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[Music] Venice is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of the city
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of Los Angeles California and it was there that newlyweds sherri rasmussen and john Rutan lived in a condo together
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on Balboa Boulevard Sherri Rasmussen was born on the 7th of February 1957 her parents were Nels and Loretta
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Rasmussen the middle daughter of three Sherri was known as a gentle kind and caring woman strikingly beautiful her
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compassion for others drove her to study nursing at the age of sixteen by the age
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of 29 she was the director of critical care at Glendale Adventist Hospital sherry was well respected and known for
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her caring approach to their job John Rutan was born in Eugene Oregon in September 1958 he excelled at basketball
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growing up and he continued that passion at UCLA where he studied engineering he
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was a charming handsome and athletic student he graduated in 1982 and a few years later secured a job as a
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mechanical engineer at a disk drive manufacturer John and Cheri met at a party in the spring of 84 john was
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immediately attracted to sherry as soon as he met her he got her number from a mutual friend they went on a date and
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instantly hit it off they became an exclusive item from that very first day shortly after meeting each other John
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met Sherry's parents and they enjoyed family trips together on their boat they were engaged in May 1985 and John bought
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shariah BMW as an engagement gift John moved into Sherry's condo on Balboa Boulevard and they were married on the
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23rd of November 1985 friends and family described them as the perfect couple utterly in love
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[Music] prior to meeting sherry John had dated several other women in 1981 while
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studying at UCLA he met a fellow student from the same dorm who also played basketball political science student
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Stephanie Lazarus Stephanie loved sports and was very fit she was on the junior varsity basketball team and was known as
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a bit of a prankster she was well-liked and had a lot of friends Stephanie and John grew close although they shared
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some intimacy at college they didn't start a sexual relationship until after they graduated they took troops together
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and Stephanie met John's family on more than one occasion not many of their friends from their college days knew
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about their relationship and at one point John started to feel uncomfortable about it so we stopped seeing Stephanie
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for a while John had always viewed their relationship as casual and he continued
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to see other women while he was seeing Stephanie they never formally discussed their relationship but it was mutually
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known they were not exclusive when John became engaged to Sherry Stephanie heard the news through a
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mutual friend it was during a period of time when John and Stephanie hadn't hung
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out together for quite a while as it was a mutually non-exclusive agreement between them John didn't think it was
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necessary to tell Stephanie the news himself a month after the engagement Stephanie called John and pleaded with
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him to visit her at her condo in the nearby suburb of Woodland Hills Stephanie was upset and crying
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hysterically John went to her condo and Stephanie confessed her love for him and
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pleaded over and over for him to have sex with her John explained he was marrying Sherri
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and that he and Stephanie's relationship was now over however they did end up sleeping together that day after this
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encounter John says he didn't have any contact at all with Stephanie for the next few years John and Cheri married on
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the 23rd of November 1985 on their three-month anniversary the 23rd of February 86 John gave his new bride
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three red roses a symbol of the three months they'd been married Sherri sat them in avars on the dining
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table that day they were visited by Sherry's sister Teresa and her husband Brian as well as a close friend of
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John's Mike Gorda they all said how happy John and cherry were that day holding hands laughing and loving each
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other's company the next morning Monday the 24th of February eighty-six John Rutan was up
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early to get ready for work he left home at 7:20 a.m. and stopped to drop off dry-cleaning on the way
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sherry wasn't going to work she had woken up and called in sick John knew that sherry wasn't keen on attending a
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lecture that day which had more to do with the sick day than her actually being sick during the day John called
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sherry two or three times just to check in on her there was no answer the phone rang out
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as their answering machine was turned off after finishing work John stopped off at the bank before arriving home
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about 6:00 p.m. sherry and John's condo was in a gated complex on the 7100 block
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of Balboa Boulevard their noise a six foot high wall surrounded the entire block and to drive in you needed a
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remote control each pedestrian gate also required a key their condo was in the central part of the complex and it was
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not an easy place to get into unless you had a key or someone let you in when John got home he immediately noticed
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broken glass from the patio door scattered on the driveway the garage door was up and Sherry's BMW was missing
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a neighbor said it had been like that for most of the day he saw the door up and car missing about 9:30 a.m. the
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internal door from the garage to the condo was also a jar John knew instantly that something was wrong as John walked
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up the stairs from the garage he found sherry lying dead on the floor stealing her night Gehman sherry had been
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severely beaten her eyes were swollen she had lacerations and bruising to her face and body and a bite mark on her
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left inner forearm the living room had been ransacked the vars had been smashed all over the floor the drawer had been
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pulled out and its contents tipped upside down the TV wall unit was partially dismantled and at the foot of
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the stairs a stereo and VCR equipment had been stacked in a pot speaker wire and wrote was laying at the entry to the
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home John called 9-1-1 and the first responder on the scene was la firefighter and paramedic Gregory
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Chilean who found John crying criminalists from the Los Angeles County coroner's office arrived they checked
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for trace evidence around Sherry's body and collected specimens a sexual assault
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kit was carried out and two saliva swabs were taken from the bite mark on Sharra's arm
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Sherri had been shot three times in the chest the bullets were confirmed to be from a
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38 caliber handgun and forensic tests later showed that the gun would have had a barrel length of two inches they were
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unable to determine the exact gun as there were several capable of firing the bullets found at the scene all of the
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crime scene evidence was logged into the coroner's office the lead homicide detective on the case was detective
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loyal mayor from the Van Nuys division of the LAPD after examining the scene he was sure he knew what happened a
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burglary gone wrong May's theory was as follows two offenders entered the condo through the
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unlocked front door as there was no sign of forced entry one began to dismantle the TV and stereo equipment while the
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other went upstairs Sherri startled the offender as he didn't realize she was home a struggle started upstairs before
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continuing downstairs into the living room leaving a bloody trail and handprint on the wall as Sherri
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attempted to escape or possibly tried to reach the panic button which was part of
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the condos alarm system while reaching for the offender's gun during the struggle Sherri was bitten on her left
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inner forearm she was hit over the head with the VARs likely knocking her unconscious the
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offender then reached for a quilt which was sitting nearby he wrapped the quilt around the barrel of the gun to muffle
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the sound held the gun up to share his chest and fired three shots at close range
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marks on Sheree's wrists indicated she had likely been bound and broken fingernails were found on the floor with
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a bloodied tail there had been a spate of burglaries in the area in recent times the offender's were described as
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latino males armed with a handgun which is how mayor came to theorize that two offenders were responsible the door
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knock was conducted and a neighboring housekeeper said she heard a scuffle and a scream but no gunshots she didn't see
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anybody Sherri's purse was missing but it was found in a garden within the complex
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there were a few things disturbed in the house such as the stereo equipment and VCR
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however Sheree's jewelry box which was in plain sight wasn't touched the only things actually stolen were Sheree's BMW
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and her and John's marriage certificate Mayer believed the offender's must have panicked after killing sherry and left
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in a hurry leaving the stereo and VCR they had stacked up into taking the car instead for a quick escape he had no
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doubt it was a burglary gone bad he felt even better about this theory when two months later there was another burglary
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nearby two latino males armed with a handgun these two males became the focal point for the investigation wanted
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posters were distributed with sketches of the men saying they were wanted for murder
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Sherry's car was found ten days after she was killed it was actually located nearby the condo intact and with the
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keys still in the ignition Cherry's killing came on the front end of a huge upswing of the murder rate in Los
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Angeles the homicide rate in the city was the highest that had been in six years
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although detective Mayer had his burglary suspects John Rutan was still considered the spouse is the first
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person police look at in any murder investigation but there was no sign of trouble in the marriage all reports were
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of a happy loving couple still in the honeymoon phase there was no insurance no motive and John had a rock-solid
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alibi he had been at work all day seen by many people in the office during his questioning John brought up
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several names including that of Stephanie Lazarus his ex lava he referred to her as a friend from his old
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student days Nels and Loretta Rasmussen Sherri's parents came forward and provided mayer with information about
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some disturbing incidents prior to the murder Stephanie Lazarus turned up as sherry and John's condo dressed
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provocatively and to ask John to wax s keys which he did about one month after Stephanie's last sexual encounter with
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John during his engagement to Sherry Stephanie appeared at the hospital where he worked she approached Sherri in her
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office and said if I can't have John then nobody can she also said that if the marriage didn't work out then she
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would be there to pick up the pieces Stephanie also told Sherri about the sexual in Kiana she had with John during
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their engagement Sherri confronted John that night and he admitted the infidelity but he swore that he truly
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loved Sherri and that he wanted to be her husband Sherri accepted Jon's apology under their engagement continued
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Stephanie started showing up at other places where Sherri was and on one occasion she even appeared inside the
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condo Sherri had no idea how she had gotten inside she started to wonder if jon was actually having a full-blown
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affair with Stephanie Sherri also felt that she was being followed the person she saw following her looked like a
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woman disguised as a mean Sherri confided in her father friends and a work colleague about the problems she
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was hammie she mentioned if the person responsible was John's ex-girlfriend but she never
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mentioned her name chaeri's father Nels had offered to help but Sherri said she wanted to so she
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could work it out on her own John said that other than the confrontation at the hospital he was unaware of any of the
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other spoking behavior Sherri had mentioned to friends and family detective Mayer though felt he was on
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the money with his burglary gone wrong theory he was so sure of the theory he never even questioned Stephanie
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saying he felt it was unnecessary the two Latino suspects remained unidentified and as 1986 ended the
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murder remained unsolved the evidence was eventually sealed in the box and put away with thousands of
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other unsolved cases the following year 87 the Rasmussen told a press conference
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where they offered a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest of their daughter's killer Nils Rasmussen
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said it's been nearly two years of hell not knowing who did this to Sherry or wire Nils mentioned John's ex-girlfriend
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numerous times to detectives he didn't feel comfortable with the burglary theory and one of the tech moves to
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pursue the ex-girlfriend angle on one occasion he was told he watched too much television frustrated and feeling
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ignored Nils wrote a letter to the chief of police voicing his concerns he didn't
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receive a reply the year sherry was murdered 1986 was the same year that the science of police work worldwide took a
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monumental leap forward in Leicester England Alec Jeffrey's developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting and
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DNA profiling which revolutionized the way criminal cases were solved known as genetic fingerprinting it was first used
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to convict a rapist in England later that year it was first used in the United States the following year 1997
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as the years went by the Rasmussen is contacted the LAPD regularly to check on the case in 1993 Nils Rasmussen made an
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appointment to meet the detectives who had taken over the case after detective loyal mayor's retirement Nils had heard
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of the advances in DNA testing in criminal investigations which was now becoming more widespread Nils offered to
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pay for testing on the samples from sharri's crime scene himself the new detectives informed him they had looked
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into the case and had found a no further leads they turned the den Nils offered to pay for DNA testing they told The
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Rasmus ins to move on with their lives after this meeting the Rasmussen family stopped calling John Rutan said little
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publicly after the murder he didn't cope well and eventually he quietly faded out
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of sight others close to Shari were left angry that John wasn't demanding answers
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at the police although he had mentioned Stephanie to detectives he didn't push the point he didn't fight he just seemed
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to accept that the case would remain unsolved the LAPD cold-case homicide unit was
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established in 2001 it was formed on the back of further advancements in forensic
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testing and a huge backlog of unsolved murders when the doors to the cold-case unit opened there were seven detectives
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and a caseload of over 9,000 unsolved murders the LAPD had received a grant of 50 million dollars to fund DNA testing
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for cases deemed to have sufficient evidence the cold-case unit focused on cases dating back to 1967 and a half
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thousand cases in total of which 1,400 were deemed to have sufficient evidence for testing the two types of murders
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deemed to have the highest chance of leaving strong DNA evidence were sexually motivated into burglary murders
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as the killer spends more time around the scene the cold-case unit had its first major breakthrough in 2003 closing
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a serial case Adolphe Lautenberg a 77 year old grandfather was arrested for the rape and murder of four women
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between 1972 to 1975 in this particular case they had a DNA sample from somebody other than
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the victims but there was no match on the database when the suspects DNA isn't on the database police can apply for a
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warrant to force the suspect to provide a DNA sample but they have to have other
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evidence to support the warrant application another option is to ask the suspect to volunteer however that then
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tips them off and presents the risk of them running and destroying further evidence if it exists which leaves the
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last option obtaining a sample from an item the suspect has voluntarily discarded such as a cup or straw this is
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how the cold-case unit obtained a sample from Waardenburg which put him away for
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the full murders he's now serving life in prison it wasn't long after this first big
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breakthrough the cold-case detective David Lincoln and his team came across the case of sherri rasmussen they first
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submitted a request to the crime lab to provide analysis and all of the evidence
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in Cherry's file in late 2003 it wasn't until December 2004 the crime lab technician Jennifer Francis noticed
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the request had never been fueled so she volunteered to work on it she first analyzed the blood sample taken from the
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autopsy which provided her with Sherry's DNA profile working down the list of evidence she tested the pieces of
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fingernail and to the blood stained tower found at the crime scene both were matches to Cherie finally she
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went to swab the samples taken from the bite mark on Sherry's left in a forearm initially the samples couldn't be
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located however after a search that were found in storage at the LA County coroner's office when a sample is taken
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it is placed in a vial which is then sealed in an envelope to preserve the integrity of the exhibit in this case
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the envelope had torn causing the vial to protrude through however the vial and the samples themselves were found to be
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undisturbed and intact Frances gained two separate DNA profiles from the bite mark one was sharise the other surprised
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Francis who by now had come to expect the XY male gender marker to show up from samples taken from violent crimes
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but this result was showing xxxx the killer was a woman she ran the results through the computerized criminal
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database to try and match the DNA sample there was no result and so the case was
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put back into storage by early 2007 when detective David Lampkin retired the cold-case homicide unit had solved more
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than 40 murder cases but an increase in open cases and a lack of room in the office meant that any case is not
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currently being worked on were sent back to their original divisions so Sherry's
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case was sent back to the Van Nuys division where it remained untouched for another two years
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it wasn't until early 2009 that homicide detective Jim Nussle picked up the file
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on his desk affair noughts there was a large file and the novel noticed that a pretty good chronological record had
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been kept of everything done during the investigation over the previous 23 years
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he read the original theory to male offenders had ransacked the property and had interrupted 29 year-old sherri
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rasmussen who they had not realized was home a struggle ensued and Sherri had been killed burglary gone wrong but then
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he read about the testing that had been done five years earlier the killer was female this completely contradicted the
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theory of the case not all search the case notes for the names of women who could possibly be considered suspects he
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came up with five names one of those names put a shiver through him it stood out because written next to the name
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were the words pio john's ex-girlfriend Stephanie Lazarus was a patrol officer in the LAPD at the time of Sherry's
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murder she was now a highly commended detective in a high-profile unit of the LAPD and her husband was also a
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detective who happened to work in Jim needles office [Music] Stephanie Lazarus graduated from the
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police academy in the summer of 1983 and was assigned to Hollywood division in those days only about 2% of the force
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were women she went on to become a detective and was twice named detective of the year receiving a promotion to
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Detective to a supervisory role Stephanie's personal fault described her as an asset to the team she was known
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for her honest character in the outstanding police work a cops cop she raised money to start a reliable
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round-the-clock daycare center for members of the LAPD she became involved with the drug abuse resistance education
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program and gave talks at schools she even appeared on an episode of Family Feud when they were running a
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week-long special battle of America's finest she married a fellow detective in the mid nineties they adopted a daughter
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and her friends described her as a great mother Stephanie worked in internal affairs the
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unit responsible for investigating corruption and wrongdoing of fellow officers before earning a position in
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the department of art theft and fraud in 2007 a unit within the commercial Crimes
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Division of the LAPD a high-profile position that came with a lot of attention and a lot of press Stephanie
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had never faced the disciplinary hearing in her career and was known to always work by the book of the four other names
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that not all identified in a file as potential suspects three were quickly ruled out the fourth was a nurse who had
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worked with sherry they didn't get along and had occasionally argued sherry had actually taken her position at the
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hospital giving her motive but they cleared her by testing her DNA from a discarded item
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that left one name Stephanie Lazarus Jim Nuttall had his work cut out for him not
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only was Stephanie a well-respected officer but he worked with her husband he sought the help of the LAPD's Robbery
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Homicide Division based at Parker center in downtown LA which was LAPD headquarters at the time Robbery
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Homicide investigate all the high-profile cases the investigators had to tread lightly
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the LAPD network is tight the integrity of the case was their number-one goal they work two nights behind closed doors
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and gave Stephanie the codename number five they left to no paper trail nor did they disclose the investigation to
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anyone else it was too risky their prime suspect had once been a detective in the
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Internal Affairs Division in dénia they would be investigating her not only that
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she worked at Parker center as well directly across the hall from the Robbery Homicide Division after
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reviewing the case file one of the detectives on the case Marc Martinez recalled that in the mid-80s LAPD
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officers carried 38 caliber revolvers as their backup or off-duty gun the same type of gun used to kill sherry he
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entered Stephanie's name into the state gun registry and found a report on Sunday the 9th of March 1986 13 days
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after Sherry's murder Stephanie filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department the report
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stated that her car had been broken into at the Santa Monica Pier the thief had stolen her blue gym bag containing some
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clothes some cassettes and a Smith & Wesson five shot 38 caliber revolver things were starting to look very clear
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their main priority though was getting a sample of Stephanie's DNA they decided the best way to play it
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would be to obtain a sample from something Stephanie voluntarily discarded they had her under
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surveillance for two weeks before they got their chance Stephanie was shopping with her daughter at a local Costco
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store she purchased the drink and sat down at a table and detectives 20 feet away from her watching her every
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move he watched as she took a last sip and walked within 3 feet of him to put it in the bin he didn't take his eyes
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off the bin as he waited for Stephanie to walk out of his field of vision then he approached the bin picked up the cup
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by its base and to put it into an envelope he and his partner then walked off in different directions 48 hours
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later they got the result the DNA was a clear match the chance for the bite on Cherry's art was from a different person
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than Stephanie was over 402 quadrillion to 1 on the 5th of June 2009 23 years 3 months and 12 days after the murder of
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Sherri Rasmussen Stephanie Lazarus reported to work as usual at the Parker center detective Dean Jared Miller
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approached her desk and asked her if she could assist with an arrest they had made that morning he explained they were
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holding a man in the building's basement jail facility who said he had information about an art theft a case
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Stephanie was working on she eagerly agreed to help question the suspect they walked down to the jail facility making
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small talk discussing how busy each other's units were when they arrived at the jail they both had the check in
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their weapons which was routine and a requirement of all officers before entering they had just disarmed
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Stephanie without raising suspicion Jeremy Lowe guided Stephanie into an interrogation room where he introduced
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her to his partner detective Greg Stearns detectives Jeremy Lowe and stones were from the Robbery Homicide
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Division they ushered Stephanie to a seat usually used by those under arrest I don't want to talk about this in the
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squad room here but I don't know who people are listening to and forego to my side everybody's always wondering when
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everybody okay but like we're talking about being business that we've been assigned a case that we've been looking
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at okay it's a new case and we're doing the case there's some notes to see it as
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far as your name being mentioned oh okay do you know john bruton john Rutan Rutten
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oh yeah went to school with him you did yeah how long did you know him gosh I went to school and um let's see
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why did UCLA 1978 I started and you know medam did school at the dorms you guys friends close friends
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yeah very close yeah I mean what's this all about well it's regarding it's a case we're working on it involves John
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and in there some of the statements were we reviewed you know there's nose and stuff they that he knew you and stuff oh
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yeah maybe good friends um lived in the dorms for as in the dorms for two years you guys live in the same dorm yeah okay
00:27:53
yeah Dijkstra okay well you guys just friends or anything else or yeah we were really good friends yeah was there any a
00:28:00
relationship or anything to develop between you guys yeah I need to be dated uh uh-huh
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you know um I mean is it wizards all about well it's relating to his wife okay okay did you know her not really I mean
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I knew that he I marry yours ago uh-huh did you ever meet her god I don't know um you know she was or anything well I
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think God it's been a long time ago um I I may have met her um geez you know yeah
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uh well let me say let me ask you said you dated John how long did you guys date I mean what are you guys is this
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something I mean you said I was going to interview something about art in Hailey's or your sentence I mean
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Stephanie here's situations basically we you know we knew that this when we saw this in the in
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this chrono that maybe you know there was some relationship there that's what the chrono seemed to indicate and we
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didn't want to come up to you at your desk and ask those kinds of questions or do anything you know how up there people
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can see what's going on if you want to an interview room or people are in there give us applause so we wanted to afford
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you some privacy some confidentiality to talk about this because we thought it might be you know something you know
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you're married to someone else obviously and so forth and that you may not want to you know talk about these things in
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that setting or someone you know we don't want the rumor mill or gossip Bernie that kind of stuff I to me so we
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did this just as a means to try and speak you just a confidential place where you you know where where your
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business isn't out there for other people in your division and Adam yeah that's been a million years ago I mean
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you know what year is it now 2009 I mean I graduated in 82 82 yeah um you know we
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dated I dated other guys I'm sure he dated other girls um I mean it was uh what's I mean what's this all about I
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mean what I asked you what it did the relationship between John you know I don't it was kind of a weird
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relationship I mean we we dated I can't say that he was my boyfriend I don't know that he would get it concerned me
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his girlfriend we just we dated we did things I played sports in college he played basketball
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his brother played basketball um we just you know it just do work out I don't know what to tell you it was like I went
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out with other guys saw the guys and went on lots of vacations um you know had you ever met his wife
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I may have do you know do you remember her name or anything or for what she did for a living or where
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she worked her anything about her well I think she like I'm gonna say that I think she was a nurse um and I can't
00:31:07
remember how he said he met her yeah I mean I I yeah I mean it's been so long ago you know I don't understand why
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you're talking about some guy dated a million years ago do you know what happened to his life yeah I know she got
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killed what did you hear about that I saw a poster at work um I'm sure I spoke to him about it um I think I spoke to
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another friend to his about it um and how did how did you first learn about that
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jeez someone could have called me I could heard it at work um I think at one point there may have been a flier or
00:31:47
something I know a good friend of his you're on the job back then well that happened yeah I think so yeah I'm sure I
00:31:54
was on the job that's why I would have heard about it with the flier um he had a good friend Mike Mike Beaudry Mike mmm
00:32:06
anyways a frag he may have lived in the dorms I don't remember if that's how I met him I may have talked to him I mean
00:32:14
you know I don't remember how I heard I mean I don't even remember what year it was you know was it everything okay
00:32:21
between you guys I mean there was never anything uncomfortable or anything between you and her um you know I don't
00:32:29
know I mean it's got it's been so many years I mean uncomfortable I mean yeah I can't even I can't even remember forgot
00:32:39
a conversation I mean we may have I may have I may have seen her it is a part you know it uh jeez how many years ago
00:32:47
is that I don't even know what year she you know got killed where was his apartment on Roscoe okay yeah Roscoe and
00:32:54
um um Easter west of Des so either Easter west of DeSoto do you know where he moved after did he move after he got
00:33:05
married or do you know or oh I'm sure he did did you know where I was living or somewhere in the valley
00:33:16
did you ever visit him and his wife no no never one out you know get-together dinners I don't know after his wife died
00:33:29
did did you talk to him again or anything yeah I mean I did talk to him I talked to him probably his parents um
00:33:38
probably some other friends um you know I'm sure I talked to him yeah um but you
00:33:47
you don't you're not sure where he moved to after he got married no idea I've never went over to visit him or I don't
00:33:54
think I don't think so I mean um I don't know I don't I mean I don't think I did
00:34:00
um I mean I know he's have done Roscoe for a long long time um I mean he I may know I mean I he may
00:34:12
have told me where they lived somewhere in the valley I mean he may have said he
00:34:15
like lead over such and such but I couldn't tell you specifically where but you don't remember specifically ever
00:34:21
going over to visit him or visit them and wherever he moved when he left Roscoe I
00:34:26
I also I don't know I don't think so but okay you know I want to say no I don't think so and then he says only as she
00:34:33
came over for something dropped something off you know I I don't know I mean when you heard about John's wife
00:34:44
being killed I mean what was your what was your reaction I mean we did you thought you heard about what through a
00:34:49
friend or a bulletin or a friend or a bulletin I obviously I mean I called they called the family
00:34:56
I am I called maybe some of his friends that that I knew and I mean obviously it
00:35:00
shocked you fear if I heard it at work you know which I may have I faintly remember a bulletin going around um
00:35:08
either that or somebody called me I I also don't remember right um and then I called probably called his
00:35:15
family um called I don't know initially I can't see if I initially spoke to him or not I honestly don't remember I may
00:35:25
have said to somebody hey have him call me if he wants to talk and then you may have done that uh-huh um you know yeah
00:35:35
do you know what the circumstances were regarding her death mmm geez aw let me think back jeez I don't know if it was
00:35:48
you know if it was a burglary or something yes I mean it's been so many years I I mean I can faintly think that
00:35:56
I may have saw a flier I may have had a picture on it you know I mean that's why
00:36:02
I say if somebody had called me I may not have known what her last name was I may have I mean maybe if you told me I
00:36:09
would remember it um for the number thing ah Shelly Sheri I know something maybe you
00:36:19
know like I said it's been so many years and you know I'm thinking back now you guys are bringing up all these whole
00:36:26
memories so it kind of jumped off the cone oh I please I'm thinking that because I mean we would date he would
00:36:37
date other people I would date other people and I think you know at one point I mean he may have been dating her or I
00:36:48
don't know maybe he was married I don't even remember and I'm like you know what
00:36:52
why are you calling me if you're either dating her living with her married her because I honest don't remember the
00:36:58
timeframe I'm gonna like come on knock it off and I'm now I'm thinking I put me I may have gone too and say hey you know
00:37:04
what you know it is he dating you he's but he's bothering me and so I'm thinking that we had a conversation
00:37:10
about that one or two maybe I you know I could have been three I don't want to say I had three conversations with her
00:37:19
like a her work or at their at their house or no I'm thinking that I mean you know he obviously must have told me
00:37:26
where she worked I'm thinking it was a hospital somewhere in LA and I just I mean I could have been
00:37:34
again what year was that where was i working you know I don't I don't I'm trying to think about when did you say
00:37:47
they got married I don't know I think it was like in 85 or 86 or something like that yeah we we just kind of picked this
00:37:57
up we don't know a lot about it I mean I could have been working in Hollywood it
00:38:08
sounds like if that's where I was working um so I could have said okay well you know and I went talk to her
00:38:15
and just said hey you know what you know if he's dating you is these keeps calling me why did you tell him to knock
00:38:22
it off or whatever and no because I probably would have told him to knock it off
00:38:26
you know John oh yeah when you said like hey you know he's calling me he needs to
00:38:31
knock it off or what-have-you I mean was that was that civil was there no there was none I don't think there was
00:38:36
anything it was if the conversation lasted a few minutes I can't even remember what is it like you know we
00:38:41
went out to lunch or anything right but there was no like arguments or fights or
00:38:45
anything not heated or anything like not that I recall no I mean I would think that would stand
00:38:50
out I would think now again that's not standing out in my mind um you know so you didn't have any problems with her
00:39:00
then no issues with her no I mean believe me let me ask you seems like you didn't have any issue now did she have
00:39:07
an issue with you as far as only because now you you're telling her hey even helmet start calling us you know she's
00:39:13
like you know she figured she'd be thrilled by you you know I I don't know I mean from what you remember as far as
00:39:21
when you talked to her maybe you didn't take it as serious but maybe you know that she shoot me like was she throwing
00:39:27
things at me or something or just you know as far as you're trying to explain like hey I haven't stopped calling me
00:39:32
you know stop playing games you know I tell you it yeah if the conversation I couldn't even tell you how long the
00:39:38
conversation if you said did it last a half an hour did it last three minutes to the last 20 minutes I can't even
00:39:44
remember it's been so long ago but again I mean you know what I mean what's this got to
00:39:50
do with me dating him and you know her getting killed I mean I I don't you know I don't have anything to do with didn't
00:39:56
you got something that's somebody said you know whatever I mean well like I said we just
00:40:02
literally got this the other day and you're going through it yeah you see some easy Nick's next door right and so
00:40:09
you know I mean obviously it's like we recognize the name we know that you know you work next door to us and so we're
00:40:14
trying to get some background we're trying to figure this out I mean this is from a long time ago I know I know and
00:40:18
things have been kind of slow for us and so you know Chief Becca said hey you know I want you guys working I don't
00:40:24
want you just sitting around reading the paper yeah so he's kind of pushing some
00:40:27
older cases out even to the guys in work active cases because you know and so we
00:40:30
see this and we're just like oh you know we want to talk to you about it but of course the only reason we did it here is
00:40:35
because we're getting into some pretty personal stuff your relations on the job out there so Mary you know we don't take
00:40:41
the risk we don't want to take the risk when one of those interview right they want to close someone's going to get
00:40:44
supplies and see us on a monitor here's or whatever I appreciate it I mean I don't like I said that's where people go
00:40:49
when there's orals you know when they're doing Royals guys will go in there and cry and watch it what are the answers to
00:40:53
the question you know know that yeah so we just we just want to afford you the most privacy and confidentiality we
00:40:58
could let me ask the detectives ever reach out to you know no one's ever talked to me I don't think anybody ever
00:41:06
talked to me about about him seems like you know well I take I'm thinking that I
00:41:14
did talk to a detective god well what division was it in Van Nuys hmm and where was i working I've been
00:41:32
working Devon sure you know I'm thinking that I did speak to somebody oh really I
00:41:39
couldn't tell you who it was because it doesn't get done the same day on the phone um it'd have been somebody over in
00:41:47
regards to this or just yeah yeah um I don't even know if you said a name if I would remember it because I work van
00:41:55
eyes for a while God yeah I work dumb detective Patrol no work detectives um when I go to Van Nuys work Devon sure
00:42:07
till 88 then it went to dare 292 I work twice at Van Nuys um over detective yeah
00:42:18
yeah I don't know it's like I said this stuff's been so long ago um you know I'm
00:42:23
sure as soon as I walk out here I'll go shoot I did 25 things I'll remember you know but you'll call us there I mean
00:42:31
you'll just come over our desk yeah I mean I don't know what else you need to know like I said you know we new friends
00:42:36
together um you know I mean I don't know what else to tell you well one of the concerns I had looking at some of the
00:42:46
notes as some of Sheree's friends said that you and her were having a problem because of the John situation well
00:42:59
number one I don't know who her friends are um because again I don't I don't recall if you did tell me where you met
00:43:06
her I don't know even who these friends are a problem like I said if I spoke to her I mean I'll go on as far as a limb
00:43:16
and I don't want to say I spoke to her five times because that's probably not even true I can't even remember well
00:43:22
that's what I mean is it you guys have problems with each other and words are being exchanged and it's all relating to
00:43:28
John you know what i I just I can't say can't say no I did that does simmering a bell
00:43:38
I mean I mean it seemed like yeah you would recall something I was going off on you Ryan we think I mean I would
00:43:44
think well when tell me about this of the car getting broken into my car had broken
00:43:50
into several times oh really never lose anything here yeah now that you mention it
00:43:58
let's see I had a gun that was stolen I had other stuff that was stolen I tried to you know um whatever
00:44:11
recovered I don't know no I don't think so not that I know of her but notified no
00:44:17
car's been broken into yeah several times well like I said we were looking at the
00:44:24
case and you know we had read the notes as far as from Sheree's friend saying you you guys have problems or words they
00:44:34
got heated the reason we're asking is they had mentioned that an incident at her work
00:44:40
had occurred and they've also told us that I'm incident at her house occurs you know what and this is at her house
00:44:49
during the period of time that their marriage that's just not sounding familiar at all I mean I you know what I
00:44:59
that she's not saw again if someone says that I was at her house and I had an incident with her you know I that just
00:45:08
doesn't sound like you know it was John there did John say this happened because
00:45:12
and other people were there I just I don't recall I mean it just doesn't sound you know familiar and this is an
00:45:20
incident where you showed up you weren't supposed to show up and things got heated at his house
00:45:31
it said I you know I that just doesn't sound familiar I mean I you know it's not sounding
00:45:38
familiar not at all no usually I'm not familiar cuz it's just don't you remember or less you know what I had
00:45:45
then I have to say don't remember because I don't remember I knit that doesn't sound familiar I don't even have
00:45:52
or something like that in your life is well I would think what a drama involving the other woman type of thing
00:45:58
yeah do you fight with her you mean like we fought yeah did you ever Duke it out with her
00:46:03
no I don't think so I mean you'd remember that right that would be pretty yeah I would think so I'm specific yeah
00:46:11
like I said I mean obviously yeah I you know I mean it just doesn't sound familiar
00:46:18
I mean I mean what are they saying so I fought with her soul so I mean I get get
00:46:24
get getting the jump of the leap excuse me I haven't eaten um they're sick okay I
00:46:30
fought with her so I must have killed her I mean come on I mean this you know I I don't even know who these people are
00:46:38
I can't even say I meant any of these people I mean that's it's insane if it happened I honestly don't remember a man
00:46:47
wanted so tell you know because I'm I mean I'm trying to I'm looking at the notes and people are kind of either
00:46:55
pointing the finger at you well I mean that's not ringing a bell to me so you know I don't know you know
00:47:04
it's I I don't want to tell you I mean that just sounds crazy to me yeah so you are kind you don't recall ever going
00:47:12
into her house and having words and physically you know no I didn't hurt her attacking you
00:47:20
no nothing like that no I mean yes no no no no not at all well some of the on this case you know
00:47:33
this is currently 186 right detective process the scene things of that nature they did fingerprints and all that stuff
00:47:43
you know the standard you didn't been doing this longer than I have well I'm about that I get 26 years on
00:47:50
going on 26:19 but you know as they processed everything they did the best they could at that time and they looked
00:48:00
at a lot of a lot of people different things in this case and you're right if you guys are claiming that I'm a suspect
00:48:06
then you know I got a problem with you know with that okay so you know if you're if you're doing this as an
00:48:14
interrogation you're saying hey I'm a suspect well now I got a problem with what you know now you're accusing me of
00:48:20
this is that what you're is that what you're saying we're trying to figure out what happened
00:48:24
Stefan well I was you know I'm just saying ideally what I need to get a lawyer for accusing me reason you know
00:48:34
you don't have to I mean you know I'm here of your own free will I mean oh yeah I know but you know you're not
00:48:39
you're not under arrest you can walk out we can leave whenever you like well you
00:48:42
know I'm trying to give you some background of you know how I knew him and now you're telling me that some
00:48:48
somebody's saying that we had this big old fight and I don't even know what you're talking about
00:48:52
um you know and I don't want to you know get in trouble for something that I didn't even do or you're saying I did
00:48:59
something okay no II understand I mean how would you guys like it if the tables were turned on you I understand no no
00:49:07
that's why we're telling you I mean you're free to go whenever you want if this makes you uncomfortable you want to
00:49:10
get one how you're starting to make me uncomfortable the thing is I mean tectors did what they could at that time
00:49:16
on the crime scene okay and the burglary thing you're talking about that is an angle that they
00:49:20
looked at I go but now we're looking at everything else on the case because nobody was ever arrested on the case I
00:49:26
don't know that or not now we'd like to do is obviously you know about all the DNA stuff and things of the nature that
00:49:35
you know gets done on cases nowadays you know if we asked you for a DNA swab would you be willing to give us one
00:49:42
maybe cuz now now now yes because now I'm thinking I probably need to talk to a lawyer I mean well I cuz I know how
00:49:53
this stuff works okay don't get me wrong you're right I have been doing this long
00:49:56
time yeah and I wish I have been recording this because because now it sounds like you know there's you know
00:50:03
you're selling these people say I'm a fighting with her and now you sounds like you're trying to you know I've been
00:50:08
doing this a long time we're know okay and now it almost sounds like you're trying to pin something on me now I got
00:50:14
that sense what it gets to in these on these cases and you know it as well as I do our job is to identify and eliminate
00:50:20
I can't believe this so if we ask you to a point give us a DNA sample a buccal swab so we can
00:50:27
identify or eliminate you should be willing to do that maybe cuz I know this III that's what we're at to I mean
00:50:36
because right now from looking at the evidence it's you know it's possible we may have some DNA at the location that's
00:50:43
great and we're gonna do what we can to try to put this thing together and your names in the book these people are
00:50:52
pointing at you for whatever reason I don't know why that's just crazy I mean that's just that's absolutely crazy and
00:50:58
it would be irresponsible in our part not to look at it I know you guys have to do your job and I guess someone have
00:51:05
to contact somebody so that's fair I mean it cuz I know how this stuff works I mean I I just can't believe it we
00:51:15
understand that I mean if we were in your position I mean we would feel the same way I just can't even believe it
00:51:20
I mean it's just I mean I'm shot I'm really shocked that somebody would be blamed saying that I did this I mean we
00:51:28
had a fight so I went and killed her I mean come on oh that's all right well thanks for giving me the
00:51:35
courage mg thanks for your time all right Stephanie stood up and left the interrogation room she was followed by
00:51:46
detective Jeremy Lowe who said Stephanie you are under arrest for Sherry's murder
00:51:51
okay and we have your DNA Stephanie was handcuffed and then led back to the interrogation room okay Stephanie you
00:52:16
know you have the right to remain silent you understand yes anything you say may
00:52:20
be used against you in court do you understand you have the right to the presence of an attorney before and
00:52:25
during any questioning do you understand you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you free of charge
00:52:30
before any questioning if you want do you understand you want to talk to us right now
00:52:36
all right okay that's crazy I'm like I'm like in shock I'm totally in shock Stephanie pleaded not guilty and was
00:52:47
held in custody until the Trott unable to make the ten million dollar bail that was set the trial started on the 6th of
00:52:55
February 2012 almost 26 years after Shari was murdered the jury heard that not long before the murder
00:53:02
Stephanie woke her then housemate and fellow officer in the middle of the night she was devastated that John was
00:53:08
getting married and she needed support John Rutan sister read out a letter her mother had received from Stephanie just
00:53:15
prior to John's wedding at read on totally in love with John and the past year has really tore me up I don't think
00:53:23
I'll ever understand his decision another officer testified that in the months leading up to the murder
00:53:29
Stephanie showed off lock-picking tools she had obtained a journal found in Stephanie's apartment showed the names
00:53:35
of two books the complete course in professional locksmithing and modern locksmithing the journal entry was
00:53:42
written the same week sherry was murdered a possible explanation as to why there was no sign of forced entry
00:53:49
testimony after testimony painted a picture of a jealous ex-girlfriend with the means and motive to kill sherry the
00:53:57
court heard that Stephanie had taken three days off work over the time series murder had taken place so she had no
00:54:03
alibi after showing the jury a photo of John and sherry on their wedding day deputy district attorney Shannon Presby
00:54:10
set a bite a bullet a gun barrel and a broken heart that's the evidence that will prove Stephanie Lazarus killed
00:54:19
sherri rasmussen Stephanie's defense lawyer mark Overland argued that Stephanie's gun was stolen and that the
00:54:26
bullets at the crime scene could have come from many different types of revolvers the jury heard arguments to
00:54:32
back up the botched burglary theory and testimony that painted a pristine picture of Stephanie and her unblemished
00:54:38
25 year LAPD career the defense used her prominence and position within the LAPD
00:54:43
to put doubt in the jury's mind that she was a murderer but the key argument by Overland was the condition of the
00:54:50
evidence and the lobe containing the bite mark swabs he argued that this meant the vial could have been tampered
00:54:57
with and therefore the DNA evidence was tainted the judge rejected this argument
00:55:02
and supported the admissibility of the DNA evidence after hearing all over the evidence the jury retired to reach their
00:55:10
verdict they needed a little more than a day to reach their decision good afternoon we are back on the record in
00:55:19
people versus Lazarus shortly before noon the jury announced they have a verdict we will take the verse at this
00:55:28
time before I buzz the jurors out though I'm to remind everyone that this is a court
00:55:34
of law and I will not tolerate any outbursts of any kind and reaction to this verdict was out the dirty people in
00:55:44
the state of California versus Stephanie Eileen Lazarus case number ba three five
00:55:50
seven four two three we the jury in the above-entitled action find the defendant
00:55:55
Stephanie Eileen Lazarus guilty of the crime of murder of Sherri Rasmussen in violation of Penal Code section 187 a a
00:56:05
felony as charged in count one of the information we further find the murder was of the first degree we further find
00:56:13
the allegation that in the commission of above offense the defendant Stephanie Ivy Lazarus personally used a firearm
00:56:20
namely a handgun within the meaning of Penal Code section 1 2 0 to 2 point 5 subsection a 1 to be true this 8th day
00:56:30
of March in the year 2012 juror number 9 or person John rotten read a victim impact statement to the court the
00:56:39
following is taken from parts of that statement sherri rasmussen had a profound impact on so many people and i
00:56:46
was proud that she agreed to be my wife it was impossible not to notice shari when she entered a room to me her
00:56:52
physical presence was startling I can clearly remember the first moment I laid eyes on her for those of us who are
00:56:59
directly involved all those who sat through the trial we can just begin to imagine the terror and disbelief Sheree
00:57:06
must have felt in her last moments of life I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I just can't bear thinking
00:57:12
about these moments but Sherry's loss the way she died end of the trial 25 years after her death has had a profound
00:57:19
impact on many many others the effects being a generation creating pain for those whose lives should have never been
00:57:27
touched by this tragic event again words of feeble tools for describing these impacts but there are so many moments
00:57:34
and so very many tears what I can say is that I've spent and will continue to spend many hours praying for everyone
00:57:42
involved in this tragedy Your Honor I am compelled to end with my feelings for the rasmus's after meeting Sheree I
00:57:51
could not help but notice the central role she played in this fun-loving and down-to-earth family Nels and Loretta
00:57:57
Rasmussen lost much more than a daughter when they lost Sherri only they fully appreciate what I'm talking about
00:58:04
despite my own tremendous grief I must still apologized to them for my inability to coexist with the pain they
00:58:10
were enduring I just did not have the strength the rasmussen have treated me like a son and a brother
00:58:17
contemplating their profound grief and the fact that Sherry's death occurred because she met and married me brings me
00:58:23
to my knees I do not know and fear I will never know how to cope with this appalling fact I have resigned myself to
00:58:31
praying for some measure of peace and trying to avoid the daydreams about a world where Shari is still with us and
00:58:37
this pointless tragedy never occurred on Friday the 11th of May 2012 Judge Robert
00:58:45
Perry's sentence Stephanie the total sentence imposed is 27 years to life in the State Penitentiary 25 years to life
00:58:56
for first-degree murder and an additional two years for personal use of a firearm he credited her over 1,000
00:59:03
days for good behavior and a time already served the police officers union issued a statement saying they hoped the
00:59:10
case would not tarnish the reputation of thousands of dedicated police officers LAPD spokeswoman Mary Grady said the
00:59:18
department had begun the process of figuring out why the original detectives failed to consider Stephanie as a
00:59:23
suspect she said were you going to look at everything we can to bring some justice to the family
00:59:31
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck who had worked closely with Stephanie during her career said not only did the
00:59:39
family of sherri rasmussen lose a wife and a daughter a life that can never be returned but
00:59:44
also the LAPD family felt a sense of betrayal to have an officer commit such a terrible crime I am truly sorry for
00:59:51
the loss of your wife your daughter I am also sorry it took us so long to solve this case and to bring a measure
00:59:58
of justice to this tragedy Stephanie immediately launched an appeal during which she raised the following
01:00:05
her right to due process had been denied by the more than two decades long delay
01:00:09
in bringing charges the lower court should have quashed search warrants for her home and computers the tape to
01:00:17
pre-arrest interview should not have been admitted at trial her ability to defend herself in court was compromised
01:00:23
because one witness had died and some evidence had been destroyed and she wasn't allowed to present evidence of
01:00:30
other burglaries in the area at her trial a three justice panel from California's second District Court of
01:00:37
Appeal made their ruling in July 2015 they found the following she confessed to her roommate wrote in her journal and
01:00:46
confided in a letter to rottens mother her deep-seated unhappiness and distress over rottens marriage to Rasmussen the
01:00:53
appellant was off work the day of the killing she had no alibi the gun used to commit the murder was consistent with a
01:00:59
gun owned by the appellant and the bullets used were LAPD required ammunition within weeks the appellant
01:01:07
reported a gun that matched the likely murder weapon stolen but only to Santa Monica Police not to her own department
01:01:14
which was investigating the murder the evidence of motive and the circumstantial evidence combined with
01:01:20
the presence of the appellant DNA on a wound inflicted on the victim provide convincing evidence of the appellant
01:01:26
guilt there is nearly an inescapable inference that the appellant confronted assaulted and murdered Rasmussen
01:01:34
stephanie's appeal was denied her conviction up helped she then tried another appeal to the Supreme Court the
01:01:42
highest court in the state however the Supreme Court refused to even hear the appeal in 2010 The Rasmus ins attempted
01:01:51
to sue the LAPD over their handling of the case and of the fact that they didn't investigate Stephanie originally
01:01:56
despite their requests to do so the trial judge under the appeals court both reluctantly tossed out the lawsuit
01:02:03
as it had been filed too late they said even the most liberal reading of the statute of limitations prevented them
01:02:10
from filing a lawsuit after 1998 the Californian Supreme Court refused to take up the appeal ruling the lower
01:02:17
courts were correct it was 12 years too late to file a lawsuit during the trial prosecutors said the following
01:02:26
Stephani misused her police training in the most profound way imaginable by utilizing that training and experience
01:02:33
to commit murder and to cover up her crime she betrayed the trust placed in her by the Los Angeles Police Department
01:02:39
and by the people of Los Angeles in order to pursue her own murderous ends her profound narcissism led her to kill
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and continues to motivate her denial of responsibility Stephanie knew to stage the crime scene to make it look like a
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burglary she knew how to avoid leaving other evidence like fingerprints but the idea that saliva from a bite mark could
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lead to her undoing was inconceivable at that time she could be eligible for parole consideration after serving 16
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years and eight months however District Attorney Steve Cooley said given the circumstances it is likely Stephanie
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will spend the rest of her life behind bars [Music] you