The case of a former Los Angeles police detective convicted of an 1986 murder took a turn this week, when a state parole board executive committee — based on concerns raised by the governor — ordered a hearing to consider rescinding a previous parole recommendation.
The decision, announced Tuesday, followed testimony a day earlier from supporters who said Stephanie Lazarus had turned her life around behind bars. There were also many pleas from the victim’s friends and family that Lazarus is a master of manipulation and should remain locked up.
A new hearing is expected to be scheduled within the next few months.
The case attracted national attention when police detectives used DNA to identify her as the killer 23 years after the murder. Lazarus was a 25-year-old patrol officer at the time of the killing. And she was a detective assigned to investigate high-end art thefts at the time of her arrest in 2009.
Lazarus shot her former boyfriend’s wife, Sherri Rasmussen, three times in the chest in the Van Nuys apartment Rasmussen shared with her husband John Ruetten, according to prosecutors. Lazarus had warned her ex-boyfriend not to marry Rasmussen, a 29-year-old hospital nursing director at the time.
Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.
She is eligible for early parole because she committed the crime when she was 24 years old. Under the state’s Youthful Offender Program, people who commit crimes before the age of 26 are considered to lack impulse control and an ability to fully understand consequences and therefore should be eligible for early parole.
Lazarus is now 64.
A parole board panel made a recommendation last November saying Lazarus was suitable for parole.
Later, Gov. Gavin Newsom requested an en banc review of that previous parole decision. In a letter dated April 4, the governor acknowledged Lazarus had been relatively young when she committed the crime, that she'd had traumatic experiences in her youth and that she had made efforts to improve herself while in prison.
"However, I find that this case warrants the consideration of the full Board of Parole Hearings to determine whether Ms. Lazarus can be safely released at this time," the letter reads.
Newsom noted there were signs that Lazarus had made progress to lessen her risk of committing further violence, but the governor questioned whether that progress was "sufficient."
On Monday, supporters and opponents of Lazarus’ release painted a starkly different picture of the former police officer when they spoke to the executive committee.
“Stephanie is a kind, compassionate and dedicated individual,” said Jane Dorotik of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners. Dorotik served time in prison with Lazarus and has maintained contact with her since her own release.
“She has taken full responsibility for her actions many years ago. And she has complete and unending remorse,” Dorotik said.
Another supporter pointed out how Lazarus had started a nonprofit to provide money for college books for fellow prisoners.
A woman who identified herself as Lazarus’ chaplain and spiritual advisor said Lazarus had committed her life to Jesus Christ.
“In the 15 years of being her chaplain, I’ve had few inmates delve into God's word as seriously and devotedly as Stephanie,” said Gloria Burr. “She is indeed a healed and transformed person.”
Lazarus has earned a master’s degree in divinity and is working on another in business administration, according to Erin Runions, a professor of religious studies at Pomona College. Runions said she knows Lazarus through a prison writing project where students work with people who are incarcerated.
“I’ve seen a person who is remorseful, who is caring, and who is very ready to reenter society,” she said.
But Rasmussen’s husband maintained that Lazarus was engaged in “skillful deception” of her supporters and the board that recommended her release.
“I have come to believe that her basic nature is concealing her thoughts and feelings,” Ruetten said.
Lazarus was not present at the Monday hearing.
Paul Nuñez, the Ventura deputy district attorney who prosecuted her case, argued Lazarus has never shown complete remorse for her crime and remains a danger to the public.
“Commissioners, I ask that you protect the public,” said Nuñez. “Require more time in custody for her to explore the insights of her crime.”
One of the LAPD detectives who investigated Lazarus also urged the board to keep her locked up. Detective John Taylor said he believes Lazarus remains “fully capable of the level of savagery and violence that she perpetrated on Sherri.”
Through tears, Rasmussen’s niece Jessica Pannell mourned the loss of her aunt.
“Sherri was a cherished member of our family and a pillar in her community,” Pannell said. “Her loss has left a void that can never be filled in our family and her friends and her career.”
She pleaded with the board not to release Lazarus.
The board is required to base its decisions on whether the incarcerated person poses a current, unreasonable risk of danger to the public, according to its website. In making its decision, the board considers “the incarcerated person’s rehabilitative programming, behavior during their incarceration, criminal history, and other evidence-based risk factors.”
The board may not base its decision solely on the commitment offense.
