District Attorney Steve Cooley said Lazarus will likely spend the rest of her life behind bars. Given the circumstances of the case, L.A. Detective Stephanie Lazarus calmly answered 'yes' when Superior Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau asked if she agreed to have her arraignment continued to July 6. On February 24, 1986, Sherri Rasmussen, a critical care nurse was living in a condominium with her new husband, and Stephanie Lazarus ex-boyfriend, John Ruetten. During the trial, Lazarus' attorney argued the DNA evidence from the bite mark was corrupted and not reliable evidence.Īccording to sentencing guidelines, Lazarus will have to complete at least 50 percent of her term before she can be eligible for parole. Lazarus' family rejects the findings, saying the court was biased and Lazarus was wrongly accused. It is fitting that science is the key in this prosecution," said Rasmussen's sister, Connie. "Sherri's efforts to survive, she captured the scientific evidence needed to identify her murderer. Lazarus' saliva was found in a bite wound. "LAPD should want to know why it took so long, and there should be accountability for that passage of time," said John Taylor, attorney for the Rasmussens.ĭNA technology, which was developed years after the crime, is what ultimately linked Lazarus to the murder. The Rasmussens have filed a civil suit against the city and LAPD.
Investigators initially thought burglars shot Rasmussen, and dismissed Lazarus as a suspect despite urgings from Rasmussen's family that Lazarus had a motive. It took LAPD over two decades to unravel the case.
STEPHANIE LAZARUS HUSBAND HOW TO
I do not know, and fear I will never know, how to cope with this appalling fact," Ruetten said. "The fact that Sherri's death happened because she met and married me brings me to my knees. Lazarus was found guilty in March of killing the 29-year-old nursing supervisor in 1986 in the Van Nuys townhouse she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. Not once did Lazarus glance their way, even when testimony came from Rasmussen's widowed husband - the man prosecutors say Lazarus wanted so badly that she killed Rasmussen out of jealousy. Family members of her victim, Sherri Rasmussen, testified in tears about their loss. She faced forward throughout her sentencing. Stephanie Lazarus, the former LAPD detective who murdered her ex-boyfriends wife, Sherri Rasmussen, 30 years ago, is the leading story of crime and murder on Oxygens It Takes A Killer. Given good behavior and time served, Lazarus was given 1,608 days credit. Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to life in state prison for one count of willful deliberate first-degree murder, with a special circumstance allegation. 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. She was similarly upbeat as she left the courtroom, even after hearing tearful testimony about the woman she shot and killed. Stephanie Lazarus, 52, waved to her family and smiled broadly as she entered the courtroom on Friday.
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