Interview Room: Greg Stearns and Dan Jaramillo, were selected to interview Stephanie Lazarus because they did not know Lazarus well.
Murder Details: –
February 24th 1986, The body of Sherri Rasmussen was found on the floor by her new husband – only 3 months into their married life – John Ruetten was devastated. IT WAS A burglary gone awry or so it was decided by Lyle Mayer, the Los Angeles police detectives who arrived at a gated condo complex in the Van Nuys section of Los
The body of a 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen, a nurse, had been discovered by her husband, John Ruetten. Ruetten, an engineer, had come home from work at 5:55 p.m.. Seeing the garage door open he suspected immediately something was not right. Then noticing glass everywhere – he made his way into the condo and came upon the crime scene.
Deciding it was burglary gone wrong and thought to be local burglars that had frequented the area recently – the case went cold for 2 decades. although why a burglar would want to steal such a thing as a marriage licence?? was not – I believe asked enough times !!
A marriage licence is a personal item – for me – this immediately makes this a personal murder.
The green eyes monster Stephanie Lazarus had not let go of her grip of John Ruetten even after he found love and married Sherri Rasmussen. However the Stephanie Lazarus being an LAPD officer herself was never investigated nearly enough. ……
The Interview / Interrogation
I think one of the most fascinating things to witness during a police crime interrogation is the realisation on the face of the criminal – when they know it’s a ‘done deal’ and there is no getting out of it.
For me Stephanie Lazarus’s interview – which turns interrogation along with an arrest is just that. It holds all the ingredients to hold me to the end. You can actually see the cogs in her head ticking while she babbles on about dates and time – obviously she is just playing for time.
For Stephanie Lazarus – it’s just a matter of time before they let her go or so she thinks. If she can just convince them that she was a good friend of John Ruetten’s family, then ??? all will be well.
When the detectives ask Stephanie Lazarus if she was in touch still with John, or after the death of his wife Sherri Rasmussen again she starts playing around with the response. It should have been – yes I contacted him when I was going on holiday with my friend to Scuba Dive, but she tries to move sideways on this questions.
Again the detective comes back to her on this – Question – Did you stay in contact with John after his wife’s murder?
She tells the officer they were still friends yeah ……. and this is how she continues.
You can almost hear cogs ticking over in her head. At times Stephanie Lazarus looks almost processed in her response. Looking like she is ‘over egging it’ .
The thought that she has been caught is too immense for her to even contemplate. And so she continues down this path of ‘make believe’. However she goes back and forth, wrestling with some of the truth and some lies. Unfortunately for Lazarus, the detectives do not settle for her evasiveness and dig deeper. It’s at these times she askes – with hands out and stuttering “What is all this about anyway” ?
