Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline 20200321

Hiding in plain sight. No indications she was ever spoken to . No. Then a new detective took a look at an old lead. He said its a match. And a person no one would have ever suspected of murder. We were going to end this. Was suddenly suspect number one. A perfect murder. Almost. Hello. Welcome to dateline. She was a new bride, married three months, then she was found murdered. What happened to her remained a mystery for decades partly because police mistakenly believed she was killed during a breakin gone bad. But when detectives finally reopened this case, they discovered it wasnt a burglar, but a suspect whose trail led right to their own front door. Heres josh men kowitz with the smoking gun. February 2, 2009. Homicide detective arrived before dawn at the Los Angeles Police departments van nuys station. I was tired. I was tired. He had hosted a Super Bowl Party the night before and the beer had flowed freely. That seemed to be a good way to spend the day was having a cup of coffee and getting caught up on my reading. A couple of aspirin. A couple of aspirin, maybe. Up he reached for a file that had been sitting on his desk for months. The murder of Sherry Rasmussen. Shot to death in her condo just a few miles from where he worked. One of the most horrific crime scenes i have seen. This woman met a horrible ending. And just as troubling, Sherry Rasmussen was murdered a generation ago, february 1986, meaning the odds of catching her killer were slim to none. Memories fade. Evidence has to be relocated. So its obvious its an uphill battle every time. Uphill battle does not begin to describe it. The cold case the detective opened would lead him on the chase of a lifetime and it would shake the foundations of the lapd. It dates back to 1986 and to a battle for the truth by the parents of a young bride. We miss her every day. Those parents are mel and loretta rasmussen. Doesnt make any different what day it is. Its a pain thats always there. Theres no cure for. Who would want to kill sherry rasmus up . She was hard working, caring and popular. Trained as a nurse, she was director of Critical Care at a large local hospital. So we are implementing the program. It was a devastating day. She was 29 years old. And just in the prime of her career. Alfee kennedy had originally hired her. We couldnt believe it, how could somebody do this . People were crying, upset. I mean, the hospital was like a tomb, you know . So the loss was real palpable. Sherry had just been married three months earlier to a hightech engineer named john rutten. Were they happily married . Unusually so. But months after the wedding, john found sherry sprawled dead on the floor of the home. He might seem a likely suspect but john was cleared almost immediately. The lapd focused instead on evidence that this was a burglary that turned violent. This was no accident. Yolanda mcclary is a retired crime scene investigator and was a consultant. Shes reviewed the media reports on this case. We return with her to the actual apartment where sherry was found murdered to try to understand what happened. The killer walked in the front door . Yes, theyre assuming that the front door was open and that the killer walked right in. Right here where were standing is where there was a confrontation . Yeah. Not just a struggle but we have shots fired at this point. We have one shot that clearly goes straight through this back slider. And we have another shot that went through sherry and then back out through the slider also. So sherry is now wounded she tries to get back downstairs . That would be correct. Shes bleeding profusely, and shes trying to go out the door or make it to that alarm box where theres a panic button. At that point, we believe that sherry went down in this foyer area due to the fact that you could see marks in this as well as broken fingernails from her hands. So theres a tremendous fight going on at this point. Well, yes, the killer is actually dragging her back into this area and then the killer takes a vase and hits her in the head with it. Knocking her out. Then grabs a blanket, muzzles the gun and then does a contact shot into the victim. So thats an execution. That would be correct. As for a motive, it seemed to be in plain sight. Just a few feet from sherrys body. They found the vcr and a disc player stacked up on top of each over. As if someone was going to steal them. Yeah. Sherrys purse was missing as was her new bmw, an engagement gift from john. There was no sign of the murder weapon. But detectives did recover two 38 caliber slugs and there was Something Else that caught detectives attention. On the inside of sherrys left arm they found a bite mark. A crime scene analyst at the time went ahead and swabbed the mark for any possible saliva that could possibly me long to the killer. Saliva that would contain dna who whoever bit sherry. Remember, this was years before the Dna Technology would arrive, which could link a suspect to a sample like this one. So back then, the dna wasnt much help but the swab was carefully packaged and bundled with all the other evidence. For now, detectives didnt have much else to work with. Except the theory that this was a botched burglary. By the level of violence that occurred in this residence the theory was it was a man or possibly two men who had entered to do a burglary invasion who murdered the victim to cover up the crime and then fled. Gone wrong because sherry somehow surprised them. They panicked. Shot her. And then fled. The theory seemed to make sense, especially since sherry had no apparent enemies. Certainly no one would want to kill her, or so they thought. Coming up sherrys office, and said that if she couldnt have john, nobody could. When dateline continues. t nobody could. When dateline continues protect your pet with the 1 name in flea and tick protection. Frontline plus. Trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. Whose idea was once again commandeered by brad. While he droned, her bladder dripped. But, she keeps it together. Because ella has poise. Poise under pressure and poise in her pants. It takes poise. Anna could only imagine a comfortable nights sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. Now, that dream. Is her reality. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . Tv sports announcer yeah, thats my man there. Tv sports announcer time out. Lets go to a commercial. Nooooooo not another commercial when you bundle your home, auto and Life Insurance with allstate you could save 25 . In fact, the more you bundle the more you can save. Put the other game on if its important to you allstate can protect it. Home auto and Life Insurance you could save 25 . If its important to you allstate can protect it. What . Bundle and save with allstate. Click or call for a quote today. The year was 1986. Crack was hitting los angeles and the city of angels had become a violent place. The murder rate would hit 831 killings that year, nearly three times that amount in 2016 and the lapd was stretched very thin. This was a time where homicide was just booming in los angeles. Miles corwin is a best selling author whos written several books about the lapd. Its kind of a perfect storm of problems. You had the proliferation of high powered weapons, you had the gangs who were really expanding. You had crack cocaine hitting the streets and detectives were overwhelmed. And now, in february of that year, cops had their hands full with an especially heinous crime in the citys sprawling san fernando valley. Sherry rasmussen has been beaten and shot in her own home and no suspects and no clues and then a possible lead. Former crime scene investigator Yolanda Mcclary was a consultant for nbc news. In the same vicinity another woman was approached in her residence by two males at gun point. Also involved a Home Invasion robbery situation. So police early on thought that was a possibility these two men might have something to do with the murder. A composite sketch was released of the two men. But still, detectives had no prints, no eyewitnesses and no murder weapon connecting them or anyone else to sherrys murder and the dna collected at the crime scene was useless. At least right now. Police went ahead and collected it anyway. Why . Well, at crime scenes if you notice there was possible evidence on anything you werent going to leave it behind. It was great forethought to actually recover it. Detectives scoured the condo and the entire complex. The only thing stolen from the garage was sherrys car and that was recovered a mile away from the crime scene with the keys still in it. The only other thing missing sherry and her husbands marriage license. It seemed an odd thing to steal. Cash, computers and jewelry werent touched. But that wasnt the only thing that struck her family and colleagues as strange. The crime was especially violent for a twobit burglary. It just seemed a little like overkill. Sherrys boss at the hospital kennedy had to review the report for insurance reasons. I thought wow she put up a heck of a fight which wasnt real surprising because sherry was tall, athletic and im sure wouldnt go down easily. The lapd theory back then was that there were two men robbing the house and so that presumably sherry would have fought with two guys. Does that sound like sherry . Well, that part didnt make a lot of sense to me. Because i thought if there were two men and they had a gun, that just seemed a little weird. Because she wouldnt begin a fight with two guys who were armed. I wouldnt think so. What about with a woman . Well, i think she would have taken on a woman. We just really like to know what happened. Sherrys parents never thought it was a burglary. They knew that just weeks before the murder sherry had several strange encounters. One as she dined at a restaurant and thought a woman was watching her. She said she has eyes that can see right through you. Scary eyes. There was also a runin at the hospital where sherry worked. She went to sherrys office and said that if she couldnt have john nobody could. Most terrifying, an encounter in sherrys own home and by now she knew who the mystery woman was. She heard a noise and she looked up and there was johns exgirlfriend. Howd she get in the house . We have no idea. Johns exgirlfriend appeared on the stalking sherry and yet she never mentioned her name to the parents. Instead she told them not to worry. She said i want to see if i cant work this out myself. That conversation happened during a dinner celebrating sherrys 29th birthday. Afterward, her parents took sherry to the airport. As she walked away, she turned and gave me a big smile and i relived that smile for years. Less than three weeks later, Sherry Rasmussen lay dead. The rasmussens insist they told the lead detective about sherrys troubling encounters with johns exgirlfriend. I told the detective not once but probably 15 to 20 times and he said the trouble with you is you have been watching too much tv. Coming up old evidence offers new clues. The suspect made it appear to look like a burglary. They staged it to mislead the initial investigation in 1986. She was executed. When dateline continues. 1. She was executed. When dateline continues show your gut some love. Only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. A delicious way to enjoy probiotics every day. With 20 years of devotion to gut health. Activia. Like no other. But when allergies and congestion strike, take allegrad. A nondrowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. So you can always say yes to putting your true colors on display. Say yes to allegrad. past them because she didnt sknow they were talking to her. G and she would just walk right to putting your true colors on display. deborah i just could not hear. I was hesitant to get the hearing aids because of my short hair, but nobody even sees them. avo our nearly invisible hearing aids are just one reason weve been the brand leader for over 70 years. deborah when i finally could hear for the first time, i started crying. I could hear everything. avo call 1800miracle to start your 30 day riskfree trial and schedule your free hearing evaluation today. Years had passed and no arrests have been made in the slaying of Sherry Rasmussen killed in her los angeles condo. The trail kept getting colder. In 1993, sherris parents offered to have the saliva sample tested for dna. Theyd even pay for it. But the lapd declined. They said we dont have a suspect. So if we had a suspect and we had their dna then we have something to match. And the case sat for another decade. But then in 2004, the lapds newly formed cold case unit was conducting dna tests on unsolved cases and one of them was the murder of Sherri Rasmussen. It took two months to actually find that saliva sample. Buried in a refrigeration unit. The envelope was tattered. Theab peeking out, but the saliva was still instead and the dna was enough to blow this case wide open. In the lab report it indicated that the suspect that had bitten Sherri Rasmussen during the struggle was actually a female. A woman, not two male burglars as the original detectives had suspected all those years but it would take a few more years before investigators began to understand what that crucial dna test result meant. It was now 2009. And the case was cold once again. 23 years it sat with no apparent leads, no suspects, and no answers for the rasmussen family. Then came that monday after the super bowl when detective jim nutall made a remarkable discovery. The dna test that had been conducted on that bite mark back in 2004. Once the department realized that a woman was involved why did it take four years until you finally picked it up . What was the department doing in the interim . From what it appears investigators may have followed the initial theory of this crime that in fact it was a burglary. And that there was a woman involved in the burglary . That there was a woman involved in the burglary. Looking back now in hindsight it was an opportunity that may have slipped through our hands as an organization. But now he took a closer look at the crime scene photos and began to develop his own very different theory. Remember, Sherri Rasmussen was shot at point blank range after a violent struggle and despite the stereo equipment stacked by the front door very little was actually stolen. The suspect made it appear to look like a burglary. They staged it to mislead the initial investigation in 1986. She was executed. In other words, someone had wanted Sherri Rasmussen dead. So nutall dug deeper through the file looking for names, female names. The we had five women that would have had access to sherri and perhaps at least some of them may have had a motive to harm her. Three of them we eliminated almost immediately for insufficient motive. But there were still two names left. One of them was a coworker. A woman named deborah that worked with Sherri Rasmussen at glenn dale hospital. This person of interest was later replaced by Sherri Rasmussen in an official capacity and problems followed almost immediately after that. So there was bad blood between them . There was a motive. Deborah had moved to northern california. He asked the local Law Enforcement to watch her and secretly try to snag a sample of her dna for comparison testing. In the meantime, nutall learned more about the second woman. He contacted john ruetten, sherris former husband, now remarried and living in san diego. John explained he had been involved in a dating relationship with Stephanie Lazarus. Stephanie lazarus, that was the only name still on the short list of suspects. Nutall pressed ruetten for more on their relationship which had started when they were both students at ucla. They dated on and off until john got engaged to sherri. Even then youre convinced that the relationship that he had with lazarus overlapped with the relationship with his wife . We know from john that he was engaged that he was intimate with Stephanie Lazarus. There was a love triangle and lazarus had deep feelings for john ruetten and may have had a motive to harm Sherri Rasmussen. Was her killer a scorned lover or a coworker . We had two women. Deborah the nurse and Stephanie Lazarus . Correct. The cops scoop and up a sample of the trash which contained dna and it was sent to the l. A. Crime lab for analysis. She was not the donor from the bite. That left just one possible suspect. Number five on the list. John ruettens exgirlfriend, stephanie last ruz. We came home to a phone message from the detective that they wanted to talk to us and i thought, oh, yeah right. I thought it was just another false hope. This is detective nutall. Right. He said that they were opening the investigation. He was like, where have you been for the last two decades. And rasmussen explained how he told the detectives back in 1986 that someone was stalking his daughter sherri. A woman with crazy eyes. The exgirlfriend of sherris husband. He had never known that her name was Stephanie Lazarus, but he knew Something Else about her, something very important andpy this time, the detective knew it too. He was very cautious of what he said but that wed be hearing more in him. Nutall had ample reason to be cautious because he had learned that Stephanie Lazarus wore the same badge he did. Now you have a Los Angeles Police officer as a person of interest in the murder case. And you thought, i have bitten off more than i could chew. Were not in kansas anymore. That changed everything. Coming up, a top secret investigation as detectives go after one of their own. We would never leave a paper trail of what we were doing. She worked our unit. When dateline continues. She worked our unit. When dateline continues i saw you move in, and i wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood with some homemade biscuits oh, thats so nice and a little tip, geico could help you save on homeowners insurance. Hmm cookies uhh, biscuits. Mmmm, is there a little nutmeg in there . Oh its my mums secret recipe. You can tell me. Its a secret. Is it cinnamon . Its my mums secret recipe. Call geico and see how easy saving on homeowners and condo insurance can be. Ill come back for the plate. With air wick essential mist. Nature saving on homeowners and condo insurance can be. It transforms natural essential oils into mist. Experience the latest in air care by air wick. Saturpain happens. Aleve it. Aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. When pain happens, aleve it. All day strong. Which of your devices are protected by daily security updates . Daily security updates. Daily . I dont know. The only thing. Im struggling with this. Some providers you have to manually download updates to each device. Comcast business securityedge updates every 10 minutes to help keep your connected devices protected against new ransomware, malware and phishing threats. Every 10 minutes feels pretty good. Get secure, reliable internet and voice for an amazing price. Call today. Comcast business. Beyond fast. Hello. New york is joining california and illinois in issuing full statewide stay at home orders. Connecticut and new jersey are expected to implement similar plans over the weekend. The number of coronavirus cases have jumped to 18,000 in the u. S. With over 230 deaths. Now back to dateline. Welcome back to dateline. Im natalie morales. Sherri rasmussen had been murdered in los angeles back in the 1980s and her parents told investigators about several runins that sherri had with johns ex. Now a cold case detective was focusing his attention on that very same woman who also happened to be a member of the lapd. Here is Josh Mankiewicz with more of the smoking gun. For two decades the lapd had one theory she was randomly murdered by two men during a botched burglary and now science had rewritten the script and now this once cold case was suddenly almost too hot to handle. The prime suspect an lapd detective named Stephanie Lazarus. But as detective nuttall went through the book, he found nothing on lazarus, even though he was the exgirlfriend of john. No indication she was spoken to . No. There was just one indication from back in 1986. A detective had written Stephanie Lazarus, po, Police Officer. As if her name had come up, but not as a suspect. No notes of any conversation with her . No paperwork trail. She seemed to be above suspicion. Stephanie eileen lazarus had group up in southern california,s a tomboy of sorts. She loved sports. She attended ucla where she played basketball. It was during her college days she met and dated john ruetten. Long before he and sherri got murr murrayed. Lazarus surprised her family by joining the lapd this when only a handful of woman entered the force. I didnt know she was applying. Stephanies brother. I was proud of her. She quickly rose through the ranks from Patrol Officer to detective. She was popular, friendly, well regarded. Her assignments included project dare, aimed at kids. She was twice named detective of the year. Later, lazarus worked at internal affairs investigating other officers accused of wrongdoing and was created to the art theft unit. Her personal life was good too. In 1996, lazarus got married to another lapd detective. Together they adopted a baby daughter. Life both at home and on the job never seemed better. She was a happy person. She loved what she did for work. She loved her husband. Loved their life. But in 2009 this high achieving cop became the focus of a homicide investigation. Jim nuttall and his team of three detectives had to be mindful that lazarus had many friends on the force. Her husband worked at the same station as nuttall did. We were going to work behind closed doors. We were going to work after hours. We would never leave a paper trail of what we were doing. They gave lazarus a code name number 5. And contrary to police procedure, they decided not to tell lapd headquarters that their new suspect was a fellow detective. Youre doing that to protect her or your investigation from her . Dual purpose. It would protect the integrity of the investigation and if she was not involved, then nobody would ever know about it. Four cops knowingly skirted department rules to investigate one of their own. It was a difficult phase of our careers. She was one of us. She worked our unit. Had worked side by side with the people around us. But nuttall and his three fellow detectives didnt waiver. They methodically built a case by exhaustively reviewing the original files and interviewing sherris friends and family. It became clear to them that Stephanie Lazarus had the means, the motive and the opportunity to kill Sherri Rasmussen. Al she seemed obsessed with john and jealous of the new wife. Was she the same person with the scary eyes who had been talking sherri . To nuttall it seemed to add up, especially when he considered this. Sherris purse and all its contents stolen during the crime were recovered soon after the murder. Except for one item inside. The only thing that to this day that was never recovered was john and sherris marriage certificate. After three months of intense secretive investigation, nuttalls team needed one last piece of evidence that would either clear detective lazarus or incriminate her. We needed a sample of stephanies dna. We were not cut out for undercover surveillance work. So he brought in the internal Affairs Detectives into the loop, hoping they could close the deal by somehow secretly obtaining lazaruss dna. She was tailed for days. As undercover cops waited for her to leave some small piece of herself behind. Finally at a retail store it happened. Lazarus ordered a soft drink and drank it. The trace of her saliva was on the straw which she then tossed in the trash. Two dna samples separated by two decades. 48 hours later, he got a call from his supervisor. It was real simple. He said it was a match. Good feeling, bad feeling, both . Surreal. Ill never forget it. But Stephanie Lazarus was still free and had no clue that after 23 years the very own department was on her tail for murder. Detectives wanted to speak with stephanie to elicit a statement. Perhaps a confession. But theyd have to do it without revealing how deeply implicated she was in Sherri Rasmussens murder. So another secret plan was hatched. This time, to get stephanies side of the story and all of it would be captured on tape. Stephanie lazarus is asked by fellow detectives to help in the interrowgation only to discover shes the suspect. I mean, come on. When dateline continues. I mean, come on. When dateline continues to , nourishing your body inside and out so you can focus on what matters most. Centrum. Feed your cells. Fuel your life. But when allergies and congestion strike, take allegrad. A nondrowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. So you can always say yes to putting your true colors on display. Say yes to allegrad. And i like to question your im yoevery move. N law. Like this left turn. Its the next one. You always drive this slow . How did you make someone i love . That must be why youre always so late. I do not speed. And thats saving me cash with drivewise. My son, he did say that you were the safe option. And thats the nicest thing you ever said to me. So get allstate. Stop bossing. Where good drivers save 40 for avoiding mayhem, like me. This is my sons favorite color, you should try it. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady . [tina] youre an old lady. Everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. Expedia. June 5, 2009 started routinely for Stephanie Lazarus. She took the train in downtown lapd, reporting for her normal shift at Police Headquarters in parker center. After arriving stephanie was told to meet with two detectives. Men she didnt know from lapds elite Robbery Homicide Division to help them interrogate a suspect involving stolen artwork. So lazarus went down to the secured area in the basement to meet with her two colleagues in a small interview room. Because its part of the jail,s all cops who enter here are required to give up their guns. Unarmed and unsuspecting, lazarus didnt realize she was being recorded by an undercover camera. So stephanie, you know my partner. Hi. Nice to see you guys. Have a seat. And thats when detectives revealed that this conversation wasnt about art. Do you know john ruetten . John ruetten . John ruetten . You said you dated john. How long did you guys date . I mean, what are you guys you said it was something about art. Detective lazarus seemed uncomfortable and vague in her answers. Especially when detectives asked about Sherri Rasmussen. You know, i may have talked to her. It sounds you know the hospital, you may have talked to her at the hospital . Yeah. At yeah. I may have you know, im thinking back now. You guys are bringing all of these old memories. Detectives turned up the heat. Did you have a fight with her . Fought . Yeah. Did you ever duke it out with her . No i dont think so. Youd remember that . Yeah, i would think so. Most of us can remember the number of fistfights we had over our lives but she answers no if she remembers attacking sherri or being attacked but at other points she cant recall if that up had. It doesnt sound familiar. So what are they saying, i fought with her, so now i i im getting the jump. I fought with her, so i must have killed her, i mean, come on. After about 45 minutes lazarus realized she was the prime suspect in sherris murder. Now youre accusing me of this . Without is that what youre saying . Were trying to figure out what happened, stephanie. Well, i was you know, im just saying, you know, i need to get a lawyer, youre accusing me . Minutes later it came to the end that must have been as familiar as it was uncomfortable for all of them. I know, you guys have to do your job and i guess im going to have to contact somebody. Thats fair. Because i know how this stuff works. And then Stephanie Lazarus was read the same words she herself had read to hundreds of suspects over the years. Stephanie, you know you have the right to remain silent, do you understand . Yeah. For just a moment you can see the handcuffs placed on her by her fellow officers. Im in shock. Im totally in shock. Word of lazaruss arrest traveled fast to tucson where detective nuttall was standing by to deliver the news to the rasmussen family. Tell me what you said. You were rights, you folks were right. I apologized that it took us over two decades to give them that closure. Feel better . The most gratifying moment of my career. I was extremely happy. I said i feel like i knew it all along. Back in l. A. The lazarus family also got the news. Well, it was numbing. Im guessing that one of the things that you said or thought was they got it wrong somehow, this is a mistake. Some error has been made here. Yeah. Ful this is going to be cleared up by the end of the day. Yeah. Didnt happen. Didnt happen. Stephanie lazarus didnt go home that day after her arrest. Bail was set at 10 million, much higher than most murder cases. The judge considered her a flight risk citing the strong case against her and for the lapd it was a bittersweet day. A 23yearold cold case they believed had finally been cracked but the prime suspect worked right beside them. For the rasmussen family, stephanies arrest was a vindication. But it also brought back their bitter memories of the original lapd investigation. I think it was because she was the Police Officer so they just figured that they would cover this one up. The family hired prominent l. A. Attorney john taylor who filed a lawsuit against detective lazarus and also the lapd. Claiming the detective deliberately ignored clues that pointed to a fellow officer. The earlier missteps of lapd werent missteps. They were intentional conduct and intentional ignoring of evidence and intentional dereliction of duties. Beyond just being sloppy or lazy. The fact that they didnt close the case and that they didnt listen to the family those two things are not evidence of a coverup. It wasnt that they didnt close the case, they didnt do anything to create a case. He says that in 1986, the detectives were protecting Stephanie Lazarus. They actively covered up the identity of the person who committed this crime. The rasmussens lawsuit alleging a coverup was dismissed in 2011 and charlie beck was the lapd chief. I can accept somebody that is unable to solve a crime that is solvable. I cannot accept somebody that covers up a crime or covers up an individual involved in the crime. I have no absolutely no indication thats what happened here. Theres nothing to suggest they deliberately looked away from stephanie or a road theynt the want to do down . I think it was lack of ability not a deliberate, intentional act to exclude stephanie. In february of 2012, nearly 26 years to the day since Sherri Rasmussens murder, Stephanie Lazarus would have her day in court. At a chance to clear her name and reputation. A chance to show that dna evidence isnt always right and that the Los Angeles Police departmentright, and that the l Angeles Police department had it all wrong. Coming up, did the lapd have it wrong . Jan was still calling her. And stephanie went to tell sherry, look, you guys are getting married. I tell him not to call me. We tell jury in the above entitled action find the defendant stephanie eye lie lazarus defendant stephanie e lazarus iye lie lazarus lye lie lazarus eye lie lazarus eye lie lazarus nye lie lazarus e lie lazarus lie lazarus lie lazarus ie lazarus e Lazarus Lazarus lazarus e lazarus laza rus with this one little nexgard chew comes the confidence, youre doing whats right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. Its the 1 vet recommended protection. And its safe for puppies. Nexgard. What one little chew can do. Alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. Say hello to your fairy godmother alice. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain welcome back. There was more at the trial of Stephanie Lazarus. Here is the conclusion of the smoking gun. It took 26 years to get here, a generation of false leads, missed opportunities, a familys frustration. A Police Departments nightmare. February 6th, 2012, the people 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 love with john rutten and was devastated when he became engaged to sherry, then executed her and covered it up by staging a burglary. Linda deutsch covered the trial. The Opening Statement was quite dramatic. And he came up with a theme which was that the case was about a bite, a bullet, a gun barrel and a broken heart. And that kind of resinated in the courtroom. The jury saw journals Police Seized from stephanies home, detailing how upset she was when she learned john was engaged to someone else. Stephanies date book was also introduced, which mentioned locksmithing books. That could explain why there is no forced entry to the condo. And on the day of the murder, then Patrol Officer lazarus happened to be off duty. The ammunition used in the shooting was the same type issued by the lapd, said prosecutors, and was the same caliber as lazaruss offduty weapon, a. 38 resolver she reported stolen just two weeks after the murder. But the real smoking gun was the bite mark dna found at the crime scene. Dna was definitely the centerpiece of this case. This shows she was there. Without the dna, they could not have placed her at the condo. And the statistics were staggering. A 1. 76 tillion to one changes that the dna belonged to someone other than Stephanie Lazarus. Defense attorney mike overland aggressively attacked that dna evidence, insisting it had been mishandled, improperly stored and sealed which compromised the sample. This vial was protruding rather than being inside the envelope and sealed in order to protect the integrity of the evidence. You cant rely on the scientific results. Overland said that hair, blood and fingerprints found at the crime scene did not come from lazarus. As for the weapon that fired the fatal shots, he insisted there were several other types of guns besides stephanies that could have fired those bullets. And as to motive, the defense argued there was no evidence that Stephanie Lazarus was obsessed with sherrys husband, john. Quite the opposite. John was still calling her and stephanie went to tell sherry, look, you guys are getting married. I tell him not to call me. After five weeks, it was up to the jury. Loretta and nells rasmussen the waited longer than that. The two of you feel confident . As confident as you can be with a you junior. You never know what a jury is going to do. With the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant stephanie eye line lazarus guilty of the crime of murder of Sherry Rasmussen. We further find the murder was of the first degree. The day the rasmussen family thought would never come finally did. As their attorney, john taylor, explained. The family is overwhelmingly relieved that, again, their suspicions and todays verdict reflects and confirms the identity of the person who killed the daughter and their daughter and the intent with which she did it. Its a tremendous relief. For the lazarus family, their wife, daughter, sister, and once decorated detective was now a convicted killer. We really did not expect this result with the state of the evidence and the way mr. Overland presented the case. So its its devastating. For the lapd, a cold case was finally solved, but with painful side effects. Im very pleased, but its bittersweet. I am thrilled that the conclusion has been reached and that some form of justice has been brought to a family that has grieved for far too long. We would have much rather that this not be a Los Angeles Police detective. Thats fought sure. Ive known stephanie for a lot of years. You know, this is a tragedy on a bunch of levels. This is not something that were proud of in that we had a Los Angeles Police detective involved here. Stephanie lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison. As for that wrongful death civil lawsuit Sherry Rasmussens parents filed against lazarus, they were awarded 10 million. And so ended the case of a detective finally caught by her very own department. She almost got away with it. The perfect murder. Almost committed the perfect murder. And who better to do that than a Police Officer . Than a Police Officer. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im natalie morales. Thanks for watching. First up on msnbc, new shutdowns. Some of the largest cities and states across the country taking historic action to combat the coronavirus. Tens of millions told to go home and stay home. Details on when and where. It may work and it may not work. I feel good about it. Any hope . The search for a treatment separating fact from fiction, are any of the drugs being tried now going to help