Former LAPD detective who murdered her ex-lover's wife, hid crime for decades remains behind bars

LOS ANGELES -- The erstwhile Los Angeles constabulary detective convicted successful 2012 of sidesplitting her ex-lover's woman was denied parole connected Wednesday successful the 1986 execution and volition proceed to service her 27 years-to-life sentence.

Stephanie Lazarus was convicted of murdering Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old infirmary captious attraction nursing director, who was changeable 3 times successful the location she shared with her husband, John Ruetten.

Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to beingness aft a assemblage recovered her blameworthy of first-degree murder. She became eligible for parole successful 2023 aft the authorities of California passed a instrumentality giving peculiar information to youthful offenders who had committed their crimes erstwhile they were nether the property of 26.

WATCH | Crime newsman recalls chaotic twists, turns successful Stephanie Lazarus execution case: 'I inactive get chills'

Lazarus was 25 astatine the clip of the murder.

Commissioner Garland stated that the committee had "found bully origin to rescind Lazarus' parole" and would reconvene for further hearings regarding Lazarus.

There volition beryllium different accidental for parole. Lazarus volition beryllium acceptable for different suitability proceeding wrong 120 days.

"The Killer Down the Hall," a caller "20/20" airing Friday, Oct. 4, connected ABC astatine 9 p.m. E.T. and streaming the adjacent time connected Hulu, features the communicative of Stephanie Lazarus, including interviews with the victim's household and friends.

Los Angeles constabulary Detective Stephanie Lazarus was a Los Angeles constabulary Detective astatine the clip Sherri Rasmussen was killed successful 1986.

Steve Lazarus

"It's definitely, uh, lb for pound, 1 of the top true-crime stories of each time," Mark Groubert, a writer who wrote a diagnostic connected Lazarus' LAPD portion for L.A. Weekly, told "20/20."

Ruetten and Lazarus met astatine UCLA successful the 1970s and had a affable narration that progressive casual sex, according to Ruetten's grounds astatine Lazarus' trial. Ruetten besides testified that helium ne'er considered Lazarus his girlfriend. He besides admitted to sleeping with Lazarus soon aft becoming engaged to Rasmussen. On Feb. 24, 1986, Ruetten discovered his woman lying successful a excavation of humor connected the surviving country level of their condo successful Van Nuys, California. He instantly called 911.

The archetypal investigators determined the transgression country astatine the location that Ruetten and Rasmussen shared showed each the signs of a "hot prowl," a word constabulary usage to picture a location invasion. Investigators powerfully believed that Rasmussen was the unfortunate of a burglary that escalated into her murder. She had ligature marks connected her wrist, indicating that, astatine immoderate point, idiosyncratic had tied her up. She besides had 3 gunshot wounds to her chest, on with a wound people connected her arm.

On the nighttime of the murder, LAPD Homicide Detective Lyle Mayer questioned a precise affectional John Ruetten astir what helium knew regarding the time Sherri was killed.

Ruetten denied sidesplitting his woman and agreed to acquisition a polygraph examination, but the results came backmost inconclusive. However, helium had a rock-solid alibi, according to the Rasmussen household attorney.

RELATED: Parole denied for erstwhile LAPD detective recovered blameworthy of sidesplitting ex-boyfriend's wife

"He was astatine enactment that day," John Taylor, the attorney, said. "He had near work. He had stopped to prime up his adust cleaning and past came backmost betwixt 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. and recovered his woman murdered successful the surviving country country of the house."

In the eyes of Mayer, the pb detective, Ruetten was a grieving husband. Investigators said they didn't consciousness helium was hiding anything, and arsenic acold arsenic they were concerned, helium was not a fishy -- and they told him so.

"I judge your location was burglarized today," Mayer told Ruetten successful the interrogation room. "Once those persons, oregon that person, oregon whoever was inside, I judge they were trying to bargain your stereo and astir apt immoderate different items."

Not agelong aft Rasmussen's murder, investigators rapidly pursued a caller lead. Another burglary with a akin M.O. occurred successful the aforesaid Van Nuys neighborhood.

A pistillate interrupted the burglary erstwhile she came location and recovered 2 men successful her house, 1 of whom was armed. They fled, and witnesser sketches of the suspects were created. Even though the LAPD had these caller suspects, determination was nary grounds straight tying anyone to Rasmussen's murder. Sherri's household and friends believed the motive to beryllium personal. Her father, Nels Rasmussen, says helium urged the constabulary to analyse a disgruntled caregiver Sherri had worked with, arsenic good arsenic Ruetten's erstwhile lover, Stephanie Lazarus, whose sanction Rasmussen ne'er knew. But the detectives continued to absorption solely connected the burglary theory.

At this point, detectives said they did not person a azygous witness, fingerprints, oregon execution weapon.

The lawsuit went acold until 2001, erstwhile the Los Angeles Police Department launched the LAPD's Cold Case Unit. That year, detectives were fixed much than 9,000 unsolved murders spanning much than 2 decades, and Rasmussen's lawsuit was 1 of them.

With caller exertion and a caller acceptable of eyes, acold lawsuit investigators took different look astatine the wound people that was connected Rasmussen's forearm.

Detective Cliff Shepard was the pb serviceman who investigated the Rasmussen lawsuit for the unit.

"Up to that point, cipher other had looked astatine it different than Mayer and myself, really," Shepard said. "When I was going backmost implicit the reports, they bespeak that a wound swab had been collected," Shepard said. "And erstwhile I looked astatine the evidence... nary grounds for a wound swab. So, I checked with our property, they verified they did not person the swab booked with our grounds room. There's nary grounds of it."

Shepard sought assistance from Jennifer Francis, a criminalist astatine the LAPD's Scientific Investigation Division, to find the swab, which she traced to a freezer astatine the L.A. County Medical Examiner's Office.

Los Angeles Police Officer Rodney Forrest, present retired, returns to location wherever helium was 1 of the archetypal to discovered the Rasmussen transgression scene.

ABC News

The swab was sent retired to forensics for analysis, which returned a DNA illustration of an unidentified pistillate but returned nary lucifer successful instrumentality enforcement databases.

The DNA had fixed constabulary a profile, but it did not supply a name. Even with this caller information, the investigator's mentation remained that Sherri's slayer oregon killers were burglars. By 2005, Shepard had moved connected from the Rasmussen cold-case probe without identifying a suspect, adjacent with the DNA profile.

"My biggest regret is not interviewing Ruetten. Not gathering with him and having a face-to-face," Shepard said.

The lawsuit went acold until 2009 erstwhile Detective Jim Nuttall from the Van Nuys part took implicit the probe with a caller acceptable of eyes.

One of the archetypal things Nuttall noticed was the four-year-old DNA study by Francis indicating that a pistillate was contiguous astatine the murder. He besides thought the stereo instrumentality stacked by the doorway was suspicious, starring him to question the burglary theory.

After going backmost to talk with Sherri's household and Ruetten, Nutall and his squad of investigators compiled a database of 5 pistillate suspects who were successful Rasmussen's orbit. Three of the 5 were instantly eliminated - Rasmussen's sister, mother, and her adjacent person -after submitting DNA samples. The 4th suspect, a caregiver with alleged hostility with Rasmussen astatine her job, besides was eliminated.

The 5th fishy was Stephanie Lazarus, Ruetten's ex-lover from college. Ruetten told Detective Nuttall that helium had already fixed Lazarus' sanction to the LAPD 23 years ago. The conversation, however, was ne'er documented.

Four months aft reopening the Rasmussen case, Nuttall did thing nary different serviceman investigating Sherri's execution had done: He took a hard look astatine Lazarus.

The determination was made to person a peculiar surveillance portion travel Lazarus to observe her and get a DNA sample. After pursuing her, the portion noticed she had thrown a cupful distant successful a nationalist trash can. They recovered the cupful to trial the DNA against that from the wound mark.

The DNA matched the wound people connected Rasmussen, providing detectives with the grounds they needed to apprehension Lazarus. Lazarus was charged with Sherri's execution and pleaded not guilty.

In February 2012, 26 years aft the execution of Rasmussen, Lazarus stood proceedings astatine a courthouse successful downtown Los Angeles. She was convicted of first-degree execution and sentenced to 25 years to beingness and an further 2 years for the usage of a firearm.

After her conviction, Lazarus continued to profess her innocence but changed her communicative successful 2023 erstwhile she became eligible for parole.

"The lone crushed she confessed is due to the fact that she wants to get retired connected parole," Teresa Marie Lane, a sister of Rasmussen, said. "We truly person to support her successful due to the fact that she has nary respect for what she did. She does not person remorse."