- 1 year ago
One of the most sensational true crime stories. A brutal murder in Los Angeles and a shocking twist nobody could have ever imagined.
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00:00:00Tonight, a notorious murder back in the national spotlight.
00:00:04Just this week, a wildly controversial parole decision
00:00:07is a convicted killer now walking free.
00:00:09An all new 2020 starts right now.
00:00:14Pound for pound, one of the greatest
00:00:16true crime stories of all time.
00:00:18This would turn out to be a notorious, surreal case.
00:00:23A woman brutally murdered in cold blood.
00:00:26Investigators at the time believed
00:00:28that Sherry Rasmussen was the victim of a burglary
00:00:31that had turned into her own murder.
00:00:33As I walked in, there was blood.
00:00:36She was literally clawing at the front door,
00:00:38trying to get out.
00:00:39People were on edge during that era.
00:00:42And add to that, we were the serial killer
00:00:45capital of the world.
00:00:47It's like being hit by a train, just
00:00:50like being hit by a train.
00:00:53I don't usually talk about that day or that time.
00:00:58How soon was it after the murder
00:01:00that your father and your mother started to think that maybe
00:01:03this wasn't a robbery?
00:01:05I assumed it was going to be burglars, male burglars.
00:01:08And there was another piece of evidence that caught
00:01:11the attention of investigators, a bite mark on Sherry's forearm.
00:01:17I suspect that the LAPD could never have fathomed.
00:01:29If you walk down Hollywood Boulevard,
00:01:31you can't help but notice the stars on the sidewalk,
00:01:34the glitter in the pavement.
00:01:36And you think to yourself, wow, this is Tinseltown.
00:01:41But it doesn't take long until you realize that there are
00:01:43deep cracks in that pavement, exposing a criminal element
00:01:48you could never have imagined.
00:01:50And that's what we're going to find out today.
00:01:58A crime that we could never have anticipated.
00:02:01And the case of Sherry Rasmussen was a rude awakening
00:02:04for anyone living in La La Land.
00:02:09President Reagan in Los Angeles.
00:02:11Today, the torch entered the city of angels.
00:02:13For AIDS, the Rock-A-Thon in Hollywood.
00:02:17It was 1986.
00:02:18A beautiful young nurse, only three months into her marriage,
00:02:22is brutally murdered in her own townhome.
00:02:25As a television journalist, I've been reporting
00:02:27crime stories for decades on numerous outlets.
00:02:32And you think you're never going to be shocked anymore,
00:02:36ever again?
00:02:37Well, this proved all that very wrong.
00:02:41It was a huge story.
00:02:43It had all the elements, you know, sex and betrayal
00:02:47and lies.
00:02:48It just gripped the nation.
00:02:50It's definitely, pound for pound,
00:02:54one of the greatest true crime stories of all time.
00:02:58Everything we always heard or was told about Aunt Sherry
00:03:02was about what a great person she was.
00:03:06Tell me about your sister.
00:03:07She was the middle sister.
00:03:10And she was a clown.
00:03:12If everything got too serious, she would make everybody laugh.
00:03:16She had a very unique little giggle.
00:03:20Uncle John and Aunt Sherry are spending Christmas with Rachel
00:03:24on her first Christmas.
00:03:27Sherry was all about family.
00:03:30Sherry was our glue.
00:03:34She kept us all together.
00:03:40From a young age, Sherry, the middle child
00:03:42with that infectious giggle, seemed mature beyond her years,
00:03:46according to her sisters, Connie and Teresa.
00:03:50She leapfrogged from the eighth grade into high school,
00:03:53and Sherry graduated early at the age of just 16
00:03:57and enrolled in nursing school.
00:03:59She had certainly an interest in caring for other people.
00:04:03By the time she was 21, Sherry was fearless and determined,
00:04:07and she moved from her hometown of Tucson,
00:04:09Arizona to Los Angeles.
00:04:12When she passed away, she was the director of critical care
00:04:16at the Glendale Adventist Hospital.
00:04:19When I think of Sherry, I think of her kindness
00:04:24and her generosity.
00:04:26Sherry's father, Nels, who was a dentist,
00:04:29had encouraged her to enroll in medical school
00:04:31to become a doctor.
00:04:32But she had other plans in mind.
00:04:35Sherry always wanted to have a family
00:04:37and a husband and children.
00:04:41In the spring of 1984, Sherry met a young engineer
00:04:44named John Rutten.
00:04:46John Rutten was a tall, handsome, bright,
00:04:49athletic young man from San Diego, California.
00:04:53Sherry was so tall, she often had difficulty
00:04:56finding guys who weren't intimidated by someone
00:04:59with her stature.
00:05:01And I know that John was just taken with her.
00:05:06Sherry and John were very happy together.
00:05:10Sherry was always smiling and laughing and happy.
00:05:15They settled in Sherry's condo in Van Nuys.
00:05:18And in November 1985, the couple got married.
00:05:23It was a joyous celebration.
00:05:27You could tell that they were in love.
00:05:31She was just beginning her life.
00:05:34She'd met the man of her dreams.
00:05:36And she had a great job.
00:05:38And she was doing very well.
00:05:39And it was all coming together.
00:05:43Three months later, and now it was all gone.
00:05:49February 24, 1986, John had just returned home from work.
00:05:56And as he's walking up the steps into the townhome,
00:06:00the door is ajar.
00:06:03He walks into the townhome and sees
00:06:06his gorgeous bride dead in a pool of blood
00:06:10on the living room floor.
00:06:12He calls 911.
00:06:18I was patrolling.
00:06:19And I got a call to Balboa Boulevard.
00:06:24Veteran LAPD patrol officer Rodney Forrest
00:06:27was one of the first cops to arrive at the scene.
00:06:29The call was a death investigation.
00:06:33I thought that was particularly interesting.
00:06:36Why a murderer in a kind of upscale part of town?
00:06:41When Forrest and his partner got there,
00:06:43they were met with a grim warning from paramedics.
00:06:47Somebody said, you're not going to be
00:06:49prepared for what's in there.
00:06:51And I'm thinking, well, I've seen it all.
00:06:55So let's go see.
00:07:04Oh, wow.
00:07:08This brings back memories.
00:07:12It's kind of an eerie feeling to be here
00:07:15after 30-plus, almost 40 years.
00:07:21As I walked in, I saw Sherry Rasmussen on the ground.
00:07:28She had been covered with a towel.
00:07:31And one of the paramedics raised the towel
00:07:34for me to see her face.
00:07:36And she had considerable trauma to her face.
00:07:41And there was blood.
00:07:44I thought, after that, this is actually a murder.
00:07:51At that point, Officer Forrest called the LAPD's Van Nuys
00:07:54Division to notify the Homicide Unit, which
00:07:57took over the investigation.
00:07:59It's a horribly violent crime.
00:08:02Bruises all over her body.
00:08:04The struggle ensued for quite some time.
00:08:08My partner went upstairs, checked the upper floor
00:08:13for any suspects.
00:08:15And there were no suspects still around.
00:08:18Investigators knew that something catastrophic
00:08:21had happened to Ms. Rasmussen.
00:08:23You think, given the ferocity of that fight,
00:08:25that somebody would have heard something.
00:08:26You would think it was a heck of a fight.
00:08:29I mean, Sherry fought for her life, literally.
00:08:34That night, news of Sherry's murder
00:08:36reached her family in Tucson.
00:08:39I'll probably never forget it, unfortunately.
00:08:42My dad called me to tell me that Sherry was dead.
00:08:46And I was like, that is, I certainly didn't believe it.
00:08:50Beyond the pale.
00:08:50Yeah.
00:08:51I was like, no, what are you talking about?
00:08:53That's not true.
00:08:55And he said, no, it is.
00:08:57And then I started screaming.
00:09:00In the wake of Sherry's murder, her family
00:09:03struggled to understand what had happened.
00:09:06Could this be the result of the rampant violence
00:09:09that had plagued the city of Los Angeles in recent years?
00:09:12Grim statistic from Los Angeles.
00:09:13More murders in 1980 than ever before.
00:09:16In parts of Los Angeles, there is a dangerous new tension.
00:09:19Or had it been something far more personal?
00:09:22This was a cold, calculated murder.
00:09:25When investigators looked further into the crime scene,
00:09:27they uncovered a major clue that could change the course
00:09:31of the investigation.
00:09:32This would turn out to be a notorious, surreal case
00:09:37with a twist no Hollywood writer could have come up with.
00:09:57For myself as a reporter in Los Angeles,
00:09:59the 80s was the wild, wild west.
00:10:02Turn on the TV and what are you hearing about?
00:10:04Violent crime.
00:10:07Crime running unchecked.
00:10:09The police seemingly unable to stop it.
00:10:12That frustration reached the breaking point in one
00:10:14neighborhood in Los Angeles.
00:10:15Anyone that worked in the city of Los Angeles,
00:10:17they knew that they were going to have their hands filled.
00:10:20There are more than 100 street gangs in Los Angeles.
00:10:22It was out of control.
00:10:24People were on edge during that era.
00:10:27And add to that, we were the serial killer capital
00:10:31of the world.
00:10:32The night stalker killer.
00:10:33Strangled, tortured bodies were found sprawled on hillsides.
00:10:37By 1986, the homicide rate in Los Angeles
00:10:40had reached alarming levels.
00:10:42So when Sherry Rasmussen was murdered inside this apartment,
00:10:46it sent neighbors into a panic.
00:10:48It was a dark period in our history.
00:10:50People were terrified to leave their homes.
00:10:53Residents bought guns,
00:10:56learned martial arts.
00:10:58People had bought up every single burglar alarm
00:11:01in the city and went to the LA County Dog Pound
00:11:06and literally adopted every single dog for watchdogs.
00:11:10The home invasion murder, the one similar to Sherry's,
00:11:15is going to cause a lot of fear in the community.
00:11:18People were nervous.
00:11:22It was certainly a shock for me.
00:11:26Alan Tarski lived across the corridor from Sherry,
00:11:28but he says he wasn't home at the time of the murder.
00:11:31I had come back to work probably quarter to six
00:11:36in the evening.
00:11:38And it was shortly after that,
00:11:40that the madness started.
00:11:43I do remember there was electronic stereo equipment
00:11:47right here that I saw when I came in.
00:11:50And that suggested to me that it was possibly a burglary
00:11:55and a burglary interrupted.
00:11:58I put this together with the stereo equipment
00:12:01stacked over here.
00:12:03And it seemed to me that she could have seen
00:12:06the video and heard the sound.
00:12:08And I thought, well, maybe she was listening to me.
00:12:11And it seemed to me that she could have struggled
00:12:14with the burglar.
00:12:16And she obviously lost that fight.
00:12:20Sherry's newer model BMW was taken.
00:12:24Her purse was taken.
00:12:26The Rasmussen crime scene had all the makings
00:12:28of something police call a hot prowl, a home invasion.
00:12:32Investigators at the time very much believed
00:12:35that Sherry Rasmussen was the victim of a burglary
00:12:38that had turned into her own murder.
00:12:42Based on what investigators could see at the time,
00:12:45it appeared as though Sherry Rasmussen was working
00:12:47at her dining room table on the second level
00:12:50of her condominium when the intruder came in
00:12:52through the front door.
00:12:54She had ligature marks on her wrists,
00:12:57indicating at some point someone had tied her up.
00:13:01All over the place in these pictures,
00:13:03you see some of the implements that were used to hit Sherry.
00:13:06Right.
00:13:08The vase that was smashed over her head,
00:13:11the shards had blood on them.
00:13:14The assailant or assailants were grabbing at anything
00:13:17they could find to make sure this woman
00:13:19didn't breathe another breath.
00:13:21Her fingernails were left broken at the front door
00:13:26because she was literally clawing at the front door
00:13:28trying to get out.
00:13:32But before Sherry could escape,
00:13:34she was shot, police say, at point blank range.
00:13:38The bullets indicated that a .38 revolver had been used.
00:13:42It was basically an execution.
00:13:45Not a single neighbor heard a gunshot
00:13:47and ballistics tests showed that it appeared
00:13:50the assailant had used that quilt
00:13:54over the barrel of the gun as a silencer.
00:13:57And there was another piece of evidence
00:14:00that caught the attention of investigators.
00:14:03A bite mark on Sherry's wrist.
00:14:06A bite mark on Sherry's forearm.
00:14:10They took the sample in an abundance of caution
00:14:12because if there was blood there on that bite mark,
00:14:16it could be possible for blood typing analysis to be done.
00:14:22I learned later about the bite mark
00:14:25that led into my curiosity
00:14:27of why there was a bite mark on her arm.
00:14:31I had no clue.
00:14:34It kind of reinforced what I was thinking
00:14:36when I initially got there.
00:14:38There was something up,
00:14:40something more than I originally saw.
00:14:44Former patrol officer Forrest,
00:14:46who wasn't part of the investigation,
00:14:48says to him the crime scene
00:14:50didn't jive with the burglary theory.
00:14:52I thought to myself, this is a burglary?
00:14:58Burglars don't usually pick a place
00:15:00by condos from the street.
00:15:02They wanna get away.
00:15:04They pick something next to the street.
00:15:07They don't wanna be seen.
00:15:09It's just strange that they would pick this place.
00:15:14Officer Forrest says he was also taken
00:15:16by the demeanor of Sherry's husband.
00:15:22I noticed John Rutten.
00:15:23He was sitting at the table and he seemed to be sobbing.
00:15:27My reaction was his sobbing, his crying
00:15:31should have been more extreme
00:15:34with his wife laying there on the floor dead.
00:15:39I guess people grieve in different ways.
00:15:43Did you see John at any point directly after the murder?
00:15:45We saw him at the Van Nuys police station
00:15:48and I do remember that he didn't have any marks on him.
00:15:51That's the first thing you look at
00:15:53for any kind of domestic violence, so.
00:15:56Even though he was your brother-in-law,
00:15:57even though you liked him,
00:15:59the first thing you did when you saw him
00:16:00is sort of give him a visual inspection, a look over.
00:16:04Yes.
00:16:05Did you talk?
00:16:05We weren't allowed to talk to him.
00:16:08They were keeping everybody separated.
00:16:10Because the first suspect in murders like this
00:16:12typically is. Is the husband.
00:16:16Rutten wasn't permitted to speak with Sherry's family
00:16:19but on the night of the murder,
00:16:21he sat down with investigators at the LAPD's Van Nuys station.
00:16:26You didn't harm your wife, did you, John?
00:16:31The question for investigators is,
00:16:33was he telling them everything they needed to know
00:16:36to catch a killer?
00:16:38The Van Nuys Murder Case
00:16:55So you and Sherry were living here
00:16:56in Southern California together.
00:16:57Yes.
00:16:58How was that?
00:16:59It was fun.
00:17:00Actually, we also gained Teresa.
00:17:02So all three of us were in a mobile home together
00:17:06at Loma Linda.
00:17:06Oh wow, the 3 daughters that your dad so happy, yeah.
00:17:12I've got a lot of serious clothes and it's all back to
00:17:15style right. The 1980's are all coming back.
00:17:20I remember her telling me that she had met John what was your
00:17:23impression of him once you met him.
00:17:25He was very likable they made early a cute couple they were
00:17:28both tall then athletic both driven with their careers.
00:17:34It was a whirlwind romance and within a year, the 2 are
00:17:38married.
00:17:39And did she seem like she had it all yes, she had a new job
00:17:44that she enjoyed just got married. She was a new and we
00:17:48were really looking forward to the future.
00:17:55The family was just so important to her and you can
00:17:57really see that in the photos and how happy was together.
00:18:01It's Sherry really loved Christmas.
00:18:08It was one of her favorite holiday.
00:18:10Here's John holding his baby niece, Rachel everybody here
00:18:14thinks is the reason I think they better talk to Sherry.
00:18:24This is Sherry's last Christmas.
00:18:31It sure is now showing why she's a leader of nurses.
00:18:38Just 2 months later, Sherry and John's love story came to a
00:18:42tragic and sudden end and in the aftermath of her murder
00:18:45questions would linger.
00:18:47When you're going through this process you're pretty much
00:18:50helpless because that you have no control.
00:18:52I mean with the information you get is what they give you.
00:18:57Now's Rasmussen was determined to find out what really
00:19:01happened to his daughter.
00:19:03And so were the police who wanted answers on the night of
00:19:07the murder. Detective Lyle mayor questioned a very
00:19:10emotional John Rutton on what he knew about the day Sherry
00:19:14was killed.
00:19:16And everything going to say so she did John I'm a couple
00:19:23minutes, I need you to tell everybody.
00:19:28Investigators looked at every possible direction of course
00:19:33they looked at John.
00:19:37Well, I saw Sherry I don't think it's right for me when I
00:19:40walk in the door, I saw her lying on the ground.
00:19:43I knew right away that there was she was dead.
00:19:49He was shaken up that evening he did his best to give an
00:19:52interview that helped investigators.
00:19:54At one point detective mayor asked run.
00:19:57Very difficult question.
00:19:59You didn't harm your wife, did you John.
00:20:02If you don't harm your wife, OK very good.
00:20:05John Bratton agreed to do a polygraph examination and the
00:20:10results came back in conclusive, but he had a rock
00:20:15solid alibi.
00:20:18He was at work that day he left work, he stopped and picked up
00:20:22his dry cleaning and then came back between 6.07 PM and found
00:20:28his wife murdered in the living room area of the House.
00:20:33Detective mayor believe the murder that happened in the
00:20:36early morning hours after run had already left for work.
00:20:40When I left she was in bed, but she was away what time do you
00:20:43leave for work, 7.20 is when I left what time do you to work
00:20:46this one I got to work about 10 to 8.
00:20:50In the eyes of Lyle mayor, the lead detective John Bratton was
00:20:55legitimately and seriously a grieving husband.
00:20:59They didn't feel he was hiding anything and as far as they
00:21:03were concerned he was not a suspect and they told him so.
00:21:08I'm usually a pretty good judge of character.
00:21:11Really certain that you have absolutely nothing to do with
00:21:14this.
00:21:17Mayor basically made a decision that night based on the
00:21:21evidence that he saw at the crime scene that this was a
00:21:24burglary gone wrong.
00:21:26I believe your house was burglarized today.
00:21:29Once those persons are that person or whoever was inside.
00:21:34I believe they were trying to steal your stereo.
00:21:37This mother.
00:21:39They do it and to work. I don't know John I don't know
00:21:43John things happen. Okay, I think sure he came down the
00:21:47stairs and I think she surprised him.
00:21:52She was hurt.
00:21:54She was shot.
00:21:59And detective mayor was so convinced he'd solve the case
00:22:02he even told John run.
00:22:04I don't know how you feel, I know what you're going through
00:22:07we're going to catch these persons for this person.
00:22:11I have a little faith in me.
00:22:13We're very successful. Very very successful.
00:22:19At this point.
00:22:21Detectives don't have a single witness.
00:22:24They have no murder weapon. They have no fingerprints for
00:22:29even seasoned detectives. There's a lot of work ahead.
00:22:34But there will soon be a break in the case these are sketches
00:22:37that were LAPD issued right with another home invasion in
00:22:42the same neighborhood lead investigators to show his
00:22:45killers.
00:23:04They look like they're from Charlie's Angels.
00:23:08They're almost a different parts of the country, but yet
00:23:10you had almost the same haircut, I know.
00:23:12I was still in the stage of shock that this could happen to
00:23:17my sister.
00:23:19It's like being hit by a train.
00:23:21Just like being hit by a train.
00:23:29I don't usually talk about that day or that time.
00:23:34Less than a week after Sherry Rasmussen's murder, her loved
00:23:38ones said their painful goodbyes.
00:23:41A heartbroken John Bruton addressed family and friends.
00:23:45When I saw John at the memorial. He was just ashen he
00:23:50couldn't stop walking in circles and was just shaking.
00:23:54And I want you to know that Sherry was the best
00:23:56professional in the world. He was the best wife that
00:23:59anybody could ever have and she was the best sister and
00:24:02daughter.
00:24:03She wanted to make everybody happy.
00:24:06You have to understand that was a love in his life and trying
00:24:10to deal with that grief.
00:24:13It's devastating.
00:24:21Back then investigators wasted no time theorizing what they
00:24:26think happened to Sherry Rasmussen.
00:24:29They looked at the crime scene. It looked like a burglary
00:24:31smelled like a burglary.
00:24:34Not long after Sherry's murder investigators jump on a new
00:24:38lead. There's been another burglary here in this same van
00:24:41eyes neighborhood with a similar mo.
00:24:45That burglary was interrupted by a woman coming home seeing
00:24:512 men in her house, one of whom had a gun and they fled and
00:24:56witness sketches were produced of the suspects. These are
00:25:00sketches that were LAPD issued right. These composites were
00:25:06attached to this case.
00:25:08They started to utilize that sketch in this case to see if
00:25:13the persons that were responsible for Sherry's death
00:25:17were the same people that were depicted in that sketch.
00:25:20Were they ever arrested where they were found know it might
00:25:24as well been me and you.
00:25:25Despite the suspects there was literally nothing that could
00:25:31tie anyone directly to the murder of Sherry Rasmussen.
00:25:36On the surface, it appeared to be a burglary gone wrong.
00:25:40Not everyone was convinced.
00:25:42How soon was it after the murder.
00:25:46Your father and your mother started to think that maybe
00:25:48this wasn't a robbery like police were saying.
00:25:52The very day we went to the Van Nuys police that first day it
00:25:55didn't make sense that they wouldn't take anything other
00:25:57than the car.
00:26:00And yet fight with her to the extent of her death.
00:26:05Sherry's father Nels believe that there was another reason
00:26:08behind the murder because he says Sherry told them about a
00:26:12series of disturbing events in the weeks and months leading up
00:26:16to her death.
00:26:17My mother told the police about an incident of a nurse that
00:26:21didn't get promoted and then she was upset with Sherry and
00:26:25so she sort of got into an argument with Sherry.
00:26:28She felt that she had damage to her car. So when Sherry was
00:26:34murdered that certainly came up to the forefront of my dad's
00:26:37mind that maybe that conflict accelerated.
00:26:42According to family members there was another woman who
00:26:44raised alarm bells for her an ex-girlfriend of John run.
00:26:49She had come to Sherry's office after they were engaged and I
00:26:55think she was sort of provocatively dressed and said
00:27:00to Sherry when this marriage fails all be waiting to pick up
00:27:04the pieces and Sherry said don't worry we won't be needing
00:27:09your services.
00:27:10Just about a month before the murder there was an even more
00:27:15disturbing encounter that Sherry again told her parents
00:27:18about she was home getting ready for work and heard
00:27:23something downstairs and went downstairs and found
00:27:26John's ex-girlfriend standing in the living room and Sherry
00:27:32told her to get out and not come back.
00:27:37In the days leading up to the murder now said Sherry
00:27:40confided in him that she was being followed by someone who
00:27:43she described as having piercing eyes.
00:27:47Sherry never disclosed a name for the ex-girlfriend it would
00:27:53have been nice had we had that because we would have shared
00:27:55that with the detectives.
00:27:57Nels claims that he told the original detectives about the
00:28:00alleged incidents involving an ex-girlfriend of run.
00:28:04One of the original detectives in this case told me
00:28:08personally they had never heard any of those alleged
00:28:12incidents and none of them were entered into the official case
00:28:16record known as the murder book.
00:28:19The single most important document in an LAPD homicide
00:28:23investigation is the murder broken it's basically the place
00:28:28where any investigative work that is conducted on the
00:28:31investigative work that is conducted any step that is
00:28:35performed everything needs to be committed to writing and the
00:28:39reason that it's so important is that homicide is obviously a
00:28:42case with no statute of limitations.
00:28:46Nels Rasmussen told me that he had been telling them for years
00:28:50about an ex-girlfriend of John's when exactly that
00:28:54conversation occurred he could not tell me, but I believe that
00:28:58it occurred.
00:29:00But on the night of the murder, John Brunton told detective
00:29:03mayor that he didn't know anyone who might want to harm
00:29:06Sherry.
00:29:07She's not having any problems with an ex-boyfriend or you
00:29:10with an ex-girlfriend.
00:29:19I would say nothing out of the ordinary, you know, I don't
00:29:22think there was anything out of the ordinary.
00:29:25But run says in the days and weeks following the murder.
00:29:28He did tell investigators about an ex-girlfriend, the same one
00:29:33now says he mentioned to police run says he never brought it up
00:29:37in his recorded interview with detective mayor because he
00:29:40never considered her a girlfriend and it never crossed
00:29:44his mind that she could have been involved with Sherry's
00:29:47murder.
00:29:492020 reached out to detective mayor for a response to the
00:29:52allegations raised by Sherry's family and her husband, but he
00:29:55did not respond.
00:29:572020 also reached out to the LAPD regarding those same
00:30:01allegations and they declined to comment.
00:30:07I had come to the conclusion in my mind that it was never going
00:30:11to be solved and it was something that I would have to
00:30:13deal with
00:30:14the unknowing of what happened.
00:30:18With 0 suspects. Sherry's homicide investigation was
00:30:22heading toward cold case purgatory.
00:30:25But years later with brand new technology and a fresh set of
00:30:29eyes investigators take another look at the bite mark that was
00:30:33on Sherry's forearm and could that be the key that unlocks
00:30:37the mystery of the murder, Sherry Rasmussen.
00:30:55♪
00:31:11Times like this, I just need a tissue attached to me.
00:31:16It has been very difficult to continue to live without
00:31:19Sherry.
00:31:21Sherry was like the bridge to kind of pull us all together.
00:31:26For Connie Rasmussen, the pain of losing her sister Sherry is
00:31:30felt most when she visits her grave near the family home in
00:31:34Tucson, Arizona.
00:31:36It's like a heavy weighted blanket sitting on you because
00:31:40you can't move because it's it's still unresolved.
00:31:45When she was murdered my grandfather he was struggling
00:31:50with the fact that they were unable to find the murder.
00:31:56It aided my dad.
00:32:02You know as a father you think you know your job is to protect
00:32:05your children.
00:32:06And he felt he had failed that.
00:32:11Sherry's father, the late Nels Rasmussen gave this interview
00:32:15shortly before his own death in 2020.
00:32:19It's probably
00:32:20difficult for people that know me that
00:32:24I hang on
00:32:26the way I do but
00:32:28I'm learning
00:32:31every day
00:32:34how to deal with this.
00:32:38And I still don't have all the answers.
00:32:42I probably never will.
00:32:46In 1991, Lyle Mayer who's the lead detective on the case
00:32:49retires from the LAPD and the case is then handed off to
00:32:53other detectives within the Van Nuys homicide unit.
00:32:58There were no active
00:33:00leads or items that were coming in at the time that were giving
00:33:06investigators new avenues to pursue.
00:33:13I never thought that time was going to help solve the case.
00:33:18It was going to ever get solved.
00:33:20After Sherry's murder time seemed to stand still for her
00:33:23family.
00:33:24But the decade that followed would bring a new chapter to
00:33:28the city of angels, the beating of Rodney King.
00:33:31OJ Simpson was a fugitive freeway that collapsed not
00:33:35guilty of the crime of murder violent Eric Menendez found
00:33:38guilty smalls was shot several times impact of El Nino.
00:33:42The Staples Center is just amazing all beautiful and
00:33:44brand-new Mister Gore, the Democratic nominee for the
00:33:48Mister Gore, the Democratic nominee is in Los Angeles.
00:33:51The Lakers gave La one more thrill.
00:33:552001 was also a pivotal year for the Los Angeles Police
00:33:59Department marking the launch of the LAPD is cold case unit
00:34:04that year detectives were handed over 9,000 unsolved
00:34:08murders spanning more than 2 decades.
00:34:11Sherry Rasmussen's case was one of them.
00:34:18I was a detective with Los Angeles Police Department on
00:34:21the cold case squad.
00:34:23Her case was one of the last cases I looked at.
00:34:27In 2001 detective Cliff Shepard would oversee the Rasmussen
00:34:31cold case investigation.
00:34:33Why does a case like this go cold for so long manpower
00:34:38priorities within the Police Department.
00:34:41In fact Shepard says Sherry's case and barely been touched
00:34:45for 10 years.
00:34:48Up to that point nobody else had looked at it other than
00:34:52mayor and
00:34:54myself really.
00:34:57To get started Shepard said he made copies of select files
00:35:01from the Rasmussen murder book creating his own Cliff's notes.
00:35:06Why not just take the murder book so you have all the
00:35:08evidence with you, yeah, well, yes, no problem was space we
00:35:14were in a little off as it wasn't practical to take the
00:35:17entire murder book.
00:35:19Breathing life into an old case is no easy feat, especially
00:35:23when you don't have all the evidence like a key piece of
00:35:27evidence relating to that bite mark found on Sherry's arm.
00:35:32When I was going back over the reports that they indicate that
00:35:35a bite swab had been collected.
00:35:38And when I looked at the evidence.
00:35:42No evidence for a bite swab.
00:35:45So I checked with our property.
00:35:47They verify they did not have the swab book with our
00:35:50evidence room, there's no record of it.
00:35:54Generally speaking.
00:35:56How often does evidence go missing from a case file
00:36:00extremely rarely because there are professionals in the
00:36:04evidence rooms, their professionals at the labs they
00:36:07document everything.
00:36:10The track down the swab Shepard enlisted the help of Jennifer
00:36:13Francis a criminalist at LAPD's scientific investigation
00:36:18division.
00:36:20And she had to make several calls and several searches had
00:36:23to be made before eventually the bite mark swab was located.
00:36:28Investigators are able to track down that missing bite mark
00:36:32evidence recovered from the murder scene and the cold case
00:36:35team finds it here in a freezer at the LA County medical
00:36:40examiner's office.
00:36:44The reason why it was way back in the freezer is because all
00:36:49those years ago it had been tested for blood type.
00:36:53And there it stayed all that time.
00:36:56By 2001 DNA technology had come into its own so Francis sent
00:37:01out the swab for analysis.
00:37:05Shepard says given the LAPD's case backlog it will take 2
00:37:10full years for the results to come back.
00:37:13And those results would eventually turn the entire case
00:37:17on its head.
00:37:19She informed me that I obtained a DNA profile.
00:37:23The DNA profile was entered into the law enforcement
00:37:26database.
00:37:27But there was no match at the time.
00:37:30So it was a big jump in the case, but it wasn't quite
00:37:32enough gave us a profile, but it didn't give us a name.
00:37:37With little else to go on this case is riding on that piece of
00:37:42DNA.
00:37:44And once you've got the DNA that that prod you into doing
00:37:50any of the other investigated things like interviews at that
00:37:53time, I couldn't I had a lot of cases going on so it was as I
00:37:58had time I just didn't have enough time.
00:38:02My biggest regret is that interviewing written the
00:38:05husband, not meeting with him and having a face to face.
00:38:09I know he restarted his life and it was down in the San
00:38:11Diego area.
00:38:13But for me to just leave LA and go down to San Diego to
00:38:17interview him I had other things going on I couldn't do
00:38:19that at that time.
00:38:21By 2005 detective Shepard had moved on from the Rasmussen
00:38:25cold case investigation.
00:38:274 more years would pass before there would be another
00:38:30significant development in the case.
00:38:33I'm not sure how much work was done between 2005 2009.
00:38:38I think it really took somebody going back and going through
00:38:42the murder book in close detail and thinking about this
00:38:45case for years Sherry's cold case would remain unsolved that
00:38:49is until investigators took a closer look at the DNA from
00:38:53that bite mark and it would lead them to a very unlikely
00:38:57suspect one would been hiding in plain sight.
00:39:13I can't remember ever covering. Like this.
00:39:17Sex lies law enforcement and it's a victim.
00:39:22Because what you can tell from the crime scene there was an
00:39:24assailant but the Sherry fought back.
00:39:27All she did this credible, yeah, you're in strength
00:39:29absolutely that I grab your arm. Yeah.
00:39:33And you want to release my hand, what's very close.
00:39:38Exactly.
00:39:40So Sherry Rasmussen knows it's a life and death situation
00:39:43Sherry tried to escape.
00:39:47The co-counsel summarize the case as a bite a bullet a gun
00:39:50barrel, a broken heart where she talked about her belief that
00:39:55there was a personal motive for this crime for a cold case that
00:39:59was running on empty, I mean this should have jump started
00:40:02it. Why didn't it.
00:40:04It didn't give us a name.
00:40:05They eliminated the first 4 suspects, but they began to 0
00:40:09in on suspect number 5 and suspect number 5 just happens
00:40:13to be a cop.
00:40:15Can you imagine that moment after all these years, the
00:40:20answer is behind the badge, it's crazy you've been working
00:40:24just down the hall
00:40:25from the murder you've been looking for years, yes.
00:40:35I'm.
00:40:41February 24th 1986 investigators get a 9, 1, 1,
00:40:46call to respond to the condominium of John rotten and
00:40:49Sherry Rasmussen
00:40:51when they arrived John is distraught.
00:40:54He has just found his newlywed wife laying on the living room
00:40:57floor.
00:40:59Sherry Rasmussen was attacked in her home and bludgeoned and
00:41:05then executed shot 3 times while she was down on the
00:41:09ground.
00:41:11The investigators also found a bite wound on her forearm.
00:41:16This will be important in the case because the bite marks
00:41:20will leave DNA.
00:41:23But in 1986 DNA testing was just in its infancy.
00:41:28Detectives don't have a single witness.
00:41:32No murder weapon, nobody really saw anything detectives at the
00:41:36time
00:41:37characterized it as a burglary gone wrong.
00:41:41And the trail went cold for 15 years.
00:41:46But in 2001 the LAPD formed a new cold case unit to look
00:41:52into cases that would qualify for DNA testing.
00:41:57Investigators had reignited that cold case on the back of
00:42:00DNA evidence stored here.
00:42:03Criminalist Jennifer Francis who'd been instrumental in
00:42:06tracking down and testing the bite mark swamp had a stunning
00:42:10revelation.
00:42:12It was female DNA.
00:42:16I assume it was going to be burglars mail for.
00:42:19A female.
00:42:22Who is she once you've got the DNA you realize it was a woman
00:42:25were you curious about the fact that a woman might have been
00:42:27involved, I was curious what woman.
00:42:29This could be the break that the LAPD needs.
00:42:36I think there are times that we felt serious case would never
00:42:40be solved. But with the results of the DNA it gave us renewed
00:42:45hope that Sherry's killer would be brought to justice.
00:42:49The DNA analysis that revealed Sherry was bitten by a woman
00:42:53seem not to have any effect on the direction of the LAPD is
00:42:58investigation because what you could tell from the crime scene
00:43:02is that there was an assailant but that Sherry fought back.
00:43:06Oh, she's a credible, yeah, the current strength and I thought
00:43:08OK, we've got one with the gun doesn't want to use it the
00:43:11other ones, you know presumably the female who helps her
00:43:15partner out when he's starting to get beaten up.
00:43:19By 2005 detective Shepard had moved on from the Rasmussen
00:43:23cold case investigation.
00:43:24The bite mark came back to a female when it was tested for
00:43:27DNA back in 2005.
00:43:30For a cold case that was running on empty. I mean this
00:43:33should have jumpstarted it.
00:43:35Why didn't it.
00:43:36It didn't give us a name.
00:43:38Gave us a profile, but it didn't give us a name.
00:43:424 years went by with no forward momentum. But in 2009 a
00:43:47detective by the name of Jim Nuttall assigned to the Van
00:43:50eyes division received the Rasmussen case file to check
00:43:54for updates as part of cold case standard procedure.
00:43:58One of the first things that not all notices is this 4 year
00:44:02old DNA report by Jennifer Francis that indicates that it
00:44:07was a woman who attacked and killed Sherry.
00:44:11And he just isn't buying the burglary story near the door
00:44:16there were stacked stereo components which ostensibly
00:44:21you'd think the burglars are going to grab on their way out.
00:44:24It made him believe that the murder occurred first and that
00:44:28they were intentionally left there.
00:44:30Not all and his team of detectives believe that this
00:44:33may have been personal.
00:44:35They conduct new interviews with those close to Sherry
00:44:38including her parents and her husband John right.
00:44:41He wanted to exclude all of the potential female sources or
00:44:46female individuals that were surrounding Sherry's life at
00:44:49the time.
00:44:51The detectives make a list of 5 women in Sherry's orbit and
00:44:55eliminate them as suspects one by one. Sherry's mother and
00:44:58sister Teresa were on the list as was her good friend Jane
00:45:02Goldberg.
00:45:04They took my DNA the one detective came unannounced and
00:45:09he said I'm just coming to get a DNA swab.
00:45:12The first 3 suspects on the list were able to be
00:45:15eliminated almost immediately the 4th name on the list was a
00:45:20nursing colleague there was an indication of tension and bad
00:45:25blood between them.
00:45:27Investigators obtained a DNA sample from her which didn't
00:45:30match that from the bite mark.
00:45:33They eliminated the first 4 suspects, but they began to 0
00:45:37in on suspect number 5.
00:45:39It's suspect number 5 that grabs the attention of
00:45:42detectives.
00:45:44Run told detective not all about an old friend and former
00:45:47romantic partner named Stephanie Lazarus.
00:45:51Once number 5 was developed by detective metal.
00:45:54Detective metal spoke to John rotten again to learn a little
00:45:58bit more about his connection with Stephanie Lazarus want to
00:46:02walk you through a timeline, it's it's very important
00:46:06starting we believe we're close, but we'll have to have
00:46:09you kind of spell this out for us.
00:46:12Rotten tells detective not all that Stephanie Lazarus is a
00:46:15name he's already given to detectives decades earlier.
00:46:20I know that she went to go see Sherry I know that she was
00:46:23upset, you know that we weren't going to have the relationship
00:46:26that's the reason for identifying.
00:46:28So that's the reason I identified her 23 years ago,
00:46:32you know we talked to one of my concerns is that that was never
00:46:35you know appears to be recorded.
00:46:37And we know by trying to launch inflammatory there's a certain
00:46:41level of frustration on our part of the more should have
00:46:44been documented were now forced 23 years later to literally
00:46:48almost start over again because we just we lack the
00:46:51documentation.
00:46:54That would have been crucial in this case, there's no official
00:46:57record of rotten mentioning Lazarus at the onset of the
00:47:00investigation. But there's a single reference made in the
00:47:04case file nearly 2 years after the murder.
00:47:08And it's a notation along the lines of John rotten called
00:47:14Stephanie Lazarus
00:47:16he slash.
00:47:18Ex-girlfriend and when John rotten spoke with the cold case
00:47:22detectives he confirmed the meaning behind that he slash
00:47:26oh.
00:47:27I gave him the name I said she's a police officer.
00:47:30Not only was Lazarus a police officer, but she's still on
00:47:34active duty as a detective.
00:47:37Think about this.
00:47:39You're the cold case unit investigating one of your own
00:47:42and her offices just down the hall on the 3rd floor of police
00:47:48headquarters.
00:47:49Police like to talk that's why they're cops to ask questions.
00:47:53These cops needed to keep this quiet.
00:48:07For over 2 decades, Sherry Rasmussen's murder went
00:48:11unsolved until 2009 when cold case investigators began
00:48:16zeroing in on Stephanie Lazarus a 25 year veteran of the LAPD
00:48:22she'd been hiding in plain sight all along.
00:48:30She presented herself as very smart.
00:48:33Capable athletic she was a division one athlete Lazarus
00:48:37his connection to the Rasmussen case was through Sherry's
00:48:40husband.
00:48:42Her history with John rotten went back more than 30 years.
00:48:45The first met as students at UCLA.
00:48:49And Stephanie made no bones about the fact that she
00:48:53envisioned a big romantic future with John rotten.
00:48:58The problem is that John has never
00:49:02in his own words looked at her in the same way.
00:49:07After Stephanie graduated from UCLA. She joined the LAPD in
00:49:12the early 1980's.
00:49:18At a time when the department was striving to bring more
00:49:21women on to the police force.
00:49:25She seemed to excel
00:49:27and do well in specialized assignments, but it's it was
00:49:30always competitive.
00:49:32And that competitive fire coupled with being a stellar
00:49:35athlete was a perfect entree for Lazarus to participate in
00:49:39the California police Olympics.
00:49:41The California police Olympics were an athletic competition
00:49:45open to police officers throughout the state.
00:49:49Anita or take it was one of the other few female LAPD officers
00:49:53at the time and a teammate of Lazarus.
00:49:56Stephanie was an outstanding athlete
00:49:58and a basketball player, I thought her tenacity was
00:50:01incredible. She never quit.
00:50:03She may have been tenacious on the hardwood but off the court
00:50:07and you got to know a softer side of her teammates.
00:50:10Seem like a very nice person always energetic.
00:50:15This happy-go-lucky kind of person really enjoy hanging
00:50:17around her. Stephanie share with me that she she met a
00:50:20boyfriend John at UCLA said he was a great guy. I never met
00:50:24him, but I thought they're going to get married.
00:50:27Thing was not only was Lazarus not dating John in the summer
00:50:31of 1985. He was engaged to Sherry Rasmussen
00:50:35Stephanie never mentioned Sherry to me
00:50:39or the fact that John was in another relationship.
00:50:43But entries in Lazarus's own diary seem to reveal her
00:50:46despair after learning that Rutten is getting married.
00:50:50Stephanie Lazarus had a 600 page diary.
00:50:54What was the story that it told there were these tidbits of
00:50:57information right up to the wedding right up to the
00:51:01killing where she was
00:51:04indicating to herself how despondent she was.
00:51:11Despite her apparent inner turmoil to outside appearances
00:51:15Lazarus seemed upbeat and happy.
00:51:18She had a really nice smile, bright eyes just a real
00:51:22positive kind of personality about her.
00:51:25Fitness trainer Brian brazzi says he had an immediate
00:51:29connection with Lazarus but then just a few weeks after
00:51:32meeting Rossi says there's an odd encounter at his apartment.
00:51:38There was a knock on my door.
00:51:41Female police officers full uniformed at my door,
00:51:44Stephanie Lazarus
00:51:46being one of them showing up unannounced I'd never given her
00:51:50my address Rossi says it's an uncomfortable moment and he
00:51:55doesn't invite the women into his one-room studio apartment
00:51:58Stephanie shown up for reasons unknown. He says and just as
00:52:02quickly she leaves.
00:52:04I really didn't know what to say or how to react as he says
00:52:08despite his discomfort over that visit the 2 decided to go
00:52:12out on a date anyway, but when he later had to break the date
00:52:15brazzi says he saw a different side of Lazarus.
00:52:19The next time I saw her the look that she gave me was like
00:52:24just dark and menacing and I just kind of stopped in my
00:52:29tracks.
00:52:34By the spring of 1986 after Sherry Rasmussen's murder
00:52:37Lazarus's career at the LAPD was thriving.
00:52:41Darrell Gates and the rest of the LAPD brass loved Stephanie
00:52:46Lazarus because having her face out there her exuberance her
00:52:51her athleticism it got people excited. She was a walking
00:52:56talking recruitment drive. She even made an appearance on the
00:53:01game show family feud
00:53:03pitted against arch rivals, the La fire department.
00:53:07She continued on a an upward trajectory and she became a
00:53:12detective for Los Angeles Police Department.
00:53:15In 1992 she was assigned to the personnel division as a
00:53:19background investigator someone interviewing and passing
00:53:23judgment on applicants to the LAPD.
00:53:26It seems eventually Stephanie puts John Rutton behind her she
00:53:31marries another police officer and the couple adopt a
00:53:36beautiful young daughter.
00:53:38One of her last assignments was to be assigned to the art that
00:53:42detail a very specialized division.
00:53:45The arts have detail investigated anything that was
00:53:49a value that was stolen as art.
00:53:51At the time the unit was the only one of its kind in the
00:53:54country and with its rich and famous clientele attracted
00:53:58local media attention.
00:54:00I was a contributing writer to the La weekly and I had heard
00:54:04about Don horrific who ran the art theft detail.
00:54:08So he reluctantly agreed to do an interview with me.
00:54:12Also in attendance, the junior member of the unit detective
00:54:16Stephanie Lazarus.
00:54:18Every time I talk to Don horrific Stephanie Lazarus
00:54:22interrupted me and she kept interjecting snide sarcastic
00:54:27and semi humorous comments after my questions it was
00:54:31extremely disruptive I asked detective Lazarus what do you
00:54:35know about art and her answer was it hangs on the wall.
00:54:39It's.
00:54:41By 2009, the future looks bright for Stephanie Lazarus
00:54:45she has a family now and is working in a prestigious unit.
00:54:49She seemed like the happiest luckiest person in LAPD.
00:54:54All seems great. She has no clue that and net is closing in
00:54:59around her.
00:55:09And looking over her head.
00:55:15I heard that you guys going to see.
00:55:22It's June of 2009 and Stephanie Lazarus has unwittingly walked
00:55:26into her own interrogation for the murder of Sherry Rasmussen.
00:55:33It's been 4 months since cold case detective Jim Nuttall
00:55:37first opened the case file and started carefully and quietly
00:55:41piecing together what he believed happened 23 years
00:55:45earlier.
00:55:47When detectives zeroed in on Stephanie Lazarus one of their
00:55:50own. It appeared that they really wanted to keep that
00:55:54close to the best.
00:55:57How important and how difficult was it to keep this under wraps
00:56:00and keep it secret.
00:56:02The detectives took every effort to scrub her name from
00:56:06their investigation, any references to her at that
00:56:09point were only a bleak references like
00:56:12suspect 5.
00:56:16You know it's difficult to track your own and know that one
00:56:20of your own has been accused of a crime or something illegal.
00:56:25And to complicate matters Lazarus's office is right down
00:56:29the hall from robbery homicide.
00:56:31So the determination was made to not contact Stephanie Lazarus
00:56:35directly and to collect
00:56:38a sample of her DNA surreptitiously.
00:56:43This is where the special investigation section comes
00:56:47into play now this group as I asked their job is watching
00:56:51Stephanie following her and get evidence.
00:56:56As luck would have it she went to Costco and she was
00:56:59As luck would have it she went to Costco a couple days after
00:57:02the surveillance that started and she had a drink and once
00:57:06she discarded that drink the officers were able to collect
00:57:11her cop without her knowing it.
00:57:13And when you collect the DNA from the cop you match it
00:57:17against whoever the suspect number 5 is
00:57:20what did they get.
00:57:21They matched her DNA to the by Mark sample.
00:57:26And you imagine that moment.
00:57:31After all these years.
00:57:35Now we know the answer
00:57:38is behind a badge.
00:57:43The DNA is a match but cold case detectives still have to
00:57:46confront her face to face.
00:57:51One of the detectives approaches 71 day in her
00:57:54office and he says something to the effect of you know
00:57:57Stephanie.
00:57:58We've got this suspect who seems to know about some big art
00:58:02heist down the lockup we need to bring you down there instead
00:58:06it was just another detective and so that was a stage that
00:58:11was set for that interview.
00:58:13We've been assigned a case that we've been looking at okay,
00:58:15the new case so through the course of this police interview
00:58:18with Stephanie Lazarus they are recording she doesn't know
00:58:24you know John group.
00:58:29John run run.
00:58:31We went to school with him was about what's relating to his
00:58:36wife immediately they start talking about the Sherry
00:58:40Rasmussen murder.
00:58:42You know what the circumstances worse regarding her death.
00:58:48She's we think back.
00:58:50I don't know if it was you know if it was a burglary or
00:58:53something.
00:58:56She's using every skill she has to talk her way out of being
00:59:01connected to this in any way.
00:59:04Connected to the crime or her old flame John run.
00:59:09We dated I can't say that he was my boyfriend, I don't know
00:59:12that he would get considered me his girlfriend.
00:59:15The detectives were able to get Stephanie Lazarus out of the
00:59:18detectives were able to get Stephanie Lazarus to confirm
00:59:22that she had gone to her hospital to speak with with
00:59:27Sherry Rasmussen.
00:59:28And yeah, I may have met her at a hospital being that you're
00:59:31going to.
00:59:32He's to see a job.
00:59:35You know was it everything OK between you guys, I mean there
00:59:38was never anything uncomfortable or anything
00:59:40between you and her.
00:59:42You know, I don't know, I mean it's kind of been so many
00:59:44years, you're probably a student of liars at this point
00:59:47in your career does that seem like a particularly adept liar
00:59:51to you it was gold for us because we had all of the
00:59:56evidence that disproved everything that she was saying.
01:00:01Finally when they say to her we think we've got DNA from the
01:00:05crime scene.
01:00:09Because now now now because now I'm thinking I probably need to
01:00:13talk to a lawyer.
01:00:15I mean
01:00:17I I know how this stuff works OK.
01:00:21She knows she has you know that that point that she talked way
01:00:25too long and now don't sound like you're trying to pin
01:00:27something on me.
01:00:31When the interview ended you can hear her getting arrested.
01:00:38Stephanie, you know you have the right to remain silent to
01:00:40understand, yes.
01:00:42I want to talk to us right now.
01:00:45Okay, that's crazy.
01:00:48And at this point had you heard the name Stephanie Lazarus now
01:00:53the only Lazarus I knew was that man raised from that that
01:00:56Jesus to that said this is the case that rose from the dead,
01:01:00yeah, it did.
01:01:02On the 3rd floor of Parker Center this morning, police
01:01:05detectives arrested one of their own detectives assigned to the
01:01:08Los Angeles Police Department's robbery homicide division cold
01:01:12case squad arrested Los Angeles police detective Stephanie
01:01:15Lazarus.
01:01:17It's crazy that you've been working just down the hall
01:01:20from the murderer you've been looking for years, yes.
01:01:24Stephanie Lazarus didn't quite serve and protect did she know.
01:01:31When they said it was a police officer.
01:01:36I went.
01:01:38We're kidding.
01:01:39Absolutely can police officer committed this crime. I I
01:01:44couldn't imagine that.
01:01:48I was very shocked, but I also know how effective DNA testing
01:01:53is and it kind of made me realize that
01:01:59is that it's definitely must have
01:02:01committed the murder.
01:02:07They were kind enough to come to our home.
01:02:09And let my parents know that they had made the arrest, I
01:02:15mean I cried because I was so excited number one that justice
01:02:19for my sister.
01:02:22But also for my dad.
01:02:24I was so relieved and so happy and so sad.
01:02:29We had waited so long.
01:02:31But at last.
01:02:33I'm totally in shock. It was just a stunning turn of events.
01:02:38And then a whole new chapter begins.
01:02:43The prosecution is armed with what appears to be rock solid
01:02:47evidence, but this is La after all in strange things have been
01:02:51known to happen in court.
01:02:55You have to wonder what a jury really believe a veteran
01:02:58detective is capable of committing a cold blooded
01:03:02murder.
01:03:0826 years after Sherry Rasmussen was murdered.
01:03:12The Stephanie Lazarus case finally comes to a courthouse
01:03:14here in downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles police detective
01:03:19accused of murdering her rival that sounds more like a
01:03:22Hollywood blockbuster and a decades old cold case finally
01:03:27going to trial.
01:03:29At her arraignment Stephanie Lazarus pleaded not guilty to
01:03:32the murder of her husband and her daughter.
01:03:34At her arraignment Stephanie Lazarus pleaded not guilty to
01:03:38the charge of first-degree murder.
01:03:41There was a lot of buzz in the air folks across the country
01:03:44very interested in this case why wouldn't they be
01:03:48that sex lies law enforcement and innocent victim.
01:03:53I covered the trial from a to Z had a side view at Stephanie
01:03:57Lazarus.
01:03:59He sat in that orange jumpsuit what a dichotomy from her
01:04:03police blues.
01:04:05The co-counsel summarize the case as a bite a bullet a gun
01:04:09barrel, a broken heart right it highlighted
01:04:13all of the
01:04:15strong pieces of evidence.
01:04:17So the bite mark of course referred to the DNA evidence
01:04:20found on Sherry Rasmussen's left for prosecution consider
01:04:24this their ace in the hole.
01:04:28He had 4 separate analyses done so by far that was the most
01:04:32important piece of evidence.
01:04:34To explain how the bite mark got their prosecutors presented
01:04:37their theory of how they believe Stephanie Lazarus was able to
01:04:41attack and kill Sherry Rasmussen.
01:04:44Stephanie Lazarus points the gun.
01:04:47Sherry grabs the arm if I grab your arm, yeah,
01:04:51and you want to release my hand or get me to release my head to
01:04:56do this or you could you could grab me
01:04:58or what what's very close.
01:05:01Exactly.
01:05:02And the prosecution described the terrifying details about
01:05:06how they say Sherry attempted to escape with her life.
01:05:09Stephanie Lazarus fires a gun twice 2 shots go out the
01:05:12backslider
01:05:14so Sherry Rasmussen knows this is a life and death situation
01:05:17Sherry tries to escape she goes down the stairs.
01:05:21She did not get out they collected her fingernails at the
01:05:24front door because she was literally clawing at the front
01:05:26door trying to get out Stephanie was able to get her
01:05:30to the living room floor and hit her over the head with the
01:05:33pottery and hit her again with the firearm in the face at that
01:05:37point Stephanie grabs this quilt and wraps the gun with this
01:05:41quilt and she muffles the sound of those gunshots by putting
01:05:45that quote right up to share his chest and shooting 3 times.
01:05:51Then there was the matter of the so-called broken heart
01:05:54described by the prosecution.
01:05:56And sifting through her diary there were these tidbits of
01:06:00information where she was having contact with John
01:06:03Rutton she would see John she would follow John she would
01:06:07stop John.
01:06:09In Lazarus's journal she wrote things such as I saw John
01:06:13Rutton's car put a note on it and watch the car for half an
01:06:17hour.
01:06:19I did visit John Rutton but his girlfriend was over.
01:06:23I really didn't feel like working to stressed out about
01:06:26John I have a real hard time concentrating these days.
01:06:30When Stephanie's journals were entered into evidence.
01:06:33It clearly identified to me that she really never gave up
01:06:38on her obsession with John.
01:06:41John Rutton testified about his love for his wife and how he
01:06:44did not expect or know that Stephanie was capable of
01:06:48committing this crime.
01:06:50And said he never once promised anything to Stephanie he
01:06:55described a friendly relationship that involved
01:06:57casual sex.
01:06:59Then he made a jaw-dropping admission something he had told
01:07:03investigators back in 2009.
01:07:08After he got engaged to get a call from Stephanie he reveals
01:07:11that somehow they ended up in bed and had sex.
01:07:16When John was on the stand I learned for the first time that
01:07:20he had relations with the defendant shortly before
01:07:24marrying my sister and that was very devastating.
01:07:30When it came time for the defense to present its case
01:07:34Lazarus's attorney Mark overland tried to cast doubt on
01:07:37the chain of custody on the bite mark swab suggesting that
01:07:41the evidence was tainted and Lazarus may have been framed
01:07:45the envelope that the vial was stored and was found in a
01:07:49pretty ratty condition.
01:07:51He showed it to the jury would you trust this you don't know
01:07:54who opened that vial.
01:07:56The strength of this evidence is that each piece was collected
01:08:01over a course of a long period of time which would have made
01:08:04framing Stephanie Lazarus extremely implausible if not
01:08:08impossible.
01:08:09It is closing argument defense attorney Mark overland claim
01:08:13those journal entries didn't amount to obsession arguing
01:08:17John was mentioned only 5 times among almost 600 pages.
01:08:25After almost 3 weeks of trial the case went to the jury they
01:08:29returned with a verdict in less than 2 days.
01:08:32We the jury in the title action. Stephanie, I mean
01:08:37Lazarus
01:08:38guilty of a crime of murder or share irascible.
01:08:41It was just like a rush of relief.
01:08:47It's over.
01:08:50Relief for my father that he finally was vindicated.
01:08:57And he had his answers.
01:09:01Stephanie Lazarus a sentencing hearing was held in March of
01:09:052012.
01:09:06The people versus Stephanie Lazarus matter is set today
01:09:10for sentencing a statement from Nels Rasmussen was read by the
01:09:14prosecutor.
01:09:15Sherry was a beautiful talented
01:09:19gifted person and a loving daughter.
01:09:22Her senseless death caused pain that will never ever heal.
01:09:26And John Brunton tried to describe the heavy burden,
01:09:28it seems he will carry for the rest of his life.
01:09:33John Brunton.
01:09:36The fact that Sherry's death occurred because she met and
01:09:39married me brings me to my knees.
01:09:43I was on myself to trying to endure the daydreams about a
01:09:47world where she was still with us.
01:09:50The point of tragedy never occurred.
01:09:54Thank you Mister.
01:09:55The judge is about to announce Stephanie Lazarus a sentence
01:09:58for first-degree murder and use of a gun.
01:10:02The court will now pronounce that.
01:10:05This case is far from over Sherry Rasmussen's friends and
01:10:09family have no idea about the shocking turn of events that
01:10:13await them in the not too distant future.
01:10:17Will a killer walk free.
01:10:19It's March 2012 and Stephanie Lazarus has just been found
01:10:23guilty for the murder of Sherry Rasmussen never admitting
01:10:27guilt Lazarus wave goodbye and smile to her family as she left
01:10:30the courtroom.
01:10:32What was her sentence she received 25 July first-degree
01:10:35murder and 2 years of life in prison.
01:10:38She was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of
01:10:41Stephanie Lazarus.
01:10:42She was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of
01:10:44Stephanie Lazarus.
01:10:45She was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of
01:10:47and 2 years for the use of a gun.
01:10:54There had never been an arrest of an active LAPD detective for
01:10:58murder under circumstances.
01:10:59This salacious a cold case.
01:11:03And once the Rasmussen step forward allegations of a
01:11:06cover-up.
01:11:09LAPD should want to know why it took so long and there should
01:11:12be accountability for that passage of time.
01:11:18The Rasmussen's took action in 2 ways one was to file a
01:11:21complaint directly with the LAPD alleging a cover-up to
01:11:25protect officer Lazarus from criminal prosecution.
01:11:29They also filed a civil lawsuit against the LAPD making the
01:11:34same allegation.
01:11:37The day that Stephanie Lazarus was arraigned Rasmussen's asked
01:11:41to get answers as to what happened in 1986 and what
01:11:44happened that nothing was done despite our repeated requests.
01:11:51The LAPD denied the Rasmussen's allegations citing immunity and
01:11:56the lawsuit was eventually dismissed because of the
01:11:58statute of limitations.
01:12:00As for the complaint the Rasmussen's filed directly with
01:12:03the LAPD the LAPD's internal affairs Department launched an
01:12:07investigation in response to the allegations journalist
01:12:11Matthew mcgough obtained a copy of the internal affairs file
01:12:16which wasn't released publicly.
01:12:18A total of 6.8 hours were devoted to trying to determine
01:12:23whether or not Stephanie Lazarus was protected and an
01:12:27internal cover-up.
01:12:30More than a year passed before it was closed with no one being
01:12:35interviewed no investigative conclusions.
01:12:39The Rasmussen complaint was classified as unfounded because
01:12:42the judge dismissed the LAPD from any liability.
01:12:482020 reached out to the LAPD with questions about the
01:12:51handling of this case and they declined to comment.
01:12:56Well the Rasmussen family continue to raise questions
01:12:58about why Lazarus was not arrested for so long. They were
01:13:03certain that she spent at least decades behind bars.
01:13:07But just last November there was a development that took
01:13:11everyone by surprise.
01:13:15It was late 2023 when Stephanie had her first appearance before
01:13:19the California parole board this was years before anybody
01:13:23thought she'd be eligible for early release.
01:13:26It turns out in the years since Lazarus's conviction, the state
01:13:29of California passed a new law giving special consideration
01:13:33towards paroling so-called youthful offenders who had
01:13:36committed their crimes when they were under the age of 26.
01:13:42Lazarus was 25 when she murdered Jerry Rasmussen
01:13:46letters supporting Lazarus's release were submitted to the
01:13:49parole board by friends family and fellow prisoners.
01:13:54She took responsibility for committing the murder for the
01:13:57first time something that she had denied throughout her trial
01:14:01and throughout her incarceration until all of her appeals were
01:14:04exhausted.
01:14:06She showed absolutely no remorse and brushed it off as if
01:14:10my aunt Sherry did not fight her then she wouldn't fight back
01:14:14that she wouldn't have killed her.
01:14:15The only reason she confessed is because she wants to get out
01:14:18on parole.
01:14:25And at the conclusion of that parole hearing Lazarus to the
01:14:28outrage of many was granted parole.
01:14:32And what was your reaction to her being granted this parole
01:14:37was a miscarriage of justice.
01:14:39However, before that decision became final California
01:14:42governor Gavin Newsom intervened in the case and requested it go
01:14:46to the full parole board for reconsideration.
01:14:50Have you made it your mission to try to keep Stephanie
01:14:53Lazarus behind bars.
01:14:54Yes, I mean I'm going to do everything in my power.
01:14:57In a follow-up hearing with the full parole board, Sherry's
01:15:00supporters came out in force to argue against Lazarus's release.
01:15:05Moderator, we will now take speakers in opposition to
01:15:09Stephanie Lazarus.
01:15:11She did deceived and lied to everyone for almost 40 years.
01:15:16How can this board believe that she has changed.
01:15:22Before he died, Sherry's father Nels Rasmussen,
01:15:25recorded a video message to be played in the event that
01:15:28Stephanie Lazarus ever came up for parole.
01:15:31If one looks at the damage that she did to my daughter's face.
01:15:38It's almost like she wanted to
01:15:42destroy the beauty
01:15:45that Sherry exuded.
01:15:50The board's earlier decision to approve the parole hearing
01:15:53The board's earlier decision to approve parole was put on hold
01:15:57pending yet another review.
01:16:00I say expect the worst and prepare for our next step when
01:16:02that happens and what's that next. Fighting.
01:16:09For the family and everyone else concerned the day has
01:16:12arrived where we'll find out if Stephanie Lazarus is released
01:16:16remains behind bars.
01:16:24And
01:16:28my dad had a boat down in San Diego.
01:16:34We enjoyed the ocean and the beaches.
01:16:38Was part of your father lost when the killer was in fact.
01:16:43I think I would say yes, I mean she was just glued to my dad.
01:16:49We have lots of pictures of them just arm and arm.
01:16:52I never stopped fighting for now never.
01:17:01And that struggle to keep Sherry's killer behind bars
01:17:04came to a head just this week as parole officials met for the
01:17:083rd time to determine Stephanie Lazarus's fate.
01:17:15I served as the pool reporter for the parole rescission
01:17:18hearing held for Stephanie Lazarus.
01:17:22After Lazarus her attorney and all the victims family and
01:17:26representatives had spoken. The commissioners announced that
01:17:29they would adjourn to deliberate and after about 25 minutes or
01:17:33so announced their decision.
01:17:37Stephanie Lazarus will not be released from prison at least
01:17:40for now a panel decided to rescind their parole.
01:17:44The parole board's decision in the hearing was unanimous
01:17:48Lazarus did not speak about the crime itself or express any
01:17:53remorse to the family members of Sherry who are over there.
01:17:57She was denied parole, it's most likely that she would
01:18:02appeal it and ask for another parole hearing every year.
01:18:07The victim's family will go through this every year.
01:18:15And as long as Stephanie Lazarus tries to win her
01:18:17freedom. Teresa Connie and their children say they'll
01:18:21continue the fight to keep her behind bars.
01:18:27Trace and I have
01:18:29continued to battle on behalf of our sister Sherry we really
01:18:33have to keep her in because she has no regard for what she did
01:18:36she does not have remorse.
01:18:41I remember promising my grandparents that we would
01:18:43always continue the fight.
01:18:45We're fortunate to have 3 children all girls share was
01:18:50the middle one.
01:18:52But in many respects.
01:18:54Sherry was the one that held
01:18:59not only her sisters together.
01:19:02But her mom and dad.
01:19:10My answer no longer being with our family has left a hole that
01:19:14can never be filled.
01:19:16The memories we could have had.
01:19:20How would you like Sherry to be remembered she was a very
01:19:23kind hearted person.
01:19:25She was funny.
01:19:29She was just a wonderful wonderful person who touched
01:19:32everybody she came in contact with.
01:19:36I think about her every day.
01:19:39I mean I have this picture in my house, I wake up, I see or.
01:19:44I don't think Sherry is ever gone.
01:19:47She's always here.
01:19:53Sherry Rasmussen's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit
01:19:57against Stephanie Lazarus in 2016 and won a judgment of
01:20:0110 million dollars it will be 4 months before Stephanie
01:20:03Lazarus is eligible for a new parole hearing.
01:20:06That is our program for tonight. I'm David your thanks
01:20:08for watching and I'm Deborah Roberts from all of us here at
01:20:112020 and ABC News good night.
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