GUILTY CA - Sherri Rasmussen, 29, murdered in her Los Angeles home, 24 Feb 1986

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JoeFromLB said:
She's married to an LAPD detective and they have a 5-yr old daughter.
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Wow! He must be reeling from the discovery that his wife is a coldblooded murderer. Unless, of course, he has known all along. :what:

I was shocked to the core once when a fairly close family member told me she ADMIRED a man who had murdered his daughters husband by staging a hunting accident. He had told her this PERSONALLY and said he did it to save her a divorce. ! She said she LIKED that he had enough "passion" to help his daughter out. !

Of course I watch my back carefully now when I must be around her and limit that to only what is necessary. I would never in a million years have guessed this about this person. She is otherwise very accomplished and successful.

Sociopathy walks among us wearing the mask of normalcy. Scary. :eek:
 
Vhead said:
This is by far the most in depth article on case; interrogation video included.

http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/the-lazarus-file/8499/2/?single_page=true

V


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Superb in-depth article! I'm just now reading about this fascinating case. Here are a couple of things that I'm curious about:

There were bloody thumb and palm prints at the murder scene that did not match Stephanie Lararus. Were these ever explained?

What happened to Sherri Rasmussen's BMW that was stolen from her condo at the time of her murder? Was it recovered and checked for clues and evidence?
 
mister happy said:
Superb in-depth article! I'm just now reading about this fascinating case. Here are a couple of things that I'm curious about:

There were bloody thumb and palm prints at the murder scene that did not match Stephanie Lararus. Were these ever explained?

What happened to Sherri Rasmussen's BMW that was stolen from her condo at the time of her murder? Was it recovered and checked for clues and evidence?
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I know isn't this one fascinating? And I hear this author that wrote the article is writing a book.

In regards to hand, thumb print, I believe they were smudges that could not be deciphered. The defense played this up I think but I don't think they were readable, which of course would exclude SF and anyone else in the free world.

The BMW was recovered in pristine condition 2 miles from the crime scene a few days after the murder.
The only item never collected was their marriage license.

Pretty freaky!


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Can anyone tell me why they are waiting until May 4th to sentence her? It seems like a pretty long delay or is that normal in California?
 
CBTampa said:
Can anyone tell me why they are waiting until May 4th to sentence her? It seems like a pretty long delay or is that normal in California?
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That's normal for California. It's typically 3 months.


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Vhead said:
That's normal for California. It's typically 3 months.


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Wow, thanks for the info. I just got through watching the Jason Young trial and the Judge did it right after the verdict came in. I thought that was pretty quick.
 
Vhead said:
I know isn't this one fascinating? And I hear this author that wrote the article is writing a book.

In regards to hand, thumb print, I believe they were smudges that could not be deciphered. The defense played this up I think but I don't think they were readable, which of course would exclude SF and anyone else in the free world.

The BMW was recovered in pristine condition 2 miles from the crime scene a few days after the murder.
The only item never collected was their marriage license.

Pretty freaky!


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info. Matthew McGough is a good writer. I will buy his book.

And oh my, it was sad to watch Stephanie hem & haw her way through the interrogation. She's a horrible liar.

Here's a question- if Stephanie left the condo in Sherri's BMW, how did she get to the condo in the first place? Maybe by taxi?

Also, I wonder how she knew that Sherri stayed home from work that Monday. She might have been staking out the residence! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
 
I've been catching up with this case and I was wondering a few things. Like the poster above, I was wondering how Lazarus knew the wife was home, and what vehicle she arrived in and left in. Also the victim's father told police about his daughter's harrasser, but he didn't know her name. Was there a reason the husband didn't give him the name? Also, and this is what I find most intriguing. Did Lazarus steal or get rid of any evidence, while she was at work? I read that the DNA couldn't be found at the department, but some was finally found at the coroners. Also, in the interrogation, she mentioned 'faintly' remembering a trip to Hawaii, where the husband might have showed up. This was long after the death, but was it ever looked into? Sincethe husband knew Lazarus had threatened and harrassed his wife, why would he have gone? As far as her thinking she would ever be caught, I don't think she did. If she had been even a little nervous, she would have been a little more prepared for the interrogation and practiced her answers. Omg, she was totally fake and unbelievable. I mean, who 'faintly' remembers a trip to Hawaii? Also, it was mentioned that Lazarus played college sports. Is there a roster available? because I can't find anything anywhere.
 
Another thing that bothers me, I guess more than anything, is early evidence Did point to Lazarus, and it was ignored. She had a motive, and had harrassed and threatened the victim. Also, the marriage license was missing. This pointed to a scorned female. If cops couldn't see it, the husband should have, and he should have insisted that Lazarus be considered. I can understand his reluctance, (the guilty feelings, would have been unbearable), especially with cops reinforcing a stranger theory, but it was what it was. He knew Lazarus was a problem. But, with all this said, I'm kind of glad it took so long. If Lazarus had been arrested early on, who would have believed she was a killer? especially, without the benefit of DNA. She probably would have been found 'not guilty', never to be tried again. In a way, even though it was an excruciating wait for Sherri's family, this way was better and justice was served.
 
This article includes a video of Lazarus' sentencing:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8657803

At the end of the video, Lazarus is leaving the courtroom. She is acting cheerful, gesturing at family/friends -- grinning, nodding and winking as if she was at a party. This comes after hearing the heart wrenching victim impact statements! I felt a bit of vomit in my throat upon seeing her mirth. She's psycho IMO.
 
Hi dodie20. Not since Scott Peterson has a case grabbed me like this. It reads like a crime novel, only it's true. Fatal attraction! I now think that Lazarus went to Sherri's condo just to snoop around. She didn't expect Sherri to be home. Then they fought and Sherri was murdered. Two weeks afterward, Lazarus reported her LAPD backup pistol was stolen. If she had been investigated shortly after the crime, that gun may have been retrieved, and ballistics would have been matched to Lazarus... no DNA necessary!
 
mister happy said:
Hi dodie20. Not since Scott Peterson has a case grabbed me like this. It reads like a crime novel, only it's true. Fatal attraction! I now think that Lazarus went to Sherri's condo just to snoop around. She didn't expect Sherri to be home. Then they fought and Sherri was murdered. Two weeks afterward, Lazarus reported her LAPD backup pistol was stolen. If she had been investigated shortly after the crime, that gun may have been retrieved, and ballistics would have been matched to Lazarus... no DNA necessary!
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so true. I can't help but wonder if the reason she stayed a cop, was so she could destroy evidence and keep an eye on things. IDK about LA, but around here, a college degree isn't exactly a requirement to be a cop. She'd be way over educated. Usually, if a cop wants a promotion, he/she takes some kind of classes, but they surely don't need a sociology degree from a major university to get in the door. And they acted like since she gave people hugs, she wasn't capable of murder. omg, now that sounds reasonable...not! IDk why, but I'd expect cops to be a little more intuitive, and not say the same ridiculous things, that non cops say. Just like I would expect them to be able to lie better. At least well enough, to not look like a 12 year old. She freaked me out in that interrogation video, and I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. I also noticed that she didn't get married until much later. I wonder if she was waiting for the other man to finally come back to her.
 
And another thing. If this had been a case of men robbing a house, why the torture? They had a gun, so why not just go ahead and use it? (which they didn't have a problem doing). What did cops think about the bite wound? That doesn't sound like something a burglar would do if interrupted. I don't understand how cops thought Sherrie put up this kind of fight, against men with a gun. If this was about robbery, Sherrie would have either done as told, so they would leave, or they would have used the gun. All this fighting and struggling, IMO, points to her knowing the perp, and this being personal. Who, besides some kind of rapist, would bite a stranger? I would think it would take a certain kind of person to bite a victim...a very angry, out of control person, who wanted to feel the satisfaction of inflicting pain, before she killed the victim. No robber is going to do this. He's going to scram as fast as he can.
 
Dodie20, there's so much to this case, and some questions will never be answered. But the Trials & Tribulations blog (including comments) is an excellent source of info.

From what I understand, the bite mark DNA was stored at the coroner's archive. There was also incriminating DNA on Sherri's torn fingernails, which was kept in LAPD vaults. Even cops would need high-level clearance to access these areas, so it seems unlikely that Lazarus snooped around in them.

The original investigation was quite obviously botched. My opinion: LAPD was not going to investigate one of their own, unless they absolutely had to. Keep in mind that this was during the full-blown Daryl Gates era. However, one of the lead detective's underlings questioned the bite wound, claiming that it wasn't inflected from a male because "men don't fight that way." This fell on deaf ears.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.....I'm off to read the above article and then locate the Trials & Tribulations blog!

Can't wait for the book to come out!
 
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