Board blocks parole for LAPD detective serving life sentence for murder of ex-boyfriend's wife

A state parole board has blocked the former LAPD detective's release. Stephanie Lazarus reversed an earlier decision that could have freed her from a life sentence for the 1986 murder of her ex-boyfriend's wife.

The three-judge panel on Wednesday found good reason to overturn last November's parole recommendation to release Lazarus, 64, who worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for 25 years before being arrested by her own colleagues in 2009.

It's the latest twist in an infamous murder case that rocked the Los Angeles Police Department. Lazarus could still be eligible for parole, with another hearing scheduled in the coming months.

Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously asked the California Board of Parole Hearings to review its plans to release Lazarus, and in May the panel decided to further review the evidence in her case.

Commissioner Julie Garland announced the panel's decision to resign and said a fitness hearing for Lazarus would be scheduled within 120 days.

“We know this means another round of hearings for all of you, and I'm sure it will be difficult for all of you, but it is what the rules we are bound by require,” Garland said.

Lazarus had been on the force for more than two decades when LAPD homicide detectives reopened the unsolved murder of Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nursing director who was married to Lazarus' ex-boyfriend.

Investigators initially suspected that Rasmussen, who was severely beaten and shot three times in the chest, was killed during a burglary attempt. But in 2009, DNA testing on saliva from bite marks on her body linked Lazarus to the crime.

Three years later, Lazarus was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years to life in prison at the California Institution for Women in Chino.

Lazarus, who admitted to the murder at a hearing in November, told the panel that since her arrest she has studied the Bible and taken self-help courses, including earning bachelor's and master's degrees in theology.

“While I was in the county jail from June 2009 to 2012, I began my rehabilitation,” she said. “Today I learned that I can’t control anyone but myself and I’m responsible for my decisions.”

Lazarus and the victim's husband, John Ruetten, met as students at UCLA in the 1970s. Although the two dated on and off for several years after graduating, Ruetten testified in court that he never considered Lazarus his girlfriend.

He later met Rasmussen and they became engaged. Shortly afterward, Ruetten said, he was confronted by Lazarus — then an LAPD patrolman — who begged him not to get married.

Ruetten and Rasmussen married in 1985. The following year, Ruetten returned home from work to find her body.

During Wednesday's hearing, Ruetten told the panel that Lazarus “exercised her rights to the fullest extent but never did the right thing.”

“This is not your typical criminal rehabilitation,” he said. “I request that this grant of probation be revoked.”

Teresa Lane, Rasmussen's sister, told the panel that her family has struggled with the impact of the crime for nearly four decades.

“It took over 23 years to get an arrest,” Lane said. “My parents were tireless in finding justice for my sister, especially my father. After the arrest, my parents never missed a hearing or court date. If they were still with us, they would be here today to fight for justice for Sherri.

“So my family and I are here to continue the journey. My family just wants justice for my sister. If parole were granted it would be the greatest injustice of all.”

Advocates for Lazarus — including several formerly incarcerated people, including one who was wrongfully convicted — have praised her leadership on prison education and religious programs. Her supporters say she helped comfort dying inmates and bought books for others.

Speaking about her crime last November, Lazarus told the parole board: “It still sickens me to this day that I swore an oath to protect and serve people and that I took the life of Sherri Rasmussen, a nurse “All I could think about was getting out of there before the police showed up.”

Matthew McGough contributed to this report as a pool reporter.