versus stephanie lazarus finally began in a courtroom in downtown los angeles. the prosecution laid out a clear case of how stephanie lazarus was deeply in with john ruetten and was devastated when he became engaged to sherri, and then executed her and covering it up by staging a burglary. linda deutsch of the associated press covered the trial. >> the opening statement was quite dramatic by the attorney and he came up with a theme which was the case was about a bite, a bullet, a gun barrel, and a broken heart. and that kind of resonated in the courtroom. >> the jury saw journals police seized from stephanie's home detailing how upset she was when she learned john was engaged to someone else.