’t Date Brandon.

Under the terms of his plea deal, Johnson agreed to lifetime registration as a sex offender in California.

Brandon will be eligible for parole in May 2027. He still claims that many of the allegations against him are fabricated, as stated in Don’t Date Brandon.

“Looking back over the years, I wish the legal system had stepped in to offer me more help. Seeing a pattern of off-the-wall behavior, the most that ever happened was fines,” he wrote to The Sacramento Bee in January 2023.