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Posts on Hollywood Celebs' Gossips Tagged ‘Stephanie Ilene Lazarus’

Stephanie Lazarus: Sherri Rae Rasmussen Murder Suspect (Picture)

Posted on Jun. 05, 2009 by Lindsay Britney

Stephanie Ilene Lazarus Picture

Stephanie Ilene Lazarus Photo! Here is the picture of Stephanie Lazarus which is a cropped version of the one used in LA Weekly’s article titled UPDATE with photo of LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus. Accused of murder, she was featured in LA Weekly People Issue.

Stephanie Lazarus, a veteran LAPD detective who tracks stolen arts, was arrested today for allegedly  shooting her former boyfriend John Ruetten’s wife Sherri Rae Rasmussen twenty three years ago in 1986. Lazarus was accused of killing Rasmussen after the former’s DNA was found matched DNA of the victim’s killer.

“It’s very bittersweet. Our goal is to always bring people to justice, but this is somebody we know,”  LAPD’s detective bureau deputy chief Charlie Beck said of Lazarus’s arrest.

Stephanie Lazarus, 49, who is is being held at Los Angeles County without bail, was booked for investigation of the slaying of Rasmussen. According to AP, Police investigators expect to submit the case Monday to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file criminal charges.

Update: Stephanie Lazarus was charged with premeditated murder killing Sherri Rae Rasmussen on Monday (June 8) in L.A. County Superior Court. Her arraignment was scheduled on July 6. Lazarus could face the death penalty if convicted.

Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, 49, was arrested over allegedly shooting Sherri Rae Rasmussen to death in 1986. Stephanie Ilene Lazarus is described by LAT as a well-regarded and veteran detective at Los Angeles Police Department. Stephanie Lazarus was arrested by her colleagues at 8am this morning while working at the LAPD’s headquarter in downtown Los Angeles.

Sherri Rae Rasmussen,  a nursing director at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, was then married to John Ruetten. However, Sherri Rasmussen was cheated by her husband–Ruetten had an extra-marital affair with Stephanie Lazarus. Rasmussen was found dead by John in the living room of their Van Nuys condominium on February 24, 1986 and she was badly beaten.

LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus Picture

Despite of her relationship with John Ruetten,  Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, who joined to LAPD in 1983, was not thought as a suspect. Lazarus wasn’t paid much attention to because shortly after Rasmussen’s murder, two men robbed another woman in the area at gun point and homicide detectives came to believe the pair had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home.

Not until recently, because of the relatively light workload due to low homicides, LAPD reviewed Sherri Rasmussen’s case and found her killer’s DNA was from a woman. This time Stephanie Lazarus became a suspect, being considered her then romance with John Ruetten. So LAPD detectives took an opportunity to secretly sample Lazarus’s saliva last week during her errands after she left a coffee shop where she made some drinkings.

The test showed Stephanie Lazarus’s DNA was identical to Rasmussen murderer’s. As a result, this finding led today’s Stephanie Ilene Lazarus arrest. Lazarus was being held without bail at the Los Angeles County jail.

Source: Los Angeles Times (w/ a Stephanie Ilene Lazarus Photo)