Stephanie Lazarus

Stephanie Lazarus is a former LAPD officer who was revealed as the villainess behind the cold case murder of Sherri Rasmussen in 1986.

In the early 1980s, Stephanie Lazarus became involved in a sexual relationship with John Ruetten--which ended sometime in 1983. Afterwards, Ruetten met Sherri Rasmussen, with Lazarus learning about the relationship sometime in 1985. Lazarus found out that Ruetten and Rasmussen were engaged to each other, leading to Lazarus seeing Ruetten again for another sexual encounter. In the months that followed, Lazarus often made excuses to see her ex-lover, and she even informed Rasmussen that things were not over between herself and Ruetten.

On February 24, 1986, Lazarus turned heel and shot Rasmussen to death inside her own home, engaging in a fight with her perceived romantic rival before killing her. The scene was set to look like a robbery, though Rasmussen's parents had suspected that Lazarus was the killer, as Sherri informed her father, Nels, that she believed that Lazarus was stalking her and had been doing so for months. As the case continued to go cold, Lazarus moved up the ranks of the LAPD, and by 2009, she was working art theft cases.

During that same year, Lazarus became the prime suspect in the 1986 cold case, and the investigation included police taking a cup that Lazarus discarded and testing the DNA to a bite mark that was on Rasmussen during the murder. After the DNA matched, Lazarus was arrested and charged with Rasmussen's murder. In March 2012, Lazarus was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 2039, when Lazarus is 79 years of age.