All language subtitles for The.Real.Murders.of.Los.Angeles.S01E04.720p.WEBRip.x264-BAE

[smooth music]

- Los angeles is one huge,

Beautiful city.

But there is a deep, dark
crawling underbelly,

Especially back in the '80s.

- Crime in los angeles
in the '80s was off the hook.

It was in the middle
of the crack epidemic.

- There were 834 murders

In the city of los angeles
in the year 1986.

The los angeles
police department

Had their hands full.

This is one busy place
for law enforcement.

- For one beloved
newlywed nurse living

In the city of angels,

"till death do us part"

Tragically
came on the heels of "I do."

- Sherri rasmussen
was a gorgeous,

Young, ambitious newlywed,

Murdered
in her own town house.

- [voice breaking]
every day I live with her loss.

- One of the most significant
pieces of evidence

Was the bite mark
on sherri's arm.

- It was a alligator clench.

- But who would murder sherri?

- Is this a burglary
gone wrong?

But the case got
colder and colder.

- Then, after nearly 20 years
of trying to get justice

For sherri rasmussen,
modern science

Puts detectives on track
towards an unlikely killer.

- We have great dna evidence.

I just don't have a name
to that dna evidence.

- And then, boom, a name.

- I said, what?

- There's nobody
at lapd thinking

That this
is even a possibility.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Last time I saw her

Was at christmas.

- Uncle john
and aunt sherri

Are spending christmas with
rachel on her first christmas.

- It was a happy time,
'cause we were all together.

Sherri was living in van nuys

In her condo that she bought.

She had been married
three months.

She was excited
about being an aunt,

Looking forward to her life.

[baby fussing]

It was only
after what happened

That my dad shared with me,

And he said, I should
have protected her.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- My name is shannon presby,

And I worked for
the la prosecutor's office.

On February 24, 1986,

It was a Monday
in los angeles.

And at about 6:00 p.M.,

Lapd gets a call
from someone in van nuys.

His name is john ruetten.

And he said that he
came home and found

His wife of three months,
sherri rasmussen,

Dead in the living room.

- Homicide detectives
from la's van nuys division

Are on the scene of the gated
townhome complex

Moments later,

Tracing a trail of chaos
through the victim's home.

- My name is pat lalama.

I specialize in the area
of criminal justice

As a journalist.

John ruetten--
he was distraught.

There's his wife,
sherri rasmussen,

Sprawled on her back
on the living-room floor,

Blood everywhere.

She is wearing a robe

And underwear.

There are three
point-blank gunshots

To sherri rasmussen's body.

- Sherri was shot
in the chest,

And there was significant
trauma to her face.

There was also injuries
to the back of her scalp

And the top of her scalp,

Indicating
that she had been hit

With a hard object
numerous times.

There's a sliding glass door
just off the kitchen

With two bullet holes.

One is very low,
and one is high,

Which indicated to us that
there was perhaps a struggle

Going on over the firearm
when it was discharged.

But there was no firearm
found at the scene,

And there were no casings
found at the scene.

- My name is mark safarik.

I'm a retired
fbi criminal profiler.

I was contacted

Regarding the homicide
of sherri rasmussen.

There's quite a bit
of disturbance

In the living room.

Things that were on the coffee
table have been knocked off.

- Next to her body
was a broken piece of ceramics.

Detectives believed
that she had been bludgeoned

With the ceramic vase
and then shot.

There are also two pieces
of stereo equipment

On the floor
in the living-room area

Right at the base of the
stairs that block the path.

- Also, there was a table
with a lamp on it

That had a drawer, and someone
had pulled out the drawer,

And there were papers
all over the place.

- So seeing
the stereo equipment

And the drawer pulled out,

Detectives made the assumption

That this was a residential
burglary gone wrong,

That sherri confronted them,

And the burglar or burglars
then murdered her.

- Detectives felt
that the stereo components

Were meant to be stolen
by the burglars,

But they had to get
out of there.

- But there's
no forced entry here,

So that what that tells
you is that either

The front door was unlocked,

Or sherri opened the door
to the offender.

♪ ♪

- The main physical evidence
that was present

Was sherri's body.

Two of her fingernails
were broken off

And found
right by the front door.

But one of the most
significant pieces of evidence

Was a bite mark
on sherri's arm.

- And it wasn't just
like a little bite down.

It was a alligator clench.

The bite mark was
swollen and bloody.

- Which suggests
to me that the bite

Probably occurred during
this close-contact struggle.

- Dna wasn't even
on the horizon

As a police investigative tool
back in 1986.

But from the saliva

That is deposited in the bite,

Sometimes
they are able to obtain

A blood-type analysis.

And so a swab of the bite mark

Was taken.

- The chaotic scene
indicates that sherri

May have vigorously
fought off a home invader.

But given the bite mark
and lack of forced entry,

Police can't rule out

That the attack
may have been personal.

- So next, detectives focus on
the people closest to sherri,

And that's going to be
sherri's husband, john ruetten.

John is very upset.

He indicated he went to work,
essentially all day,

And got home about 6:00 p.M.

- Detectives ask if john can
think of anyone with a grudge

Against his wife.

- His response was,
no, he couldn't imagine anyone

That would mean sherri
this kind of harm.

- Also, when john
arrives home,

He said that the garage door
is open,

And sherri's bmw is missing.

- The missing vehicle could
support the theory

That this was
a botched burglary.

- Van nuys detectives
quickly put out a bolo,

Or be on the lookout,
for the bmw.

Meanwhile, the somber news
of sherri's death

Reaches her family.

- My name is
connie rasmussen-wilkinson,

And I am the oldest sister

Of sherri rasmussen.

My dad had called,
and he told me

That sherri had been killed.

I just started screaming.

I couldn't believe it.
[sniffles]

- My name is teresa lane,
and sherri was my big sister.

Sherri was the anchor
of our family.

She was my best friend.

She always encouraged people,

And she always exuded
confidence and compassion.

- Teresa and chris are
in the background waiting.

- My name is rhonda shultz,
and I'm a friend of sherri.

I just remember thinking,
who would murder sherri?

Sherri was
a very, very caring person.

There was nothing you
could say bad about sherri.

She...

[exhales shakily]

[indistinct chatter]

- Sherri was very smart.

She ended up
skipping two grades.

Her senior year
in high school,

I asked her
what her life goals were.

And she goes--well, she
didn't want to be a physician,

'cause she didn't want
to be pulled away

From having time with family.

I said,
well, then try nursing.

And she did that.

She was a strong
and determined woman.

And she became the director
of critical care

At glendale adventist hospital
in la.

- Just a couple of years
into her nursing career,

Sherri met and fell head over
heels for a young engineer

Named john ruetten.

- My name is donna robison.

Sherri rasmussen was
one of my best friends.

I first remember
hearing about john

When sherri called me

And told me that she had met
somebody at a party.

Three weeks later,
I went out there

And met john
for the first time.

I asked john,
how did you meet sherri?

And he told me...

[voice breaking] that he saw
sherri from across the room.

[sniffles] and she had this
beautiful smile and laugh.

Just seeing him say
that and hearing him,

I was happy for sherri...

That she had
that somebody for her.

- Not long after celebrating
their one-year anniversary,

The couple decided
to tie the knot.

- They looked great together.
They were affectionate.

And I loved john
because my sister loved john.

♪ ♪

- But behind the veneer
of happiness,

Investigators learn

That the newlyweds had
some serious money struggles.

- John was the spender.

Fancy cars were important
to him as a symbol of success.

But sherri would squeak that
penny until it would squeal,

And so very extreme
differences

Between the two of them.

- Detectives have to question

Whether a fight
over cold hard cash

Could have led
to cold-blooded murder.

- Basic homicide 101--

Look at the spouse.

It's in her own home.

Her husband had just left her
that morning.

She hasn't been anywhere.

You don't have to be
a detective

To think,
I wonder if he did it.

- Coming up...

- She actually told him,
I've always loved you.

Can we be intimate
one more time?

- The lab contacted me.

She goes, hey, I analyzed

The bite swab, and guess what.

- After so many years,
can you imagine

How that revelation
must have alarmed

The investigators at the lapd?

[indistinct chatter
over police radio]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- After 29-year-old nurse
sherri rasmussen was found

Savagely murdered
in her van nuys home...

Detectives zero in
on her new husband, john.

- John is the last person
to see her

And the first person
to find her.

So you have to figure out,
does he have an alibi?

- So police interviewed
his coworkers,

Who indicated
that he was at work all day.

- From the time he left
at 7:20 that morning,

Until he returned home
at 6:00 p.M. That evening,

He was accounted for.

- Based on the condition
of the body,

Police believe
the murder occurred

Within the last ten hours.

It's a window
that's narrowed even further

By several witnesses.

- Neighbors told police
that at 8:30 in the morning,

The garage door was closed,
but at 9:30 that morning,

The garage door was open,

And there was no bmw
in the garage.

So detectives
feel that the murder

Happened sometime between 8:30

And 9:30 in the morning.

- So because he's alibied out
from work,

John is essentially ruled out.

♪ ♪

- With john cleared
just a day after the murder,

Van nuys police turned their
attention to sherri's parents

To see if they can
think of anyone

Who might have had a motive
to kill their daughter.

- My dad did share

That sherri said that one

Of john's ex-girlfriends from
college was causing problems

And that she had showed up at
sherri's work and at her home,

But we didn't know
what her name was.

All we knew was that
she was living in la.

- Now detectives circle back
to sherri's grieving husband

To discuss
the family's concern.

- So the detectives
are asking john ruetten,

Are there any ex-girlfriends

Who might be carrying a torch
or have it out for sherri?

- He said
he couldn't imagine anyone

That had a motivation
to kill sherri.

He said that he had a woman
that he had casually dated

Back in college,
eight or nine years prior,

But he didn't think
she would have ever done

This kind of harm to sherri.

Sometimes family members
have a theory

Based on what their sense
of the case is.

That's a normal reaction.

But as a detective,

You have to follow
the facts where they lead.

Crime in los angeles
in the '80s was off the hook.

There was a lot of burglaries
and assaults.

Because of the missing vehicle
and the stereo equipment

At the bottom of the stairs,

Detectives still believe

That it was most likely
a burglary.

- Two days after the murder,
the autopsy report comes in.

While it doesn't shed
any additional light

On the motive,

It does give investigators
more information

On the murder weapon.

- In the autopsy, you also get
the recovery of the bullets

From her body.

- These were
.38-caliber bullets,

Which can be used
in a revolver.

That made sense,

Because not having found
casings at the crime scene

Means a revolver was used,

Because with a revolver,

The casings remain
within the chamber.

- That's a valuable piece
of evidence,

Because if they recover
a revolver

From any additional burglaries
in the area,

Then you try to match that gun

With the bullets
from sherri's homicide

And potentially be able
to identify

The person
that killed sherri rasmussen.

- While detectives press on
with the investigation,

Sherri's family gathers to say

One final,
heartbreaking goodbye.

- We kept the funeral small

Because it was so hard
for all of us to cope with.

I was in such a state
of shock.

- The hardest thing was to
realize that sherri was gone.

♪ ♪

[crying] somebody
that you depended on so much...

♪ ♪

And all of a sudden,
you have to find a way...

To...

Go on.

♪ ♪

John was beside himself.

It was my sister and
my parents' daughter,

But it was his wife.

♪ ♪

- With no new
suspects or leads,

Sherri's grieving family
begins to worry--

Will her killer
ever be caught?

- It was very frustrating.

You want to know why, who.

There were
so many unanswered questions.

- Then almost two weeks
after sherri's murder,

Investigators get news
about her missing bmw,

Which they believe
was stolen by the killer.

- A los angeles
police department officer

Just on patrol one evening
notices a parked bmw.

- The car was found
parked just a few miles away

From sherri and john's home
in a residential area.

- For detectives,
this could be the major break

They've been hoping for.

- Maybe the car
will have fingerprints

That lead detectives
to the person

Who killed sherri rasmussen.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter
over police radio]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Two weeks

After sherri rasmussen's
1986 murder,

Van nuys detectives race to
see if her recovered bmw

Reveals any leads
about her killer.

- The car was unlocked, and
the keys were in the ignition.

The car was processed,
but there weren't

Any fingerprints or anything
of evidentiary value

Found in the car.

- The abandoned car
may not yield a suspect,

But it does reinforce

Investigators'
creeping suspicions

About why sherri was killed.

- It looks like
an interrupted burglary.

So it might make
sense that they

Would just flee the residence.

And in this case, sherri's
car was very likely taken

To help quickly get away.

- And they're not going
to take this car belonging

To the murder victim
to a chop shop

So it can be traced to them.

They are just going to pull
over and get the heck out.

♪ ♪

- Five long weeks
passed with no new leads,

Until investigators
finally get news

Of a possible connection
to sherri's case.

- There was a burglary
that took place at a location

Not far from sherri
and john's home.

- Two males break in.

Their intent was to commit
a burglary,

But they didn't realize that
the homeowner was home--

A woman--who then
confronts them.

They have a handgun.

They don't use the handgun,
but they flee the scene.

- Sherri rasmussen
was killed with a gun.

So the question is,
are they the same burglars

Who murdered sherri?

♪ ♪

A police artist talked
to the woman at the home,

Who said there were
two young hispanic males,

Early 20s perhaps.

One had longer hair,
one had shorter hair.

And the police artist drew
sketches of the suspects.

- Detectives made a flyer
with these sketches

Of these potential burglars

And circulated that flyer.

♪ ♪

- But weeks passed
without any leads

On the perpetrators'
identities.

- I started calling
the investigators quite often

To see if there
was anything going on.

And then they'd say, no,

They're just still following up
on leads.

And so I was worried that
they weren't getting anywhere.

- There were not any
additional burglaries

By these guys in the area.

- Because the burglars
were never found,

For detectives,
it's so frustrating

Because there
was nothing to go on.

It kind of felt like it was
never going to be solved.

♪ ♪

- Three months
after his wife's murder,

Sherri's husband, john,

Handles his grief
the only way he knows how.

- After this murder,

He could not go back
into that townhome.

He actually quit his job,
moved out of los angeles,

And he moved in
with his parents.

- Being in san fernando valley
was probably terrible for him,

So I was happy that he started
to go on with his life.

Sherri wouldn't have wanted him
to be miserable.

- After a year,
there was no progress.

And the case was getting
colder and colder and colder.

- We all wanted answers,

So it was very frustrating.

- Every time you see something
on tv about a murder,

It would bring it
to the forefront, you know,

And you'd think, wow, you know,
are they ever going

To solve sherri's murder?

It's not like you forget it,
because you don't.

- Over time, the detectives
continued asking the public,

Does anyone have any
information on this homicide?

But they didn't receive
anything that was useful.

♪ ♪

- As the '80s give way
to the '90s,

An uptick in homicides have
detectives at the lapd

Stretched to capacity,

And sherri's case
grows ever colder.

However, in 2001,
as the crime wave settles,

The lapd finds itself with
newly available resources,

Allowing them to form a unit
dedicated to cold cases.

- I'm detective cliff shepard,

Retired from
los angeles police department,

Robbery-homicide.

In November 2001,

We're told we're going to be
the cold case unit,

Just six of us.

And you have about 6,000
to 9,000 murders to work.

We needed to figure out,

What cases can we look at
that can be solved?

Our emphasis was
on dna cases, though,

Because dna was new to us,

We were learning
what to do with it.

I read
the sherri rasmussen case.

And I read that the detectives
were working on the theory

That she's home, burglars come
in, and she surprises them.

And sherri had been bitten
on the arm during the fight.

Supposedly, we're
looking for two males,

Possibly the same
that were seen

Burglarizing another location
a few weeks later.

- Bite marks are particularly
rich sources

Of dna.

- I saw there was
a bite swab taken.

The dna on the bite swab
could identify them.

If anything is going
to solve this case,

It's going to be dna.

- Detective shepard
hopes that whoever

Bit sherri's arm is an
offender who's already

In a criminal dna database.

- What I'm thinking was
that this is a career criminal,

A violent one, and we should be
able to pick him up shortly.

But then the lab
conducts the examination,

And then she contacted me.

She goes, hey, I analyzed
the bite swab, and guess what.

She goes, it's a female.

I said, what?

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- In 2001,

15 years after
sherri rasmussen is murdered

And contrary to the theory

That she was killed
by two men,

Cold-case detective
cliff shepard

Is surprised to
learn that the dna

From the bite mark on her arm
is from an unknown woman.

- But she's not in codis,

The national database
for criminal offenders.

So she's not
a career criminal.

So we have no clue who she is.

Now what?

- Detective shepard
reframes his idea

About the duo in the suspected
burglary gone bad.

Were the perpetrators
a modern-day bonnie and clyde?

- I thought we were looking
for two males

Who were burglarizing
the neighborhood,

But maybe one of them
was actually a female.

- Detective cliff shepard

Started looking at
male-and-female burglary teams

That might have
been active back in 1986,

And he came up with not really
any actionable leads.

- But before detectives
can make further progress,

They're pulled off the case

To tend
to a more pressing matter--

A city and statewide
task force

Bent on hunting down
an active serial killer

Referred to as
the grim sleeper.

- Beginning in 2001,
a lot of women

Were being murdered
in the streets of los angeles.

So we got to catch him.

My boss explained,
this is our focus.

Everything else you have
gets set aside.

So, regrettably, I had
abandoned a lot of cases.

Sherri was one of them.

♪ ♪

- Once again,

Sherri rasmussen's case
is shelved,

A tragic byproduct
of an overburdened lapd.

- I thought that the crime
would never be solved.

In my mind, something I would
never know the answers to.

♪ ♪

- But then,

Eight years later,
in 2009,

A reduction in crime
and fresh eyes

Stoke a fire
under this cold case.

- By 2009,

Fortunately, homicides were
down in los angeles again,

And there were detectives
that had time

To work these old cases.

One of them picked up
the sherri rasmussen case.

- As cold-case investigators
revisit the old case files,

They note several things
that don't quite fit

With the original theory
of a botched robbery.

- Burglars will tend
to pick residences

On the outside of the complex

Because it minimizes
their chances

Of being seen
by other residents.

They want to get in,
steal stuff, and get out.

But when you look
at sherri's unit,

It's really almost dead center

In the middle of this complex.

Next, burglars
typically are going to search

The main bedroom,
the jewelry boxes,

The top drawers where
people keep valuables.

But the detective read
that none of that was touched

Or even searched.

- And in the living room,
the drawer that was pulled out

Wasn't really ransacked--
it was just pulled out.

- And bite marks,
struggling--

Really? What burglar's
got time for that?

The minute they see someone,

They're going to be
out of there.

- All of this together,
including no forced entry,

Suggested that
this was actually

An interpersonal crime
that someone tried to cover up

As a staged burglary/robbery.

♪ ♪

- The dna results from
the bite mark on sherri's arm

Point to a woman.

But what woman in sherri's
life could have killed her

And then tried
to cover up the crime?

- So the detective
compiled a list

Of women who were
in sherri's life at that time.

And they included
sherri's mom,

Sherri's two sisters.

So they gave a dna sample.

A comparison is made,
and they're eliminated.

- But there is one
more woman

Detectives want to take
a closer look at.

- There was also
john ruetten's ex-girlfriend

That he had told them about
right after the murder.

So the detective conducts

A pretty extensive interview
with john ruetten.

- By now, 23 years
after sherri's murder,

John ruetten has remarried
and is living a few hours

Outside of los angeles.

- The detective asks him

About his ex-girlfriend
from college

In a really detailed way.

John had told
the original detective

That he had an ex-girlfriend
that he casually dated

While they were both at ucla.

- He also told him
sherri had mentioned

This former girlfriend
had actually come

To her place of work,

But nothing arose
to that level

Where he would be concerned
about it.

- He didn't believe that she
could have been the murderer.

So, back then,
that detective really believed

That he was on the right track
with the theory

That this was a botched
burglary committed by two men.

But now after
talking a little bit,

John says that back when
he got engaged to sherri,

His ex-girlfriend
actually called him

And asked to see him.

John went over to her condo.

During this meeting,

She actually told him,
I love you.

I've always loved you.

And john said, well, I don't
feel that way about you.

She said, can we be
intimate one more time?

♪ ♪

And john did sleep with her,

Even though he was engaged
to sherri at that time.

But then
after they were intimate,

He said to her, well, this
still doesn't change anything.

I'm still moving forward
with my marriage to sherri.

Just a little
over a year later,

Sherri was killed.

- Investigators know
that scorned love

Is a classic motive
for murder.

But what john ruetten tells
them next

Takes the case
to an unthinkable new level.

- Then john ruetten
tells the lapd

That his ex-girlfriend

Is named stephanie lazarus,

And today she
is a veteran police detective.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- In 2009,

23 years after the murder
of nurse sherri rasmussen

Cold-case investigators
have landed

On a shocking person
of interest--

Veteran lapd detective
stephanie lazarus.

- There's nobody,
you know, at lapd

That would be thinking that
this is even a possibility.

- When the crime took place
back in 1986,

Stephanie
was a patrol officer.

But now,
more than 20 years later,

She had risen up
through the ranks.

- Stephanie lazarus had made
quite the name for herself

At the lapd
over all these years.

She was very well liked.

- She was one
of only two lapd detectives

That were focused
on high-end art theft.

- She was sort of
a public relations arm

Of the department.

- We don't often get
this type of a burglary

Where there's that
much art taken.

- Detectives know they need
to quietly gather evidence

Before accusing
a heralded cop

Of being
a cold-blooded killer.

- They wanted to get
a surreptitious sample

Of her dna
without confronting her.

They didn't want to name her
because she was active lapd.

So, if she was exonerated
by the dna,

They didn't want to
besmirch her name.

- So they had
a surveillance team

Follow stephanie
all over the place.

- And they followed her
to a costco.

And this officer
watched her drink a soda

And then drop the soda cup
into a trash can.

And as soon as she left,

He went over
and recovered that cup.

♪ ♪

- They took it back to our lab
and had the lab process it.

- And lo and behold,
the dna from the bite mark

Matches stephanie lazarus.

♪ ♪

- But despite
the startling evidence,

Prosecutors have their work
cut out for them.

- She was competent

And had been working
for the department

For over 20 years.

So we needed proof
beyond a shadow of a doubt.

- Investigators dig deep
into stephanie's records

And find
yet another smoking gun--

An alarming report
that stephanie filed

Shortly after sherri's death

- A couple of weeks
after the homicide,

Stephanie reported
to santa monica pd

That she had been at the gym

And that someone had broken
into her car

And stolen her gym bag.

But in her gym bag

Was her two-inch revolver.

It was a .38 special firearm.

- This was her backup firearm,

Which was consistent
in every respect

With the murder weapon.

- All signs seem to point
to stephanie lazarus.

But confronting a killer,

Especially one professionally
trained to use a firearm,

Is a dangerous proposition,

Even for those she's worked
alongside for years.

- They did not want to do
an interview

Where they are accusing
this police officer

Of committing a murder,

If the police officer still
has a gun on her at the time.

She's shown
that she's willing to kill

To protect her own interests.

So detectives, they said
to stephanie lazarus,

Hey, we've just been
given this case,

And we've got this witness

Who claims that he has some
information about an art theft.

Would you mind
coming down to jail division

And talking to him?

And jail division
is the one place

Within the lapd headquarters

Where they were not allowed
to carry firearms.

And stephanie said, sure, I'll
come down and talk to him.

They have rigged up
a briefcase

With a hidden camera.

So they sit her down, have
a little bit of chitchat.

And they go, well, you know,

Really we just wanted to talk
to you.

We've been given this new case.

What do you know
about john ruetten?

- [scoffs]

- You can see her face go

From, like,
hey, these are my buds,

To, what the heck's going on?

- Mm...

- She looked so guilty.
The wheels were turning.

You could see her thinking,
like, what do I say

To get out
of this interview room?

She downplays,
downplays, downplays.

But, of course, she doesn't
know how much they know.

Little by little,
more comes out.

- She doesn't deny it.

If you've been
in a physical fight,

That's something you remember.

- She thinks she's going to be
able to talk her way

Out of this
and go on her merry way.

But you know what?

Stephanie, the buck stops here.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- In 2009,

26-year lapd veteran
stephanie lazarus

Is on the other side
of an interrogation

As her own colleagues
close in on her

For the 1986 murder
of sherri rasmussen.

- Okay.

- She stops the interview.

So, with that,
they informed her

That they had her dna sample.

The dna sample matched
that from the bite

From sherri rasmussen.

And she was arrested
for sherri rasmussen's murder.

♪ ♪

- [voice breaking] we were all
huddled at mom and dad's house.

Two detectives

Came to the house

To let us know

That they had made an arrest.

It was the first time
that we knew

Her actual name.

- Former lapd detective
stephanie lazarus

Now on the other side
of the bar of justice.

- I was in shock,

Especially with her job,

And she's there
to protect people.

But yet, she's doing
this to somebody else.

- Stephanie lazarus was charged
with first-degree murder

And personal use of a firearm.

- Hopefully we were going
to get justice for sherri.

♪ ♪

- In early 2012,

Stephanie lazarus
goes on trial

In the los angeles county
superior court.

Prosecutors present
a classic motive--

The woman scorned
who struck to kill.

- When we did the search
warrant at stephanie's house,

One of the things we found
was a journal.

In there, we found
a number of entries

Where she talked about john.

She said, "I just found out
that john's engaged.

My emotional level
is at a zero."

Another one
of the journal entries was,

"I was working patrol,

"and I saw john's car parked
at a mall out in the valley.

"I surveilled his car
for several hours,

But he didn't come back."

So we clearly found
motive in the journal.

- She was just infatuated
with john ruetten.

He fell in love with sherri,

And stephanie
didn't accept that.

- The prosecution presents
a powerful argument,

Hoping to convince the jury
that their case is rock-solid.

- Our theory
was that stephanie lazarus

Entered the home,
fought with sherri.

And if these two women
were fighting

Over stephanie lazarus' gun,

We believe that
stephanie lazarus bit sherri

In order to make sherri
let go of the firearm.

Then she was incapacitated

By this severe blow
to her face

With the ceramic vase...

And the three fatal shots

Were administered
to sherri's body.

♪ ♪

I don't envy the defense
in this case.

We had a lot of evidence,

Especially that the dna
that was found

In the bite mark
on sherri's arm

Matches stephanie lazarus

With a probability
of one in 1.7 septillion.

But at that point, it was
up to people that we felt

Could judge
the evidence fairly.

- The jury deliberates
for only eight hours

Before announcing that
they've reached a decision.

- Guilty of the crime of murder
of sherri rasmussen.

- And then stephanie lazarus

Was sentenced to 27 years
to life in prison.

♪ ♪

- Naturally, I was elated

And had this...
[exhales sharply]

Overwhelming relief,

Short-lived because sherri's
still not here.

She's still not here.

- Because she was a nurse,
sherri loved science.

So, being that the dna
solved her murder,

She would have said, yes.

She would have been pleased

That it came through for her.

- [voice breaking] I'm missing
sherri's smile, her hugs.

I miss her strength

And the wisdom
that she would give me.

♪ ♪

- Every day...

I live with her loss.

So it never goes away.

- From the hospital to her
own family to her friends,

She was the best example
that you could have.

[sniffles]

The world is missing a lot
without her.

[sniffles]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter
over police radio]

♪ ♪