LOS ANGELES AP — A former Los Angeles police detective, Stephanie Lazarus, will not have a chance for parole after the state Board of Parole Hearings rescinded a previous grant on Wednesday. Lazarus is serving a 27-year-to-life sentence for the cold-case murder of her ex-boyfriend’s wife, Sherri Rasmussen, in 1986.
Lazarus was convicted in 2012 for the brutal killing of Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot in the condo she shared with her husband, John Ruetten. Despite being a suspect in the case, she wasn’t arrested until 2009, more than two decades later.
During a 90-minute hearing on Wednesday, the Board heard arguments from both sides. After deliberating privately, the three commissioners decided to rescind the earlier parole grant. Attorney John Taylor, who represents the Rasmussen family, expressed their relief at the decision.
Lazarus had her chance for parole up front, evading arrest for 23 years after the murder. She has shown no remorse for the cold-blooded execution of Sherri Rasmussen, which she committed while serving as an LAPD officer. It is unfair for her to potentially go free and enjoy her life while still receiving her LAPD pension, Taylor said in a statement.
A special committee within the parole board had deemed Lazarus eligible for parole last November. Although the full board considered her case in May, the final decision was postponed until this week. Attempts to reach Lazarus’s attorney on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
During the May hearing, emotional testimony from Rasmussen’s sisters and her widower highlighted their ongoing pain. They described Lazarus as a manipulative criminal who leveraged her police training to conceal the murder.
At her trial 12 years ago, prosecutors emphasized Lazarus’s prior romantic relationship with Ruetten, claiming her jealousy motivated the crime when he chose to marry Rasmussen. The case relied heavily on DNA evidence from a bite mark on Rasmussen’s arm, which prosecutors argued Lazarus had left behind.
Initially, detectives did not suspect Lazarus in 1986, believing instead that two robbers who had assaulted another woman in the area were responsible for Rasmussen’s death. The case went cold until May 2009, when undercover officers followed Lazarus and collected a saliva sample to compare with the DNA found at the crime scene.
Prosecutors argued that Lazarus had intentionally avoided leaving other forms of evidence, such as fingerprints. During her career with the LAPD, Lazarus advanced to the rank of detective, specializing in art forgeries and thefts.