Stephanie Lazarus, Veteran LAPD Detective, Charged with Capital Murder in Two-Decade Old Fatal Shooting of Ex-boyfriend's Wife

LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus, (Photo: Kevin Scanlon)

The truth will catch up with you when you least expect it. That's a statement you can take to the bank. Prosecutors have charged Stephanie Lazarus, a LAPD detective, with premeditated murder in connection with the fatal shooting of her ex-boyfriend, John Ruetten's, wife Sherri Rae Rasmussen. She could potentially face the death penalty because prosecutors have alleged a special circumstance in the case: that she killed Ms. Rasmussen, who was badly beaten and shot multiple times in her Van Nuys condominium on the evening of Feb. 24, 1986, during a burglary. There are scumbags in every police department, who have no business being there. How do you live 23 years in peace knowing that you murdered someone in cold blood? And to to think that Ms. Lazarus is a police officer, charged with upholding the law, not breaking it.

The original homicide detectives assigned to the case did not focus on Lazarus, who was then a patrol officer who had been with the department more than two years. Instead, they pursued the theory that two men who had robbed another woman in the area at gunpoint had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home, according to news reports from the time.

But detectives revisited the case in February, testing blood or saliva samples from the crime scene thought to have been from the killer. DNA tests showed that the attacker was a woman, disproving the theory that Rasmussen's killer was a man.

In a check of the case file, there was a reference to Lazarus, who had once dated the victim's husband, John Ruetten. Ruetten reportedly broke off the relationship and soon after became involved with Rasmussen, said sources familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Police sources said that Lazarus' DNA was recovered from discarded items by an undercover officer who had surreptitiously trailed her. The DNA in her saliva was compared with the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene. The genetic code in the samples matched conclusively, police said. Source: LA Times

Lazarus, who is expected to be arraigned today. What is crazy is that this woman was still serving as a police officer. She would have been comfortable with someone else taking the blame for her actions. That is just unconscionable.