Stephanie Lazarus biography: 13 things about ex-LAPD detective from Simi Valley, California

Stephanie Ilene Lazarus is an American woman from Simi Valley, California, United States. She worked as a detective in Los Angeles, California.

Who is Stephanie Lazarus?

Lazarus was four years younger than Sherri Rae Rasmussen and one year younger than John Ruetten. After getting married, Rasmussen and Ruetten shared a condominium on Balboa Street in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.

Both Lazarus and Ruetten attended the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles where she studied political science and he studied mechanical engineering. She played on the university’s junior varsity women’s basketball team.

1. From 1978 to 1982, Ruetten occasionally dated her. Between 1981 and 1984, they had sex but she was never his girlfriend, according to him.
2. In 1983, she became a uniformed officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. She worked at the department’s drug abuse resistance education and internal affairs divisions.
3. On February 29, 1984, she bought a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Model 49 revolver. In June 1984, Ruetten met her.
4. In May 1985, Ruetten and Rasmussen became engaged. When she learned of the engagement in June 1985, she called him and asked him to come to her condo where they later had sex. In August 1985, she wrote to his mother, “I’m truly in love with John and the past year has really torn me up. I wish it didn’t end the way it did, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand his decision.” In November 1985, he married Rasmussen.
5. On February 24, 1986, while off duty, she used a ceramic vase to strike Rasmussen in the head and her .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver to shoot Rasmussen three times in the chest in the condo Rasmussen shared with Ruetten in Van Nuys. Later that day, he found his wife dead inside the condo. On February 25, 1986, she returned to work. On March 9, 1986, she reported to the police department of Santa Monica, California that her .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver had been stolen from the glove compartment of her car while parked in Santa Monica.
6. Using her computer, she performed searches of Ruetten’s name in April 1998, May 1999 and December 1999. In 1989, she was briefly reunited with Ruetten while they were both on vacation in Hawaii, USA with other people.
7. In 1993, the LAPD promoted her to detective.
8. On June 5, 2009, she was arrested and her mouth was swabbed by a criminalist in order to develop a complete deoxyribonucleic acid profile. On June 9, 2009, she appeared at the Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles for her arraignment on murder charges. On December 18, 2009, she was charged with the willful, deliberate and premeditated murder of Rasmussen.
9. In February 2012, she stood trial at a courthouse in Los Angeles. On March 8, 2012, she was convicted of first-degree murder. On May 11, 2012, she was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
10. In May 2013, she filed a lengthy appeal of her conviction with the California Court of Appeal.
11. In July 2015, judges Audrey B. Collins, Nora Margaret Manella and Thomas Willhite Jr. unanimously upheld her conviction.
12. In November 2023, she admitted to murdering Rasmussen during her initial suitability parole. On December 12, 2023, she turned 64.
13. On October 2, 2024, her parole grant was rescinded. Featuring her story, the “20/20” episode “The Killer Down the Hall” aired on ABC on October 4, 2024.