One of the most extraordinary cases. A murder just months after her wedding. She gave me a big smile and i remembered that smile for years. All the time the killer was hiding in plain sight. No indication she was ever spoken to . No. And then a new detective took a look at an old lead. He said its a match. A person no one would have ever suspected of murder. We were going to end this. Was suddenly suspect Number One. Perfect murder. Almost. Hello and welcome to dateline. She was found murdered and what happened to her remained a nightmare. But when detectives reopened the case, they discovered it wasnt a burglar, but a suspect that led to their own front door with the Smoking Gun. Arriving before dawn at the police departments police station. I was tired. Reporter he hosted a super Bowl Party the night before, and the beer flowed freely. That is a good way of spending the day, getting caught up on my reading with a couple of aspirins, maybe. Reporter he reached for a file that had been
name had come up but not as a suspect. no notes of any conversation with her? no paper trail. reporter: she seemed to be someone above suspicion. stephanie eileen lazarus had grown up in southern, california, a tom boy of sorts and loved sports. she attended ucla where she played basketball p.m. it was during her college days that she met and dated john ruetten, long before he and sherri got married. after graduating in 1982, lazarus surprised her family by joining the lapd. this when only a handful of women entered the force. i don t think i knew that she was applying. reporter: stephanie s brother steven. i was very proud of steph. i thought it was a cool thing. reporter: stephanie lazarus quickly rose through the ranks of lapd from patrol officer to detective and she was popular, friendly, and well-regarded. her assignments also included project d.a.r.e., a drug
no notes of any conversation with her? no paper trail. she seemed to be someone above suspicion. stephanie eileen lazarus had grown up in southern california, a tomboy of soerths. loved of sorts. loved sports. she attended ucla where she played basketball. it was during her college days that she met and dated john ruetten, long before he and sherri got married. after graduating in 1982, lazarus surprised her family by joining the lapd. this when only a handful of women entered the force. i don t think i knew that she was applying. stephanie s brother, steven i was very proud of steph. i thought it was a cool thing. stephanie lazarus quickly rose through the ranks at the lapd. from patrol officer to detective. she was popular, friendly, and well regarded. her assignments also included project d.a.r.e., a drug prevention program aimed at