LOS ANGELES — A chance for parole was rescinded Wednesday for a former Los Angeles police detective serving a sentence of 27 years to life in the cold-case killing of her ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986.
Stephanie Lazarus was convicted in 2012 of killing Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the Van Nuys condo she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. She wasn’t arrested until 2009.
The state Board of Parole Hearings heard arguments from lawyers on both sides during a hearing Wednesday that lasted about 90 minutes. The three commissioners then met privately and returned with a decision to rescind a previous grant of parole, according to attorney John Taylor, who represents the Rasmussen family.
Taylor said the family was relieved by the decision.
“Lazarus had her parole time up front, evading arrest for 23 years after the murder. She has expressed no remorse for the cold-blooded execution of Sherri Rasmussen committed while she was an LAPD officer. It’s unfair to the family that she should now go free and enjoy her life while receiving her LAPD pension,” Taylor said in a statement following the board’s decision.
A select committee of the parole board determined last November that Lazarus was eligible for parole. The full board took up her case in May but the final decision was delayed until this week. An attorney for Lazarus couldn’t be located Wednesday.
Rasmussen’s sisters and widower gave emotional testimony during May’s hearing about their pain and described Lazarus as a conniving criminal who used her police training to cover up the killing.
At her trial 12 years ago, prosecutors focused on the romantic relationship between Lazarus and Ruetten after they graduated from college. They claimed Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen.
The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark prosecutors say Lazarus left on Rasmussen’s arm.
Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because detectives then believed two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area were to blame for Rasmussen’s death.
No suspects were found and the case went cold until May 2009, when undercover officers followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of her saliva to compare with DNA left at the original crime scene, police said.
Prosecutors suggested Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence, such as fingerprints.
Lazarus rose in the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department, becoming a detective in charge of art forgeries and thefts.
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