![]() ![]() She was later promoted to detective and since 2006 has worked in a unit that tracks stolen art. Lazarus worked patrol duty in the San Fernando Valley when she joined the force. "It's very hard to believe that she could be involved in something like this." "There were a bunch of detectives at their house across the street," she said. "They are very sweet people," said neighbor Melissa Williams, who said she learned of Lazarus' arrest when she returned home on Friday. Lazarus is married to Scott Young, also an LAPD officer, and they have a young daughter, neighbors said. "This case had some evidence which in 1986 was of some value but not a key component, which when analyzed now with today's technology in the scientific investigation division, was able to add to the investigation." the national DNA database," Beck said at the press conference. "We look at every old case and examine all the evidence to see if it fits the requirements for entry into. No suspects were found and the case went cold for a decade. She was mentioned in the original case file because of the relationship with the husband, but wasn't a suspect at the time because investigators believed Rasmussen was the victim of armed robbers who had confronted two men shortly after the killing, Beck told the Los Angeles Times. Lazarus had a long-term relationship with the husband prior to the marriage, Beck said. 24, 1986, in the living room of their Van Nuys condominium. Her husband, John Ruetten, came home and found her dead on Feb. Lazarus was arrested in the killing of Sherri Rae Rasmussen, who was director of critical care nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Lee called Lazarus' arrest "painful" but necessary, given the evidence obtained by investigators.īratton said the arrest was "a very positive reflection on us in the sense that we take our oath very seriously." This is very difficult."īeck said he doesn't think Lazarus knew she was about to be arrested.Ĭhief William Bratton said in a press conference on Friday that the department has a policy and philosophy that "we're going to go where the truth and the facts take us." "So this is one side of the hallway investigating a member of another. "Robbery-homicide is on the third floor, commercial crimes is right next door," Beck said. The arrest was painful to investigators because Lazarus, who has worked with the LAPD since 1983, works in the art theft unit across the hall from the robbery-homicide detectives and is well-known in downtown's Parker Center police administration building. Police have been known to trick suspects into leaving DNA on objects such as a coffee cup. Lazarus' DNA was legally collected from "discards," said Beck, who declined to elaborate. Lazarus was being held without bail Friday night at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Twin Towers facility, Lee said. Police investigators expect to submit the case Monday to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, which will decide whether to file criminal charges, Beck said. She was booked for investigation in the murder of an ex-boyfriend's wife after a sample of her DNA taken surreptitiously matched DNA taken from crime scene evidence, Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said. ![]() Lazarus, a 1978 graduate of Simi Valley High School, was arrested as detectives served search warrants on numerous locations, including at her home on the north end of Simi Valley. as she arrived for work at police headquarters, said Jason Lee, a spokesman for the department. Stephanie Lazarus, 49, was taken into custody without incident around 8 a.m. ![]() A Simi Valley woman, a veteran detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, was arrested Friday morning in connection with the 1986 killing of her ex-boyfriend's wife in Van Nuys. ![]()
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