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

[nursebeeme]

hey adnoid! Glad you started this thread. I first read about this story at Steve Huff's blog www.truecrimereport.com He also has some good background on the case ((thanks Steve))

 

[fortytwo]

Adnoid just started a thread on the same subject. Quite a different take in the article he linked to.

"After Sherri Rae Rasmussen was beaten and shot to death in 1986, her father urged Los Angeles police to investigate a fellow officer who had had confrontations with his daughter in the months leading up to her death, according to attorneys for the victim's family..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-detective-murder9-2009jun09,0,5694957.column

ETA : Same paper. Two articles. Three days apart. What a difference three days makes.

 

[Ezryder9]

LOL. DH and I are sitting here, waiting to hear the story on Fox News, and, poof, WS scooped 'em again!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

"After Sherri Rae Rasmussen was beaten and shot to death in 1986, her father urged Los Angeles police to investigate a fellow officer who had had confrontations with his daughter in the months leading up to her death, according to attorneys for the victim's family..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-detective-murder9-2009jun09,0,5694957.column

Its nice to see this unsolved case resolved and to know her own DNA brought her down.:behindbar Good for the police department who pursued this.

It does make me wonder though just how many other unsolved murders have gone unsolved simply because LE may have tunnel vision and never investigate that the murderer could have been a woman.

imo

 

[LaLaw2000]

Never too late for justice! I am pleased for Sherri Rasmussen's family.

 

[STEADFAST]

Thanks for merging the threads!

 

[SleuthyMama]

Its nice to see this unsolved case resolved and to know her own DNA brought her down.:behindbar Good for the police department who pursued this.

It does make me wonder though just how many other unsolved murders have gone unsolved simply because LE may have tunnel vision and never investigate that the murderer could have been a woman.

imo

OBE, do you really think she wasn't investigated because she was a woman? I tend to think it was more because she was a cop.

 

[JBean]

Arraignment has been postponed until next month.( July I think they said)

 

[JBean]

Someone's parents are having a press conference this morning. I don't know if it is the accused's parents or the murdered woman's parents.
I am not much of a reporter lol.

The failure to consider Lazarus a suspect for more than two decades infuriated Rasmussen, who is now calling for a separate investigation into how the department originally handled the case. He and his wife have scheduled a news conference following Lazarus' arraignment today in which they plan to raise "serious questions" about the LAPD's investigation of the slaying, their attorneys said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-detective-murder9-2009jun09,0,5694957.column


I am curious as to whether they will have their PC or wait until after the postponed arraignment which will be next month; end of July I think.

ETA: No plea entered arraignment postponed until July 6. Parents just reiterated their frustration over the lenght of time it took to arrest Lazarus.

 

[JBean]

LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus allegedly threatened victim in slaying case

About a month before LAPD Det. Stephanie Lazarus allegedly beat and shot to death the wife of an ex-boyfriend, she confronted the woman at work and told her, "If I can't have John, nobody can," according to a lawyer for the victim's family.

The victim's father, Nel Rasmussen, told LAPD homicide detectives about the alleged confrontation and others in the months before the slaying, but he was rebuffed and told by the investigators "repeatedly that he was watching too much TV," attorney John C. Taylor said today
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/stephanie-lazarus-1.html


so where was the dude/husband/boyfriend? he would have known about the stalking.

 

[SuziQ]

The LAPD now believes Stephanie Lazarus ditched the weapon after using it to kill Sherri Rae Rasmussen in February of 1986.[/color]
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-detective-arrest13-2009jun13,0,786537.column

 

[SeriouslySearching]

:clap::clap::clap: No One is above the law even if you served it.

LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus allegedly threatened victim in slaying case

About a month before LAPD Det. Stephanie Lazarus allegedly beat and shot to death the wife of an ex-boyfriend, she confronted the woman at work and told her, "If I can't have John, nobody can," according to a lawyer for the victim's family.

The victim's father, Nel Rasmussen, told LAPD homicide detectives about the alleged confrontation and others in the months before the slaying, but he was rebuffed and told by the investigators "repeatedly that he was watching too much TV," attorney John C. Taylor said today
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/stephanie-lazarus-1.html


so where was the dude/husband/boyfriend? he would have known about the stalking.

This case has caught us by surprise now (among everyone else she knew and worked with), but would it if we had access to any information then?! Watching this one unfold, I kept wondering if our group could have pieced it together actually if it happened today. Wouldn't the father's statement have surfaced in the press and we would have been all over it? While it would be impossible for us to link her to the actual murder, someone would have speculated she had some affiliation. Darn we missed an opportunity.

Bravo for DNA! Junk Science scores again!! JUSTICE!!!! :clap:

 

[SeriouslySearching]

The LAPD now believes Stephanie Lazarus ditched the weapon after using it to kill Sherri Rae Rasmussen in February of 1986.[/color]
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-detective-arrest13-2009jun13,0,786537.column

She worked so hard on the force to save her mind. She replayed her scenario and each time lessened her guilt because what she saw did not relate to her.

I see in her defense strategy that she will use her Insanty Plea as a bargaining chip. She was insanely jealous and this happened when she was in this state. However, I don't see how this can play well into her career.

Think of any case she has ever been associated with and they go automatically into question. I would hate to be the DA.

She is DONE.

 

[JBean]

:clap::clap::clap: No One is above the law even if you served it. This case has caught us by surprise now (among everyone else she knew and worked with), but would it if we had access to any information then?! Watching this one unfold, I kept wondering if our group could have pieced it together actually if it happened today. Wouldn't the father's statement have surfaced in the press and we would have been all over it? While it would be impossible for us to link her to the actual murder, someone would have speculated she had some affiliation. Darn we missed an opportunity.

Bravo for DNA! Junk Science scores again!! JUSTICE!!!! :clap:

Interestingly, the parents did not know her name all this time until now. I would be willing to bet we would have been able to tell the parents her name and just about anything else they wanted to know.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Interestingly, the parents did not know her name all this time until now. I would be willing to bet we would have been able to tell the parents her name and just about anything else they wanted to know.

Sadly, we could have played a role if we had information. Yes, I agree. We would have subjected the suspect to horrible ramifications here if we had even partial of the information they had at the time. She would have been a suspect.

I want to say my apologies to her family. I also want to state I do not believe in people who work for LE that could do this to her. They can. This is incredible. It is unfathomable. It does not dispute the DNA evidence that this person was involved when the crime happened and she will be charged accordingly

ETA: I want to go off on this detective like you cannot imagine! How DARE this person do such a thing and HOW DARE SHE EVER set foot into another case?!

 

[JoeFromLB]

A transcript of the detectives' interrogation of Lazarus prior to her arrest has been released. It will also be used in the trial:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd-lazarus-20101124,0,5932698.story

The interview transcript, which became public during a hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, offers a detailed account of how LAPD homicide detectives duped their unsuspecting colleague into talking about the case, and of Lazarus' disbelief and panic as she realized she was the target of the investigation.

"You're accusing me of this? Is that what you're -- is that what you're saying?" Lazarus asked near the end of the roughly hourlong interview last year, after one of the detectives alluded to evidence that implicated her in the killing.

"Am I on 'Candid Camera' or something? This is insane. This is absolutely crazy. This is insane," Lazarus said minutes later after she walked out of the interview, only to be stopped, handcuffed and told she was under arrest in the murder of Sherri Rae Rasmussen.

 

[cluciano63]

I hope she is convicted; I saw the 48 Hours on this case and I believe she murdered this woman in cold blood.

I am always stunned when women murder over a man...or vice versa. It is just so not worth it...

 

[Salem]

I just saw a brief video of the interrogation on this. Interesting. I'll have to try to get through the thread and catch up on this case.

Salem

 

[JoeFromLB]

I just saw a brief video of the interrogation on this. Interesting. I'll have to try to get through the thread and catch up on this case.

Salem

I had meant to link to that video, but forgot.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-stephanie-lazarus-interrogation-video,0,2896846.story

 

[oceanblueeyes]

obe, do you really think she wasn't investigated because she was a woman? I tend to think it was more because she was a cop.

both!

Imo