Topline:
A state parole board Wednesday rescinded parole for Stephanie Lazarus, a former Los Angeles police detective who murdered her ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986. Lazarus, 64, spent more than two decades with the department before she was arrested for the murder in 2009.
The backstory: The case attracted national attention when detectives used DNA to identify her as the killer 23 years after the murder of Sherri Rasmussen. Lazarus was a 25-year-old patrol officer at the time of the killing. The case centered on DNA from a bite mark Lazarus left on Rasmussen’s arm.
The murder: Lazarus shot Rasmussen three times in the chest in the Van Nuys apartment Rasmussen shared with her husband John Ruetten, according to prosecutors. Lazarus had warned her ex-boyfriend not to marry Rasmussen, a 29-year-old hospital nursing director.
Governor intervenes: In November, a state parole board granted parole to Lazarus, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, under pressure from Rasmussen’s family and supporters, asked for an en banc hearing by the full board. The board ordered a rescission hearing.
The hearing: Lazarus spoke at the hearing. When asking for parole, she told he board: “Today I have learned that I cannot control anyone but myself, and I am responsible for my decisions.”
Rasmussen’s friends and family pleaded with the board to keep Lazarus locked up. At a previous hearing, one of the LAPD detectives who investigated Lazarus, John Taylor, said he believes Lazarus remains “fully capable of the level of savagery and violence that she perpetrated on Sherri.”
Next hearing: Lazarus will be up for another parole hearing within 120 days.
