The bid for freedom by Stephanie Lazarus, the former Los Angeles Police Department detective convicted of the 1986 murder of her ex-boyfriend's wife, has been denied. After a review by the California Parole Board, her previously granted parole was rescinded on Wednesday, as per NBC News. The former detective, Lazarus, will not have another chance at parole for another 18 months.
Having evaded arrest for over two decades, Lazarus was convicted in 2012 for the cold-blooded killing of 29-year-old nurse Sherri Rasmussen, who was found beaten and shot in the home she shared with John Ruetten, Lazarus' one-time love interest. In a statement obtained by AP News, Rasmussen's family's attorney John Taylor shared that the family feels it's unfair to the family that she should now go free and enjoy her life while receiving her LAPD pension, given that Lazarus has shown no remorse for the murder.
During the parole hearing, objections from the victim's family contributed to the turnaround in the board's decision. Sherri Rasmussen's husband and sisters expressed their grief and painted Lazarus as a manipulative individual who exploited her police knowledge to commit and obscure her crime. This was reported by ABC7. The latest decision by the parole board comes after the governor emphasized that, despite Lazarus' seeming improvement in prison, she had not fully accepted responsibility for the murder.
Lazarus, who climbed the ranks to become an LAPD art theft detective, was initially not suspected in the killing. Detectives in 1986 believed the murder was the work of robbers. It wasn't until 2009 that a DNA match from a bite mark on Rasmussen's body led to Lazarus' arrest. Since her incarceration, Lazarus has pursued educational goals, obtaining a master's degree in divinity studies, as she told the parole commissioners in her testimony, which NBC News noted.
Former prosecutor Joshua Ritter indicated the severity and premeditation of Lazarus' crime, calling it an execution-style killing rather than a crime of passion, in an interview with ABC7. As the case unfolds, Lazarus will remain at the California Institution for Women in Corona, until her situation is reassessed at the next parole hearing.