I suspect everyone in Lazarus' family who loves Stephanie are devastated by the jury's decision. Although I have not spoken to anyone directly, it's my personal belief that Lazarus' family still believes strongly in her innocence. That is even more true today with the conviction of Stephanie Lazarus.
STEPHANIE LAZARUS HUSBAND SCOTT YOUNG TRIAL
In the wake of this tragic case that has had so many victims beyond Sherri Rasmussen, I'm reminded of the words that I heard family counsel John Taylor say after the verdict in the Phil Spector trial was reached: "There are no winners here."
NBC DATELINE EPISODE TONIGHT ON THE CASE! She is charged with murder and using a handgun with the special circumstance of murder in commission of a burglary, which allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty.3-7-2012 A Jealous Killer, © Thomas Broersma The attorneys said Rasmussen is calling for an investigation of how the case was originally handled, and plans to hold a news conference after Tuesday's arraignment.īeck refused to discuss further details of the case while investigators conduct interviews with several sources: Ruetten in San Diego, detectives who first investigated the case who live in Idaho, and Lazarus' family in Arizona.ĭetectives obtained a DNA sample from their colleague in late May and arrested her Friday at police headquarters.Įric Rose, a spokesman for the Police Protective League, said he does not know if she had retained a lawyer, and her husband has not reached out for help.Īttempts to locate Lazarus' husband were not immediately successful.
Rasmussen told the LAPD (Lazarus) was a suspect from his initial interview," Taylor told the Times. Gates that Lazarus be considered a suspect but they were "dismissive" of his claims, said John C. Neil Rasmussen pleaded in several interviews with detectives and a letter sent two years after the killing to then-chief Daryl F.
Rasmussen's father had urged police to investigate Lazarus, saying she had threatened his daughter in confrontations in the months before her death, attorneys for the victim's family told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. The case file mentioned Lazarus because she had once dated the victim's husband, John Ruetten, but investigators did not pursue her as a suspect until DNA tests recently showed the attacker was a woman. Lazarus, who had already been an officer for two years, was not a suspect at the time of Rasmussen's death because detectives believed that two robbers who had attacked another woman in the victim's Van Nuys neighborhood were to blame. I don't know if he's been interviewed yet, but he will be, as will a lot of people," he said. Lazarus' husband, Scott Young, who works as a detective in the San Fernando Valley, knew nothing about the slaying, Beck said. "There was a significant struggle that preceded the homicide," he said. Lazarus, who joined the force in 1983 and since 2006 has worked with a unit tracking stolen art, was identified as a suspect through a recent DNA match of saliva taken from bite marks on Sherri Rasmussen's body, said Deputy Chief Charlie Beck. Lazarus, 49, could be sentenced to death if convicted of Rasmussen's murder. On Tuesday Lazarus will face a judge on charges that she bit, beat and shot Sherri Rasmussen to death after breaking into her condominium in 1986. LOS ANGELES (AP) - For 23 years as her ex-boyfriend's wife lay dead and the case to find the woman's killer grew cold, Stephanie Lazarus rose through the ranks of the Police Department from patrol officer to detective, working right across the hall from homicide detectives.
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