Parole delayed for former Los Angeles police detective convicted of murdering ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986

LOS ANGELES– A chance at parole was delayed this week for a former Los Angeles police detective who was serving a 27-year-to-life prison sentence in the 1986 murder of his ex-boyfriend’s wife.

Stephanie Lazarus was convicted in 2012 of the murder of Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the apartment she shared with her husband of three months, John Ruetten.

A select panel of the State Board of Parole Hearings determined in November that Lazarus was eligible for parole. The full board took up his case Monday and then voted to hold a rescission hearing, sending the matter back to a lower committee to determine whether to overturn the previous recommendation.

Rasmussen’s sisters and widower testified emotionally at Monday’s hearing about their pain and described Lazarus as a complicit criminal who used his training as a police officer to cover up the killing.

Ruetten told the committee he did not believe Lazarus — whom he called simply “the inmate” — felt remorse. He said she had engaged in “skillful deception” and only confessed to the crime at a hearing last year in order to obtain parole.

“I don’t think she understands the breadth and depth of the suffering she caused,” Ruetten said through tears.

Among those speaking on Lazarus’ behalf was Erin Runions, a college professor who co-hosts a writing workshop for incarcerated people at the California Institution for Women. She spoke of Lazarus’ “spiritual growth” and her commitment to obtaining advanced degrees while behind bars so that she will be ready to find employment and contribute to the community if she is released.

“I saw a person who is remorseful, who is caring and who is very ready to reenter society,” Runions said during the hearing.

The governor’s office asked the board in April to review Lazarus’ parole plan. John Taylor, attorney for Rasmussen’s family, said he was relieved by Monday’s ruling.

“We look forward to the revocation hearing and hope that the parole grant will be rescinded,” Taylor said Tuesday. He said he expected the hearing to be scheduled in about four months.

Lazarus did not appear before the board Monday.

At his trial 12 years ago, prosecutors focused on Lazarus and Ruetten’s romantic relationship after they graduated from college. They claimed that Lazare was consumed by jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen.

The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark that prosecutors say Lazarus left on Rasmussen’s arm.

Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because detectives then believed two robbers who attacked another woman in the area were responsible for Rasmussen’s death. The file, however, mentions Lazarus because of his relationship with Ruetten.

No suspects were found and the case remained cold until May 2009, when undercover agents followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of his saliva to compare it to DNA left at the crime scene. origin, police said.

Prosecutors suggested Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence, such as fingerprints. The idea that saliva from a bite mark could cause its loss was inconceivable in 1986, when DNA was not used as a forensic tool.

Lazarus rose through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department, becoming a detective dealing with forgeries and art thefts.