LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus in Custody

LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus is in custody for beating, shooting, and biting a love rival to death in 1986. She is accused of killing Sherri Rae Rasmussen, her ex-boyfriend's wife, in 1986, when Lazarus had been on the police force for two years.

Lazarus was arrested last week after her DNA was found in saliva from the bite marks on Ms. Rasmussen, a beautiful and accomplished nurse who had just married Detective Lazarus' former boyfriend, John Ruetten.

Shortly before the murder, Detective Lazarus had apparently shown up at Ms. Rasmussen's place of work and told her, "If I can't have John, nobody can," according to a lawyer for the victim's family.

Lazarus had also gotten into Ms. Rasmussen's condo and confronted Rasmussen who ordered her to leave.

Ms. Rasmussen was 6 feet tall and athletic, and thought she could handle the situation.

After the murder, Rasmussen's father told authorities to look into her husband's former girlfriend in the LAPD, his concerns were dismissed. He was even told that he was "watching too much TV."

Ms. Rasmussen's husband, when asked about Lazarus, described her as an acquaintance. This strikes a false note--I'm sure he had some vague idea that his ex-girlfriend had been harassing his new wife, and might be good for the murder.

The detectives who investigated the murder didn't consider Lazarus a suspect, for whatever reasons. I hope these were good reasons...

The murder was classified as a robbery gone somehow awry. However, the only thing missing from the condo was the Ms. Rasmussen's marriage license. This seems to me like the type of symbolic theft that a jealous woman would commit. I wonder wat Lazarus did with the marriage certificate. The victim's car was also missing, but was found nearby with the keys in it, an obvious red herring.

After the murder Detective Lazarus spent decades establishing her career within the LAPD as an expert in cases involving art forgeries. She married a man who knew nothing of the killing, much less his wife's involvement in it. The couple adopted a young daughter, who will now, presumably, grow up without her mother's presence.

I was deeply stunned to read about this case. It's not only that the guilty party (she's only a "suspect" under the law--as private people we are free to refer to her as guilty) was a police officer, though this is especially shocking to me. It's that she murdered someone, and will face the eternal and earthly consequences of having done so, and for what? For a man who probably never gave her a second thought? Was it worth it? Most resoundingly not.

Best Wishes,


Jen

p.s. It never hurts to be wary of one's husband's ex-girlfriends. You think they forget and move on with their lives, but that's not always the case. Most murders committed by women (according to a cop client of mine) are over so-called "love triangles."