Van Nuys, Los Angeles. February 24, 1986. Sherri Rasmussen was 29 years old — director of nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and three months into her marriage to John Ruetten. Before Sherri, Ruetten had a casual relationship with Stephanie Lazarus, an LAPD patrol officer who was deeply attached to him. When Ruetten married Sherri, Lazarus was consumed with jealousy. In the months before the murder, she went to Sherri's workplace and confronted her. Sherri was frightened. She went to the LAPD to file a complaint about the threats. Nothing was done. The woman threatening her was a police officer. On February 24, 1986, while Ruetten was at work, Lazarus went to the couple's condo on Balboa Avenue. She beat Sherri, bit her arm hard enough to leave a deep wound, and shot her three times in the chest with her own LAPD-issued backup .38 caliber revolver. Sherri was found by her husband that evening. The original investigation classified the case as a botched burglary despite clear evidence of a personal attack. Within two days of the murder, John Ruetten gave the original lead detective Lyle Mayer the name Stephanie Lazarus and identified her as an LAPD officer. Mayer never interviewed Lazarus. Sherri's father Nels Rasmussen urged LAPD for years to investigate Lazarus. They refused to reopen the case. Lazarus was never questioned. She rose through the LAPD ranks — becoming a respected art theft detective. The case went cold for over twenty years. The initial investigation is now believed to have been purposely botched to protect Lazarus as one of their own. In 2008, detectives reviewing cold case files found Lazarus's name in the original notes and began a covert investigation. To obtain DNA without alerting Lazarus — still a serving LAPD detective — detectives followed her to a Costco where she bought and drank a soda. When she threw the cup in the trash, an undercover officer collected it immediately. The DNA from the cup matched the DNA preserved from the bite wound on Sherri Rasmussen's arm — kept in evidence for 23 years. Investigators also learned that shortly after the murder, Lazarus had reported her backup .38 revolver stolen — the specific calibre used to kill Sherri. On June 5, 2009, as Lazarus left her shift at LAPD headquarters, plainclothes detectives arrested her in the parking lot. She had been working for the same department that had buried her name for 23 years. In 2012, a jury of eight women and four men convicted Stephanie Lazarus of first-degree murder after deliberating for eight hours. She was sentenced to 27 years to life. At sentencing, Sherri's mother said: "What a waste." Her sister said through tears: "It was so callous to take Sherri's life because she lived in all of us." John Ruetten told the court: "Sherri Rasmussen had an impact on so many people. I was so proud she agreed to be my wife." Lazarus has been denied parole multiple times. In 2025 the parole board found her testimony about the attack did not match the evidence and found her unsuitable for parole. She remains in custody at the California Institution for Women. If someone is threatening you and you feel unheard — your report matters. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233. Like and subscribe to GraveFile TV — new case every week. Sherri reported the threats to the police. The police did nothing. The woman threatening her was a police officer. What would you have done differently?