The detectives failed to interview many relevant people, including one who witnessed Lazarus harassing Rasmussen at her job before the murder. Despite evidence to the contrary, lead detective Lyle Mayer decided almost immediately that the murder was committed by two men as part of a botched robbery gone wrong, and nothing said by family or friends changed that perspective. Stephanie Lazarus, a Los Angeles police officer, entered the home of her ex-lover, John Ruetten, and murdered his new wife, Sherri Rasmussen, beating her brutally during a struggle before shooting her three times. "On the surface yes.(but there) are there things that explain why it didn't happen as quickly."īlankstein said the murder trial of Stephanie Lazarus left a powerful imprint about the family of victim Sherri Rasmussen, who had to relive their loss yet again, after 25 years.In 1986 Det. "Should it have happened faster?," said Blankstein, regarding the arrest of Lazarus. Pool, AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Gary Friedman Loretta Rasmussen, the mother of murder victim Sherri Rasmussen, gives her victim impact statement during the sentencing of Stephanie Lazarus, on Friday, May 11, 2012, in Los Angeles. To underscore his point, Blankstein noted that in the early days of the case, the LAPD wasn't even using cell phones, let alone high-tech forensics. He says aspects of the original LAPD investigation may be "problematic," and there are still unanswered questions as to why Lazarus wasn't looked at more closely to begin with.īut the LA Times reporter says the dramatic developments that took decades later hinge mainly on a revolution in DNA technology, which enabled investigators to zero in on the source of a bite mark on the arm of the murder victim, Rasmussen. The case raised tough questions about whether the LAPD intentionally looked the other way, and ultimately, covered up Lazarus' involvement in the killing.īlankstein sees a case of "tunnel vision" by the police, in their long-held belief that Rasmussen was killed in a robbery. Blankstein recalls being struck by the fact that Lazarus was called away from her office by police - the same office where he had sometimes spoken with her in her capacity as an art crimes investigator.īack in 1986, Sherri Rasmussen was a newlywed, and Lazarus, already a cop, was an ex-girlfriend of Rasmussen's husband, John Ruetten. Lazarus was arrested for murder in an elaborate sting by her LAPD colleagues in June 2009. Still, Blankstein says he was "supremely confident" he was on the right track, because his information was "so good." Los Angeles police detective Stephanie Lazarus is arraigned at the Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on murder charges, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. We "didn't want to impact the case," he said. "It's very rare for a cop to be arrested".let alone "arrested for murder." Blankstein said it was a challenge not to "jump the gun" on the story. Having covered the LAPD for some 20 years, he told Crimesider that when the reporters got a tip about "something big" involving a police officer, he knew it would be "above and beyond" the routine.
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