WEBVTT 00:00:06.912 --> 00:00:09.214 The Rasmussen case was probably 00:00:09.247 --> 00:00:11.817 the oldest unsolved case that I have ever 00:00:11.883 --> 00:00:13.785 had to go back and look at. 00:00:13.852 --> 00:00:17.155 What in god's name, ah, why did they murder her? 00:00:19.724 --> 00:00:22.460 The case then goes cold until there's 00:00:22.527 --> 00:00:25.463 a massive revolution in forensic science called DNA. 00:00:25.530 --> 00:00:27.632 When the DNA profile finally did come back, 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:29.434 it turned the case on its head. 00:00:29.501 --> 00:00:32.504 Once you realise who the suspect is, 00:00:32.571 --> 00:00:35.140 you kind of wish it was anybody else. 00:00:35.207 --> 00:00:36.775 I think every homicide detective 00:00:36.808 --> 00:00:39.177 feels like they owe something to the victim. 00:00:39.244 --> 00:00:41.980 We see them in their worst moment. 00:00:42.013 --> 00:00:45.550 You're going to be the last one to actually speak for them. 00:00:45.617 --> 00:00:48.086 You're going to be the one that's going to say, 00:00:48.153 --> 00:00:49.521 "This is what happened to this person. 00:00:49.588 --> 00:00:52.090 They can't tell you what it is, but I can." 00:01:39.437 --> 00:01:40.805 My name is Robert Bub. 00:01:40.872 --> 00:01:42.841 I'm retired from the Los Angeles Police Department, 00:01:42.874 --> 00:01:46.878 where I did 33 years, 22 of which I worked homicide. 00:01:46.945 --> 00:01:49.814 This is the story of one of the most interesting cases 00:01:49.881 --> 00:01:51.416 I've been involved in, 00:01:51.449 --> 00:01:53.919 and it happened 23 years before I'd ever heard of the victim. 00:01:56.354 --> 00:01:59.357 The case itself is intricately linked with 00:01:59.457 --> 00:02:02.594 one of the greatest scientific advances for police work, 00:02:02.661 --> 00:02:04.229 DNA. 00:02:05.363 --> 00:02:06.798 Sherri Rasmussen, 00:02:06.865 --> 00:02:08.266 she'd been married 00:02:08.333 --> 00:02:10.335 for approximately four months. 00:02:10.368 --> 00:02:13.171 It had been what some would call a whirlwind romance. 00:02:13.238 --> 00:02:15.573 She'd only met him about a year or so before, 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:18.076 John Ruetten, her husband. 00:02:18.109 --> 00:02:20.211 They'd moved into the condo that they shared 00:02:20.278 --> 00:02:22.814 in the city of Van Nuys. 00:02:22.881 --> 00:02:24.115 They were a striking couple, 00:02:24.182 --> 00:02:26.117 your department store picture frame couple. 00:02:26.184 --> 00:02:27.452 John was an engineer. 00:02:27.485 --> 00:02:30.255 Sherri was the director of nursing 00:02:30.322 --> 00:02:32.390 at Glendale Adventist Hospital. 00:02:32.457 --> 00:02:35.393 She had been brought in fairly young to that position, 00:02:35.460 --> 00:02:38.229 but it was a testament to her qualities, 00:02:38.296 --> 00:02:40.899 her intelligence, and her personality. 00:02:40.966 --> 00:02:42.534 She was very well-liked 00:02:42.567 --> 00:02:44.135 by her co-workers and her friends, 00:02:44.235 --> 00:02:45.804 loved by her family, her husband. 00:02:47.472 --> 00:02:49.975 The original detective on the Sherri Rasmussen case, 00:02:50.041 --> 00:02:51.309 Lyle Mayer, 00:02:51.376 --> 00:02:53.645 he'd been with Van Nuys for a number of years 00:02:53.712 --> 00:02:55.780 and had an extensive career working homicide. 00:02:57.148 --> 00:02:58.516 When I arrived, 00:02:58.616 --> 00:03:01.119 obviously there was patrol officers there 00:03:01.152 --> 00:03:03.288 that had secured the crime scene. 00:03:04.155 --> 00:03:05.991 The condo was lovely. 00:03:06.057 --> 00:03:08.326 It was the type of place that 00:03:08.393 --> 00:03:10.628 a young married couple would be in. 00:03:10.695 --> 00:03:12.263 They're starting their young careers, 00:03:12.297 --> 00:03:13.965 they're starting their lives. 00:03:14.866 --> 00:03:18.970 We obviously did investigative procedures 00:03:19.037 --> 00:03:20.338 at the crime scene. 00:03:20.405 --> 00:03:24.075 There was photographs taken from all positions... 00:03:27.946 --> 00:03:33.184 There was fingerprints taken by fingerprint experts... 00:03:35.286 --> 00:03:37.455 We interviewed John. 00:03:37.522 --> 00:03:40.058 John apparently came home from work, 00:03:40.125 --> 00:03:43.194 entered the residence 00:03:43.294 --> 00:03:46.164 through the subterranean garage, 00:03:46.197 --> 00:03:49.367 and when he came upstairs... 00:03:52.103 --> 00:03:54.839 John immediately saw that his wife 00:03:54.939 --> 00:03:57.442 was lying in the middle of the living room floor 00:03:57.475 --> 00:03:59.144 and obviously deceased. 00:04:08.420 --> 00:04:11.756 He was extremely distraught, naturally. 00:04:11.823 --> 00:04:15.860 He gave me information that could be corroborated. 00:04:15.927 --> 00:04:18.096 We did that immediately 00:04:18.163 --> 00:04:22.500 so that'll eliminate him as an initial suspect. 00:04:23.435 --> 00:04:25.170 It was very obvious 00:04:25.236 --> 00:04:28.606 there was a tremendous struggle in the complex. 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:35.246 There was no obvious areas of entry 00:04:35.346 --> 00:04:38.817 that had been broken into. 00:04:38.883 --> 00:04:40.485 Seeing the ransacking 00:04:40.518 --> 00:04:43.154 and the stacking of electronic equipment 00:04:43.221 --> 00:04:45.990 near the exit door to the garage 00:04:46.057 --> 00:04:47.392 lead us to believe 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:49.427 that a residential burglary 00:04:49.494 --> 00:04:52.597 was what was going on here. 00:04:52.630 --> 00:04:56.334 The decedent was still dressed in night clothing. 00:04:59.838 --> 00:05:04.609 It appeared to myself and my investigative partner... 00:05:05.977 --> 00:05:10.882 that the decedent had been scared by an intruder. 00:05:15.086 --> 00:05:17.722 The suspect pulled a gun on her, 00:05:17.789 --> 00:05:20.291 possibly threatening her, 00:05:21.726 --> 00:05:23.027 In my opinion, 00:05:23.094 --> 00:05:25.930 Sherri was fighting for her life. 00:05:25.997 --> 00:05:28.099 Arms were waving, 00:05:28.166 --> 00:05:30.869 the gun was being fired, 00:05:30.935 --> 00:05:35.206 the shots were going up into a glass window frame... 00:05:42.413 --> 00:05:46.384 The suspect, I believe, was losing the fight. 00:05:46.451 --> 00:05:49.487 I believe the decedent got the gun away from the suspect... 00:05:55.760 --> 00:06:00.131 but was afraid to shoot the suspect. 00:06:00.198 --> 00:06:01.332 There was probably talk, 00:06:01.432 --> 00:06:03.868 there was probably screaming... 00:06:03.935 --> 00:06:07.138 It was obvious, in the investigative process, 00:06:07.205 --> 00:06:10.808 the suspect was panicking, 00:06:10.875 --> 00:06:12.977 losing the fight, 00:06:13.044 --> 00:06:15.146 bit the decedent on the arm, 00:06:15.213 --> 00:06:16.481 tremendously... 00:06:16.548 --> 00:06:19.617 A full, full-teeth bite-mark on the arm. 00:06:20.552 --> 00:06:23.555 Obviously the decedent was in pain. 00:06:23.621 --> 00:06:25.290 In my opinion, 00:06:25.356 --> 00:06:26.491 dropped the gun... 00:06:26.558 --> 00:06:29.494 The suspect grabbed a porcelain statue 00:06:29.561 --> 00:06:31.896 and hit the decedent over the head, 00:06:31.963 --> 00:06:33.531 I think knocked her out. 00:06:34.365 --> 00:06:37.902 The suspect then, err, utilized a pillow, 00:06:37.969 --> 00:06:39.170 put it over the decedent, 00:06:39.237 --> 00:06:41.973 and shot and executed the person. 00:06:51.549 --> 00:06:54.586 From there we began the day to day 00:06:54.652 --> 00:06:58.590 trudging of an investigation into a homicide. 00:06:58.656 --> 00:07:03.595 I did a analysis of the recovered bullets... 00:07:03.661 --> 00:07:06.331 I did a great investigative 00:07:06.397 --> 00:07:08.666 trajectory path of the gunshots... 00:07:09.567 --> 00:07:11.336 In the initial investigation, 00:07:11.402 --> 00:07:13.738 one of the things that we're able to determine 00:07:13.771 --> 00:07:16.474 was the weapon used, by type and calibre, 00:07:16.541 --> 00:07:20.111 was a .38 or .357 calibre handgun, 00:07:20.178 --> 00:07:22.847 based on the striations, the twists, 00:07:22.914 --> 00:07:24.782 and the bullets themselves that were recovered, 00:07:24.882 --> 00:07:26.284 and that it was a revolver... 00:07:26.351 --> 00:07:28.052 Because there was no brass, 00:07:28.152 --> 00:07:29.621 no expended shell casings 00:07:29.687 --> 00:07:30.788 left behind, 00:07:30.888 --> 00:07:33.191 as you would find with a semi-automatic handgun. 00:07:33.258 --> 00:07:36.694 There was a reward provided by the City of Los Angeles 00:07:36.761 --> 00:07:39.430 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction 00:07:39.497 --> 00:07:42.066 of the murderer of Sherri Rasmussen. 00:07:42.166 --> 00:07:45.436 We canvassed the whole 00:07:45.503 --> 00:07:49.307 San Fernando Valley burglary reports. 00:07:49.374 --> 00:07:50.808 And then a breakthrough. 00:07:50.908 --> 00:07:54.279 There had been a number of residential burglaries 00:07:54.345 --> 00:07:55.713 within the area. 00:07:55.780 --> 00:07:58.883 And the fact that there was a residential burglary 00:07:58.950 --> 00:08:00.385 a couple of weeks prior 00:08:00.451 --> 00:08:03.554 in a complex similar to this, 00:08:03.621 --> 00:08:04.922 not far away, 00:08:04.989 --> 00:08:07.558 where two suspects were observed. 00:08:07.625 --> 00:08:09.427 One of them did have a gun. 00:08:09.460 --> 00:08:12.363 We thought, wow, this is a great, 00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:16.367 great piece of investigative information for us. 00:08:17.268 --> 00:08:19.170 We developed some 00:08:19.237 --> 00:08:21.472 composite drawings of them, 00:08:21.572 --> 00:08:24.642 but they were kind of generic. 00:08:25.710 --> 00:08:26.944 As a detective, 00:08:27.011 --> 00:08:28.846 having something so similar occur 00:08:28.913 --> 00:08:31.316 in proximity to where your murder occurred... 00:08:31.382 --> 00:08:34.118 I can see that as being a viable lead, 00:08:34.218 --> 00:08:36.120 something that you'd wanna follow up on. 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:38.756 At that particular time, 00:08:38.856 --> 00:08:41.225 we had minimal evidence 00:08:41.326 --> 00:08:43.928 to indicate anything other than 00:08:43.995 --> 00:08:47.999 a residential burglary gone bad, 00:08:48.066 --> 00:08:49.667 where the suspect had a gun, 00:08:49.734 --> 00:08:52.003 the victim confronted the persons 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:54.505 and shots were fired, 00:08:54.605 --> 00:08:57.508 the victim lost. 00:08:57.575 --> 00:08:59.510 Unfortunately, after that, 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:02.113 our investigation never led us to any 00:09:02.146 --> 00:09:06.250 significant suspect or suspects. 00:09:06.317 --> 00:09:08.786 It was kind of a dead end. 00:09:10.521 --> 00:09:13.358 Eventually you have to move on, do other cases, 00:09:13.424 --> 00:09:15.526 because there's other families that're 00:09:15.593 --> 00:09:18.730 going through exactly the same situation. 00:09:18.796 --> 00:09:20.732 After 60 days, 00:09:20.798 --> 00:09:24.769 I had to write an extensive report, 00:09:24.802 --> 00:09:28.973 which was submitted to the robbery homicide unit 00:09:29.040 --> 00:09:30.608 and the chief of police. 00:09:31.609 --> 00:09:32.910 After that, 00:09:32.977 --> 00:09:36.881 the case becomes a cold case. 00:09:38.015 --> 00:09:39.317 At one point we cleared 00:09:39.384 --> 00:09:42.153 all of our homicides in Van Nuys during the 80s. 00:09:42.186 --> 00:09:45.656 But the fact that hers was unsolved 00:09:45.723 --> 00:09:49.994 was a challenge to all of us. 00:09:50.061 --> 00:09:53.264 You were always looking for someone 00:09:53.331 --> 00:09:55.133 who might give you some information 00:09:55.133 --> 00:09:55.166 who might give you some information about the murder of Sherri. 00:09:55.366 --> 00:09:57.401 about the murder of Sherri. 00:09:59.771 --> 00:10:02.840 This was the case that I wanted to solve, 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:06.511 and we just could not get 00:10:06.577 --> 00:10:11.315 that investigative lead to solve the case. 00:10:11.382 --> 00:10:13.818 Time was not on our side. 00:10:20.425 --> 00:10:23.528 Nothing weighs more on a detective 00:10:23.594 --> 00:10:25.863 than knowing that they couldn't solve a case. 00:10:25.930 --> 00:10:28.599 They hope maybe down the road somebody else picks up 00:10:28.699 --> 00:10:31.436 and is able to push it over the finish line. 00:10:32.336 --> 00:10:33.905 When the original detectives 00:10:33.938 --> 00:10:36.374 walked into the Rasmussen apartment that night, 00:10:36.441 --> 00:10:38.376 the idea of DNA 00:10:38.443 --> 00:10:40.978 wasn't anything that was even close 00:10:41.078 --> 00:10:42.980 to a viable investigative tool. 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:44.348 They had what they had, 00:10:44.415 --> 00:10:46.117 and they exhausted what they had 00:10:46.184 --> 00:10:48.152 to then best of their abilities. 00:10:48.219 --> 00:10:50.888 But the advent of DNA was really a step forward, 00:10:50.988 --> 00:10:53.191 especially in the area of homicide investigation. 00:10:53.257 --> 00:10:56.194 The first DNA case in the United States 00:10:56.260 --> 00:10:57.562 was in Florida. 00:10:57.628 --> 00:11:00.231 That individual was prosecuted in 1987. 00:11:00.264 --> 00:11:03.000 And from there, it just grew and grew. 00:11:03.901 --> 00:11:07.138 DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. 00:11:07.205 --> 00:11:11.175 It is the molecular blueprint for all of life. 00:11:11.242 --> 00:11:14.345 DNA is this amazing long molecule, 00:11:14.412 --> 00:11:16.280 that is twisted and wound up 00:11:16.347 --> 00:11:18.616 inside of every cell of our body 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:21.252 and in essence it makes us unique. 00:11:21.285 --> 00:11:23.020 It makes us who we are, 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.623 and unique from each other. 00:11:27.291 --> 00:11:30.027 In the early 2000s, 00:11:30.127 --> 00:11:31.496 the Los Angeles Police Department 00:11:31.562 --> 00:11:33.130 out of Robbery Homicide Division 00:11:33.197 --> 00:11:35.299 created a Cold Case Homicide Unit 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.168 that basically went back 00:11:37.235 --> 00:11:39.270 and looked at a number of cases 00:11:39.303 --> 00:11:41.305 that because of the advent of DNA 00:11:41.405 --> 00:11:43.307 might then be worked, 00:11:43.407 --> 00:11:46.177 and the Sherri Rasmussen case was one of the cases. 00:11:47.678 --> 00:11:50.448 In November 2001, 00:11:50.515 --> 00:11:53.518 I was a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, 00:11:53.584 --> 00:11:56.254 Robbery Homicide Division, Cold Case Squad. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:57.755 With Sherri Rasmussen, 00:11:57.822 --> 00:11:59.757 when I obtained the reports, 00:11:59.824 --> 00:12:03.394 and I was able to look at the photographs from the crime scene, 00:12:03.461 --> 00:12:05.530 it looks like she fought for her life. 00:12:07.431 --> 00:12:10.034 It appears that she is at home alone, 00:12:10.067 --> 00:12:11.969 her husband went to work that morning 00:12:12.036 --> 00:12:14.672 and somebody broke in, 00:12:14.705 --> 00:12:16.774 or she opened the door for someone, 00:12:16.841 --> 00:12:19.277 and there just was one hell of a fight. 00:12:19.343 --> 00:12:21.479 There was blood streaks on the wall, 00:12:21.546 --> 00:12:23.814 the windows are broken out, 00:12:23.881 --> 00:12:25.449 things are toppled... 00:12:25.483 --> 00:12:28.319 I think the stereo speakers and stereo equipment was stacked up 00:12:28.352 --> 00:12:32.089 as if a burglar might've been intending to take them. 00:12:32.156 --> 00:12:33.791 This is a woman totally innocent 00:12:33.858 --> 00:12:36.227 and then somebody murders her brutally. 00:12:36.294 --> 00:12:39.230 I mean, just stood over her and shot into her body. 00:12:39.297 --> 00:12:41.165 So that one I wanted to solve. 00:12:47.371 --> 00:12:49.907 I went back through the autopsy... 00:12:52.176 --> 00:12:56.080 The decedent had numerous points of trauma. 00:12:56.113 --> 00:12:59.250 She had three gunshot wounds to the torso, 00:12:59.317 --> 00:13:01.886 to the front of her... 00:13:01.953 --> 00:13:06.190 She also had blunt force trauma of the head and face. 00:13:07.892 --> 00:13:09.460 She had bruising, 00:13:09.527 --> 00:13:11.896 abrasions, and lacerations. 00:13:12.763 --> 00:13:15.466 That means that there was close contact 00:13:15.533 --> 00:13:18.769 between the assailant and her 00:13:18.836 --> 00:13:21.405 when she is being killed. 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:26.544 A bite mark was noted on the decedent's left arm. 00:13:29.780 --> 00:13:33.150 We don't see bite marks that often in forensic medicine, 00:13:33.217 --> 00:13:34.952 but when we see a bite mark, 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:36.420 it has been drilled into us 00:13:36.520 --> 00:13:38.522 that we have to swab that bite mark... 00:13:38.589 --> 00:13:41.759 Particularly for an assailant's saliva. 00:13:41.792 --> 00:13:45.162 So, you don't want to push too deep 00:13:45.262 --> 00:13:47.264 but you don't want to be too light 00:13:47.331 --> 00:13:49.433 because you need to try to get as much 00:13:49.533 --> 00:13:52.903 off of that bite mark as you possibly can. 00:13:52.970 --> 00:13:56.073 The bite mark was photographed, measured, 00:13:56.140 --> 00:13:58.376 and they swabbed the bite mark 00:13:58.442 --> 00:14:00.077 to do blood typing, 00:14:00.177 --> 00:14:02.279 which was the science of the day. 00:14:02.346 --> 00:14:04.749 You might be surprised to know that you could actually 00:14:04.815 --> 00:14:08.419 determine a person's blood type by looking at other body fluids, 00:14:08.452 --> 00:14:11.589 because 80 percent of us are called secretors. 00:14:11.656 --> 00:14:12.990 So in other words, 00:14:13.057 --> 00:14:16.260 we secrete some of our proteins that allow us to determine 00:14:16.327 --> 00:14:19.730 what your blood type is in your saliva. 00:14:19.797 --> 00:14:22.099 There were two different blood types found there... 00:14:22.166 --> 00:14:23.934 O, which was Sherri's... 00:14:25.002 --> 00:14:28.906 The other blood type that was found there was an A. 00:14:28.973 --> 00:14:30.841 A suspect who is a secretor 00:14:30.941 --> 00:14:33.844 and you can determine that his blood type is A 00:14:33.911 --> 00:14:35.813 narrows your suspect pool 00:14:35.846 --> 00:14:39.450 down to about 40 percent of the general population. 00:14:40.351 --> 00:14:42.286 So in the 1980's, 00:14:42.353 --> 00:14:45.022 even though we weren't doing DNA typing, 00:14:45.089 --> 00:14:47.324 there were good habits in place 00:14:47.391 --> 00:14:49.927 because you understood that you could take these stains... 00:14:49.994 --> 00:14:52.496 As long as you preserved them, you dried them, 00:14:52.563 --> 00:14:55.499 you put them in a freezer, you kept them in the dark. 00:14:55.566 --> 00:14:57.868 All these steps tried to preserve the stains 00:14:57.935 --> 00:14:59.937 for improved testing. 00:15:00.004 --> 00:15:03.841 We knew that person had physically touched our victim, 00:15:03.874 --> 00:15:05.242 had bitten our victim. 00:15:05.309 --> 00:15:07.478 I said, "Great, we have some DNA." 00:15:07.511 --> 00:15:09.013 And then we made requests 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:12.883 and submitted the sample to our lab for the testing. 00:15:12.983 --> 00:15:15.086 The job of a forensic scientist 00:15:15.152 --> 00:15:17.388 is to provide a support to investigators 00:15:17.455 --> 00:15:19.957 that're trying to solve these very difficult crimes. 00:15:20.024 --> 00:15:21.625 I don't know if you could imagine 00:15:21.692 --> 00:15:23.794 what it's like to walk into a room 00:15:23.861 --> 00:15:25.396 and see a dead body, 00:15:25.463 --> 00:15:29.533 and be the person responsible for figuring out who did that. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.036 And that's why the evolution of DNA 00:15:32.103 --> 00:15:34.171 has been so amazing. 00:15:34.271 --> 00:15:35.773 The first DNA test 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.142 started looking at perhaps one marker, 00:15:38.175 --> 00:15:40.511 or the next test maybe nine markers, 00:15:40.544 --> 00:15:43.514 or the last test, the test we use now, 00:15:43.547 --> 00:15:46.150 allow us to now look at something called amelogenin, 00:15:46.183 --> 00:15:47.985 and that's a marker that tells us 00:15:48.052 --> 00:15:49.987 whether it's from a male or a female. 00:15:50.054 --> 00:15:51.255 If it's from a male, 00:15:51.288 --> 00:15:53.657 we'll see an X and Y chromosome is present. 00:15:53.724 --> 00:15:56.794 If it's from a female, we'd see an X and an X. 00:15:58.863 --> 00:16:02.133 The criminalist, informed me... gave me a call... 00:16:02.199 --> 00:16:04.568 Said, "Hey, I typed it for DNA." 00:16:04.635 --> 00:16:06.403 I said, "Okay, and...?" 00:16:06.470 --> 00:16:08.906 She goes, "It's a female." 00:16:08.939 --> 00:16:12.109 And that kinda set me back. I'm sitting there. "A female?" 00:16:16.580 --> 00:16:18.582 We started out maybe just being able to 00:16:18.649 --> 00:16:20.684 answer the question, 00:16:20.718 --> 00:16:22.787 "Does this person's DNA match?" 00:16:22.853 --> 00:16:26.023 Now we can actually get potential lead information from some of it. 00:16:26.090 --> 00:16:28.225 We can say whether it's from a male, 00:16:28.325 --> 00:16:30.227 whether it's from a female. 00:16:30.294 --> 00:16:31.395 They might've assumed 00:16:31.462 --> 00:16:33.597 this bite-mark was made from a male, 00:16:33.697 --> 00:16:34.932 but in fact, 00:16:34.965 --> 00:16:36.767 it's made from a female. 00:16:36.834 --> 00:16:38.803 So that had to have changed 00:16:38.803 --> 00:16:40.805 the whole direction of the investigation. 00:17:04.728 --> 00:17:08.065 The Rasmussen case was probably 00:17:08.132 --> 00:17:09.900 the oldest unsolved case 00:17:09.967 --> 00:17:12.636 that I have ever had to go back and look at. 00:17:12.736 --> 00:17:14.371 Most of the cases 00:17:14.471 --> 00:17:17.208 just by nature of how old they were 00:17:17.274 --> 00:17:19.109 and other circumstances, 00:17:19.176 --> 00:17:21.745 a lot of the evidence was no longer around. 00:17:21.812 --> 00:17:25.082 It hadn't been stored properly, or for one reason or another, 00:17:25.149 --> 00:17:26.450 mistakes are made 00:17:26.517 --> 00:17:29.620 and some of the evidence is disposed of. 00:17:31.522 --> 00:17:33.791 The surprising thing in the Rasmussen case 00:17:33.858 --> 00:17:35.960 was when the DNA profile came back 00:17:36.026 --> 00:17:37.962 and the secondary profile, 00:17:38.028 --> 00:17:40.197 aside from Sherri Rasmussen, 00:17:40.264 --> 00:17:42.132 came back to a female. 00:17:42.199 --> 00:17:45.035 Not what the original detectives had looked at. 00:17:46.637 --> 00:17:47.905 Historically, 00:17:47.972 --> 00:17:50.507 there were very few female burglars. 00:17:50.574 --> 00:17:54.144 Maybe we needed to start looking at someone closer to Sherri. 00:17:54.211 --> 00:17:56.113 Suddenly now you're looking at suspects 00:17:56.180 --> 00:17:57.681 who might've known your victim, 00:17:57.781 --> 00:17:59.049 who are female, 00:17:59.116 --> 00:18:01.418 and might've had a reason to not like the victim. 00:18:01.485 --> 00:18:03.954 So, especially in this particular case, 00:18:04.021 --> 00:18:05.522 that was a real breakthrough, 00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:07.324 that they could use this DNA typing 00:18:07.424 --> 00:18:09.326 to give them a lead like that. 00:18:10.227 --> 00:18:12.396 At that point we started to turn around 00:18:12.429 --> 00:18:15.199 and re-examine the case again with fresh eyes. 00:18:15.266 --> 00:18:18.269 And little things started to jump out at us 00:18:18.335 --> 00:18:20.571 that then seemed to fly in the face of 00:18:20.638 --> 00:18:22.139 the initial burglary theory. 00:18:22.206 --> 00:18:25.142 You can look at a cold case, and you can look at photographs, 00:18:25.209 --> 00:18:26.710 you can look at diagrams... 00:18:26.810 --> 00:18:29.680 The drawer that was pulled out from the end table 00:18:29.713 --> 00:18:31.248 in between the two chairs 00:18:31.315 --> 00:18:35.219 might initially look like something had been ransacked. 00:18:35.286 --> 00:18:37.955 But again, then you look at the coffee table itself 00:18:38.022 --> 00:18:40.291 and something that would hit the coffee table 00:18:40.357 --> 00:18:42.259 strong enough to knock those items off 00:18:42.326 --> 00:18:45.095 but not knock the coffee table off line 00:18:45.162 --> 00:18:48.065 with the couch and the love seat, 00:18:48.098 --> 00:18:50.367 just didn't jibe for us. 00:18:50.467 --> 00:18:53.837 The placement itself of the audio-visual equipment 00:18:53.904 --> 00:18:55.606 at the bottom of the stairs, 00:18:55.673 --> 00:18:58.742 when the initial point of entry for a burglar 00:18:58.842 --> 00:19:00.477 was determined to be the front door, 00:19:00.577 --> 00:19:02.579 because there were no forced entry anywhere else... 00:19:02.613 --> 00:19:04.882 You would think that the those items 00:19:04.949 --> 00:19:07.084 would be placed closer to the front door. 00:19:07.117 --> 00:19:09.820 A different picture started to emerge for us. 00:19:09.887 --> 00:19:12.823 The fact that it's a contact wounds 00:19:12.890 --> 00:19:14.124 and there's a bite mark. 00:19:14.191 --> 00:19:17.027 It's a close, more personal murder 00:19:17.094 --> 00:19:19.029 than say a burglar who's being caught 00:19:19.096 --> 00:19:20.364 and just wants to escape, 00:19:20.397 --> 00:19:22.499 fires a couple of rounds and takes off. 00:19:22.566 --> 00:19:26.003 It just didn't jibe once we knew that it was a female. 00:19:26.070 --> 00:19:27.972 This lead us to believe that possibly 00:19:28.038 --> 00:19:31.041 the entire burglary scene had been staged. 00:19:38.949 --> 00:19:41.685 We began to compile a list of people, 00:19:41.752 --> 00:19:43.687 females in Sherri's life, 00:19:43.754 --> 00:19:47.024 who may have had contact with her, 00:19:47.091 --> 00:19:49.593 who may have had a dispute with her. 00:19:53.998 --> 00:19:56.433 We narrowed it down to five women 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.336 that we wanted to take a look at and eliminate. 00:19:59.403 --> 00:20:02.072 Her mother and her sister. She had a roommate. 00:20:02.139 --> 00:20:05.042 There was a female that she'd had an issue with 00:20:05.109 --> 00:20:07.311 at Glendale Adventist Hospital. 00:20:07.378 --> 00:20:09.913 And then there was possibly an ex-girlfriend 00:20:09.980 --> 00:20:12.082 of Sherri's husband John. 00:20:12.983 --> 00:20:14.885 In looking at her mother and her sister, 00:20:14.952 --> 00:20:16.520 they were eliminated just because 00:20:16.553 --> 00:20:19.823 familial DNA would have been a much closer match 00:20:19.923 --> 00:20:22.459 than what we actually found. 00:20:22.526 --> 00:20:24.461 We went back to Nels Rasmussen, 00:20:24.561 --> 00:20:25.629 Sherri's father. 00:20:25.696 --> 00:20:27.831 He informed us that we should be looking at 00:20:27.931 --> 00:20:31.835 the ex-girlfriend of Sherri's husband John... 00:20:31.935 --> 00:20:33.971 that he thought may have been 00:20:34.038 --> 00:20:36.707 capable of committing this crime. 00:20:38.776 --> 00:20:40.110 After the murder occurred, 00:20:40.177 --> 00:20:42.046 John moved in with some friends, 00:20:42.112 --> 00:20:44.681 I believe in the San Diego area, 00:20:44.748 --> 00:20:46.483 and eventually relocated there. 00:20:46.583 --> 00:20:47.985 He met his current wife, 00:20:48.052 --> 00:20:50.054 and they married and began raising a family, 00:20:50.120 --> 00:20:52.489 and he's been in San Diego area ever since. 00:20:53.424 --> 00:20:55.859 Our initial inquiry into Sherri's husband John 00:20:55.926 --> 00:20:57.861 was just to inform him that we were 00:20:57.961 --> 00:20:59.696 investigating the case again. 00:20:59.763 --> 00:21:00.964 He was co-operative. 00:21:01.031 --> 00:21:03.867 We asked John who this ex-girlfriend was. 00:21:03.967 --> 00:21:06.870 John identified Stephanie Lazarus to us. 00:21:07.805 --> 00:21:10.741 They had met while both attending college at UCLA, 00:21:10.808 --> 00:21:15.312 and that they had had kind of an off-and-on relationship. 00:21:15.379 --> 00:21:17.047 All indications were that she was 00:21:17.114 --> 00:21:20.050 more attracted to John than John was to her. 00:21:20.117 --> 00:21:23.954 When he and Sherri met and started dating, 00:21:24.021 --> 00:21:25.889 he had told Stephanie 00:21:25.956 --> 00:21:28.225 that their relationship was over. 00:21:32.629 --> 00:21:35.365 Once we had identified through John Ruetten 00:21:35.432 --> 00:21:38.469 that Stephanie Lazarus was his ex-girlfriend, 00:21:38.535 --> 00:21:40.537 we went back to Nels Rasmussen, 00:21:40.637 --> 00:21:41.972 Sherri's father. 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:43.707 He informed us 00:21:43.774 --> 00:21:47.511 that in late January of 1986, 00:21:47.544 --> 00:21:50.614 Sherri had been at a family event 00:21:50.647 --> 00:21:53.484 and that Sherri had related a story to him 00:21:53.550 --> 00:21:57.621 that a female had shown up Glendale Adventist Hospital. 00:22:01.525 --> 00:22:04.161 And during that verbal confrontation 00:22:04.228 --> 00:22:07.264 had said, "If I can't have John, 00:22:07.297 --> 00:22:09.433 nobody's going to have him." 00:22:11.301 --> 00:22:14.438 It left Sherri with a sense of foreboding. 00:22:25.149 --> 00:22:28.685 When we started looking at Stephanie Lazarus 00:22:28.785 --> 00:22:31.155 in hopes that this would connect up with Sherri's murder, 00:22:31.221 --> 00:22:32.956 we started going back through the book 00:22:33.023 --> 00:22:35.859 to see if there were mention of her name. 00:22:35.926 --> 00:22:38.428 It was a shock to our system. 00:22:42.833 --> 00:22:46.203 We were looking at an active-duty police officer for murder. 00:22:47.337 --> 00:22:50.207 There's a gamut of emotions that you run through. 00:22:51.108 --> 00:22:52.910 You realise who the suspect is, 00:22:52.976 --> 00:22:55.479 and what this means for the department, 00:22:55.546 --> 00:22:57.981 for her family... 00:22:58.048 --> 00:23:00.551 This was going to be difficult. 00:23:01.418 --> 00:23:05.222 I think there's an initial moment of disbelief. 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:07.191 One of our own officers 00:23:07.257 --> 00:23:09.927 was suspected in committing a brutal murder. 00:23:11.094 --> 00:23:12.696 Stephanie Lazarus 00:23:12.729 --> 00:23:16.433 was a highly-decorated and a very well-liked police detective 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:19.269 on the Los Angeles Police Department. 00:23:20.170 --> 00:23:22.239 She'd been in some sought-after jobs. 00:23:22.306 --> 00:23:23.707 She was a DARE instructor, 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:27.211 which is officers that teach about drug abuse. 00:23:27.277 --> 00:23:28.845 She had made detective. 00:23:28.879 --> 00:23:31.515 She had worked Internal Affairs for a certain amount of time. 00:23:31.582 --> 00:23:35.953 And she was eventually selected to go to the Commercial Crimes Division, 00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:37.588 and she was one of two 00:23:37.654 --> 00:23:41.758 detectives who specialized in forged and stolen art. 00:23:42.659 --> 00:23:45.762 I knew very little about Stephanie Lazarus. 00:23:45.829 --> 00:23:47.331 I certainly had seen her 00:23:47.397 --> 00:23:49.766 around the building many times. 00:23:49.833 --> 00:23:53.036 I knew she was an instructor 00:23:53.103 --> 00:23:55.672 for the department on certain subjects. 00:23:55.739 --> 00:23:57.841 I knew she had a reputation 00:23:57.908 --> 00:24:00.510 for being very out-going, aggressive... 00:24:00.577 --> 00:24:01.912 High-energy person. 00:24:01.979 --> 00:24:05.415 It was abundantly clear that maintaining the confidentiality, 00:24:05.482 --> 00:24:09.686 the actual secrecy of this case was going to be paramount... 00:24:09.786 --> 00:24:13.323 Notwithstanding the fact that Stephanie Lazarus at that time 00:24:13.390 --> 00:24:15.759 worked on our floor in the next office, 00:24:15.792 --> 00:24:17.261 and was often in our offices, 00:24:17.327 --> 00:24:20.297 you know, socializing with her friends and colleagues 00:24:20.364 --> 00:24:23.066 that she knew in our division. 00:24:25.802 --> 00:24:29.406 If Lazarus didn't pan out as a viable suspect, 00:24:29.439 --> 00:24:31.608 we didn't want a good officer's 00:24:31.675 --> 00:24:34.611 reputation and her name dragged through the mud 00:24:34.678 --> 00:24:36.146 if it turned out she had 00:24:36.213 --> 00:24:38.448 absolutely nothing to do with the case. 00:24:38.548 --> 00:24:41.084 So all our conversations with regards to that 00:24:41.184 --> 00:24:43.287 were made with the door closed. 00:24:43.353 --> 00:24:44.788 It was a peculiar feeling, 00:24:44.821 --> 00:24:47.691 that we were investigating one of our own for a murder. 00:24:47.724 --> 00:24:50.027 But the other side of that coin... 00:24:50.093 --> 00:24:51.361 The family and the victim, 00:24:51.428 --> 00:24:53.096 they deserved a certain amount of justice 00:24:53.163 --> 00:24:55.098 and it wasn't anything that we were gonna 00:24:55.165 --> 00:24:57.401 pack up and put away. 00:24:59.303 --> 00:25:01.071 We did the same background 00:25:01.104 --> 00:25:03.307 that we would do on any suspect. 00:25:03.373 --> 00:25:05.409 Short of being able to interview co-workers, 00:25:05.409 --> 00:25:07.444 family members, 00:25:07.477 --> 00:25:11.114 because it would tip them off that we were looking at her 00:25:11.181 --> 00:25:12.949 with regards to a murder. 00:25:13.016 --> 00:25:15.419 As we looked at Stephanie Lazarus' background, 00:25:15.485 --> 00:25:17.321 we found that she had been married to 00:25:17.387 --> 00:25:20.857 another detective on the department. 00:25:20.957 --> 00:25:22.125 And that detective 00:25:22.225 --> 00:25:23.960 was assigned to a division 00:25:24.027 --> 00:25:26.263 which was on the floor 00:25:26.263 --> 00:25:28.532 just below us at Van Nuys Division. 00:25:30.600 --> 00:25:33.103 We ran her through the computer system 00:25:33.136 --> 00:25:36.306 to find out what weapons had been registered to her. 00:25:37.207 --> 00:25:40.844 She'd had two two-inch revolvers, 00:25:40.877 --> 00:25:43.146 .38 calibre, that were registered to her. 00:25:43.246 --> 00:25:45.882 That was the calibre of the bullet that had killed 00:25:45.949 --> 00:25:48.418 Sherri Rasmussen. 00:25:48.485 --> 00:25:50.387 It struck me as odd 00:25:50.454 --> 00:25:53.056 that someone would own two of them. 00:25:53.123 --> 00:25:55.592 We found out that the first two-inch .38 00:25:55.659 --> 00:25:57.627 she reported stolen 00:25:57.694 --> 00:25:59.496 from the City of Santa Monica, 00:25:59.529 --> 00:26:02.399 and the second one was purchased, I believe, 00:26:02.466 --> 00:26:05.535 about ten days after the murder occurred. 00:26:09.306 --> 00:26:12.776 In addition, she'd been on a few days off, 00:26:12.809 --> 00:26:14.911 leading up to and including 00:26:14.978 --> 00:26:17.981 the day the murder occurred. 00:26:20.884 --> 00:26:23.520 We knew we could go no further with it 00:26:23.553 --> 00:26:25.489 without a more positive link between 00:26:25.555 --> 00:26:28.492 Stephanie Lazarus and the murder itself. 00:26:28.558 --> 00:26:32.763 We elected to attempt to get a DNA sample. 00:26:32.829 --> 00:26:35.365 There was no other real viable leads 00:26:35.432 --> 00:26:38.034 beyond Stephanie Lazarus at that point, 00:26:38.101 --> 00:26:41.204 and the DNA was a make-or-break item. 00:26:54.851 --> 00:26:58.422 We needed to get a DNA sample 00:26:58.488 --> 00:27:01.224 from Stephanie Lazarus. 00:27:02.459 --> 00:27:04.060 While some people may think 00:27:04.094 --> 00:27:06.329 the DNA for an active officer is on file, 00:27:06.396 --> 00:27:09.833 there is no file for active officers. 00:27:09.866 --> 00:27:11.868 Your DNA is not sampled 00:27:11.935 --> 00:27:14.504 and is not stored anywhere for later comparison. 00:27:14.571 --> 00:27:17.574 Even fingerprints that're taken when you come on the job 00:27:17.607 --> 00:27:20.677 are kept in a separate file in the Department of Justice, 00:27:20.744 --> 00:27:22.712 in Sacramento, in California. 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.882 There are three ways you could 00:27:25.949 --> 00:27:27.551 get a DNA reference sample. 00:27:27.617 --> 00:27:29.719 The first way is you can ask them. 00:27:29.786 --> 00:27:31.888 When you interview them, or you talk to them, 00:27:31.988 --> 00:27:34.991 you can ask them to voluntarily give you a sample. 00:27:35.091 --> 00:27:37.160 The second way is you go to a judge. 00:27:37.227 --> 00:27:39.162 You establish probable cause, 00:27:39.229 --> 00:27:41.131 and they give you a court order 00:27:41.198 --> 00:27:42.766 or a search warrant of some kind, 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.768 and that then forces the individual 00:27:44.835 --> 00:27:46.736 to give you a sample. 00:27:48.271 --> 00:27:52.509 The third way that you can go about trying to get a DNA sample 00:27:52.576 --> 00:27:56.913 would actually be to surreptitiously collect a sample. 00:27:56.980 --> 00:27:59.282 The investigators can follow the individual around 00:27:59.382 --> 00:28:04.154 and wait for them to discard something in the trash on the ground... 00:28:04.221 --> 00:28:07.090 It is legal for us to collect anything that's been abandoned, 00:28:07.157 --> 00:28:08.758 if you think of it that way. 00:28:08.825 --> 00:28:10.594 When we're looking at a suspect, 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:13.296 even in a cold case, they are a murder suspect. 00:28:13.396 --> 00:28:16.900 And there is a certain amount of deference you have to pay to that, 00:28:16.933 --> 00:28:19.102 for the safety of the people around them, 00:28:19.169 --> 00:28:20.737 for officer safety... 00:28:21.371 --> 00:28:22.672 At this point, 00:28:22.772 --> 00:28:24.875 our next step was gonna have to be 00:28:24.941 --> 00:28:27.477 something along the lines of the surreptitious DNA. 00:28:27.544 --> 00:28:29.412 We elected to go through 00:28:29.412 --> 00:28:31.281 our Professional Standards Bureau, 00:28:31.314 --> 00:28:33.550 which works just these kinds of cases, 00:28:33.617 --> 00:28:35.952 where a suspect is a police officer. 00:28:36.853 --> 00:28:39.422 The PSB surveillance unit followed Stephanie Lazarus 00:28:39.489 --> 00:28:41.758 on a day that she was off. 00:28:41.825 --> 00:28:43.760 She had gone to a store, 00:28:43.827 --> 00:28:46.329 and had gotten a soda... 00:28:56.239 --> 00:28:58.074 When she was done, 00:28:58.174 --> 00:29:00.076 she put the cup and straw 00:29:00.143 --> 00:29:02.245 in a trash receptacle. 00:29:03.146 --> 00:29:04.548 Once she left the scene, 00:29:04.614 --> 00:29:07.250 they recovered it and brought it down to be booked... 00:29:09.786 --> 00:29:12.622 And then it was submitted for testing. 00:29:19.195 --> 00:29:21.965 Potentially on the end of the straw 00:29:21.998 --> 00:29:24.734 would be coming in contact with an individual's mouth, 00:29:24.834 --> 00:29:28.939 which would then leave saliva and genetic material behind, 00:29:29.005 --> 00:29:30.740 in the form of buccal cells, 00:29:30.840 --> 00:29:34.945 or the skin cells that line the inside lining of your mouth. 00:29:35.011 --> 00:29:36.346 In the lab 00:29:36.379 --> 00:29:37.914 you could swab the straw 00:29:37.981 --> 00:29:41.217 and go ahead and start the DNA analysis procedure 00:29:41.284 --> 00:29:45.121 with that straw by analyzing the swab. 00:29:46.723 --> 00:29:49.292 By the nature of this case, 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:50.760 it was rushed. 00:29:50.860 --> 00:29:54.497 I received a phone call from our SID people... 00:30:00.403 --> 00:30:03.373 We were informed that it was indeed a match... 00:30:05.275 --> 00:30:08.044 between the DNA swab from the bite mark 00:30:08.111 --> 00:30:09.713 and the swab from the soda 00:30:09.779 --> 00:30:11.881 that was discarded by Stephanie Lazarus. 00:30:13.783 --> 00:30:16.686 The original murder happened in 1986. 00:30:16.753 --> 00:30:20.423 I mean, this was 23 years prior, 00:30:20.523 --> 00:30:23.560 and the idea that the evidence was still there, 00:30:23.627 --> 00:30:25.629 that it was still viable enough, 00:30:25.695 --> 00:30:27.864 and then the years after that, 00:30:27.931 --> 00:30:31.868 that you're able to actually get a DNA match... 00:30:32.936 --> 00:30:34.704 We knew that if the DNA 00:30:34.771 --> 00:30:36.940 did come back to Stephanie Lazarus, 00:30:37.007 --> 00:30:39.643 that the case would be transferred downtown. 00:30:39.709 --> 00:30:40.910 At that point 00:30:40.977 --> 00:30:43.213 I received a phone call from 00:30:43.213 --> 00:30:45.482 one of the supervisors at Robbery Homicide Division. 00:30:45.548 --> 00:30:47.717 He said, "I understand you have a case for me." 00:30:47.784 --> 00:30:50.720 Robbery Homicide Division are the best of the best. 00:30:50.787 --> 00:30:52.455 These are detectives that come from 00:30:52.522 --> 00:30:54.324 all divisions across the City. 00:30:54.391 --> 00:30:56.793 They've all had extensive homicide experience, 00:30:56.826 --> 00:31:00.296 they've worked big cases, they've worked notable cases... 00:31:00.363 --> 00:31:03.299 Detective Dan Jaramillo and Detective Greg Stearns 00:31:03.366 --> 00:31:05.301 were the main case agents. 00:31:05.368 --> 00:31:07.671 Certainly there was a big concern 00:31:07.737 --> 00:31:09.973 that if Stephanie became aware of this investigation 00:31:10.040 --> 00:31:11.474 that she could flee, 00:31:11.541 --> 00:31:13.309 that she might harm herself, 00:31:13.376 --> 00:31:14.944 that she might harm other people. 00:31:14.978 --> 00:31:18.214 This is obviously something that she had gotten away with 00:31:18.281 --> 00:31:20.383 for 26 years. 00:31:20.450 --> 00:31:22.452 She was getting close to retirement. 00:31:22.485 --> 00:31:25.455 I mean, her career with the department was about... 00:31:25.488 --> 00:31:27.691 Y'know, about to end on a happy note, 00:31:27.757 --> 00:31:30.427 and she was married had a young daughter, 00:31:30.493 --> 00:31:33.363 and obviously there was no good outcome. 00:31:34.764 --> 00:31:36.099 My partner and I, 00:31:36.132 --> 00:31:38.368 we really had to start concentrating on 00:31:38.435 --> 00:31:40.770 to devise a strategy for interviewing Stephanie Lazarus 00:31:40.837 --> 00:31:43.506 and trying to see if we could find a way 00:31:43.606 --> 00:31:47.243 to get her to sit down with us and talk about a murder 00:31:47.310 --> 00:31:48.878 that we believe she had committed. 00:31:48.978 --> 00:31:51.815 We had been given a directive from the chief of police 00:31:51.881 --> 00:31:54.517 that we had to interview her in our jail. 00:31:55.418 --> 00:31:57.253 And his reasoning 00:31:57.353 --> 00:31:59.956 was that he wanted us in an environment 00:32:00.023 --> 00:32:01.624 where weapons are not allowed. 00:32:02.525 --> 00:32:04.527 As a matter of policy in our jail, 00:32:04.627 --> 00:32:06.730 you're not allowed to be armed. 00:32:08.465 --> 00:32:12.001 We had an entire operational plan that had been set up. 00:32:12.068 --> 00:32:14.170 We had a search warrant 00:32:14.237 --> 00:32:16.606 to search Stephanie's home, 00:32:16.673 --> 00:32:18.108 her vehicles, 00:32:18.174 --> 00:32:19.542 and also her work space, 00:32:19.609 --> 00:32:21.544 and also her car at work. 00:32:21.611 --> 00:32:23.880 There was a surveillance element that followed Stephanie, 00:32:23.913 --> 00:32:26.382 making sure that she actually came to work, 00:32:26.449 --> 00:32:28.118 because again we were very concerned 00:32:28.184 --> 00:32:30.153 about her being tipped off. 00:32:31.054 --> 00:32:33.156 And if she was to try and flee, 00:32:33.189 --> 00:32:34.791 then we had a surveillance entity 00:32:34.858 --> 00:32:37.794 that was there to prevent that from happening. 00:32:37.861 --> 00:32:40.196 There were team leaders that were designated. 00:32:40.263 --> 00:32:41.798 They were given sealed envelopes 00:32:41.865 --> 00:32:44.801 and they were told to go to various locations. 00:32:44.868 --> 00:32:47.370 And the team leader would open the envelope 00:32:47.437 --> 00:32:49.806 and then they would understand what was happening. 00:32:49.873 --> 00:32:51.941 I mean, I think the majority of the division 00:32:52.008 --> 00:32:54.444 felt that we were arresting a politician from this city 00:32:54.511 --> 00:32:57.180 because the level of secrecy was so high. 00:32:59.849 --> 00:33:02.185 So there were a lot of moving pieces that day, 00:33:02.218 --> 00:33:04.654 apart from just the interview itself. 00:33:04.721 --> 00:33:07.524 So we get the word that Stephanie arrived at work. 00:33:07.590 --> 00:33:09.959 My partner went to go make contact with her. 00:33:10.026 --> 00:33:11.461 I went down to the jail. 00:33:11.528 --> 00:33:14.931 I turned on the equipment so that she could be recorded... 00:33:14.964 --> 00:33:17.333 How are we going to get Stephanie 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:19.602 to come to the jail to come talk to us? 00:33:19.669 --> 00:33:22.572 The plan was that my partner Dan Jaramillo 00:33:22.605 --> 00:33:24.541 approached her at her desk in the morning 00:33:24.607 --> 00:33:27.343 and told her that we had this suspect in custody 00:33:27.410 --> 00:33:28.812 who's talking about stolen art, 00:33:28.878 --> 00:33:31.614 and would she mind coming down to the jail where he was 00:33:31.714 --> 00:33:33.817 to talk to him and help us out. 00:33:35.552 --> 00:33:37.453 This is probably the most pressure 00:33:37.520 --> 00:33:40.190 I'd ever felt in interviewing a suspect. 00:33:45.028 --> 00:33:47.163 Do you know John Ruetten? 00:33:47.197 --> 00:33:49.165 John Root-en? 00:33:49.199 --> 00:33:50.834 John Rutt-en? 00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:53.036 Yeah, I went to school with him. 00:33:53.102 --> 00:33:55.205 I mean, are you guys... 00:33:55.271 --> 00:33:56.806 Is this somethin'... 00:33:56.873 --> 00:33:59.943 I mean, you said I was going to interview somebody about art, 00:34:00.043 --> 00:34:02.478 and now you guys are, I mean... 00:34:02.545 --> 00:34:05.048 Had you ever met his wife? 00:34:05.114 --> 00:34:06.449 I may have. 00:34:06.516 --> 00:34:08.151 Remember her first name? 00:34:08.218 --> 00:34:10.753 Shelley? 00:34:10.820 --> 00:34:12.655 Um, Sherri...? 00:34:12.722 --> 00:34:14.190 I don't know, somethin', maybe... 00:34:14.224 --> 00:34:17.160 You know, like I said, it's been so many years. 00:34:17.227 --> 00:34:20.396 Once we have to transition pivot to the subject of the murder, 00:34:20.463 --> 00:34:22.899 I think we both expected that interview was gonna end, 00:34:22.966 --> 00:34:25.902 that this was probably gonna be a five-minute interview... 00:34:32.442 --> 00:34:34.210 It's always important to 00:34:34.244 --> 00:34:36.346 try and get a statement from a suspect, 00:34:36.446 --> 00:34:38.414 to try and understand from their perspective, 00:34:38.481 --> 00:34:40.583 why this murder happened. 00:34:42.418 --> 00:34:45.989 Obviously, y'know, the end-goal would be a confession. 00:34:46.089 --> 00:34:49.058 From all the years, as far as you can remember, 00:34:49.125 --> 00:34:52.262 do you remember ever talking to her? 00:34:52.362 --> 00:34:54.864 There had been an incident in which Stephani 00:34:54.864 --> 00:34:57.367 e had come to Sherri's workspace at the hospital 00:34:57.433 --> 00:34:59.202 and there had been a verbal confrontation. 00:34:59.269 --> 00:35:02.205 And it had been witnessed by Sherri's secretary. 00:35:02.272 --> 00:35:05.441 Well, Sherri's secretary had passed away in the intervening years, 00:35:05.508 --> 00:35:07.377 and so that was something that was 00:35:07.477 --> 00:35:09.979 never going to come into a court of law 00:35:10.013 --> 00:35:11.648 because we didn't have a witness. 00:35:11.714 --> 00:35:14.651 However, in speaking to Stephanie, 00:35:14.717 --> 00:35:18.955 she obviously remembered that that altercation had taken place 00:35:19.022 --> 00:35:21.524 and it had been witnessed by at least one person. 00:35:21.591 --> 00:35:25.528 Yeah, yeah, I may have... I am thinking back now. 00:35:25.595 --> 00:35:28.097 You guys are bringing up all these old memories. 00:35:28.164 --> 00:35:30.500 And now I'm thinking I may have gone to her 00:35:30.566 --> 00:35:33.903 and said, "Hey, you know what, is he dating you? 00:35:33.970 --> 00:35:35.538 He's bothering me." 00:35:35.605 --> 00:35:38.608 And so I'm thinking that we had a conversation about that. 00:35:38.675 --> 00:35:41.611 So that was a huge get for us in the interview 00:35:41.678 --> 00:35:43.479 because we can now corroborate 00:35:43.546 --> 00:35:45.848 a pretty significant event that had happened. 00:35:45.915 --> 00:35:48.184 Do you know what happened to his wife? 00:35:48.251 --> 00:35:50.019 Yeah, I know she got killed. 00:35:50.053 --> 00:35:52.488 As we started to get closer and closer to the subject 00:35:52.555 --> 00:35:54.991 of the death of Sherri, the murder... 00:35:55.058 --> 00:35:57.327 Y'know, visibly, 00:35:57.393 --> 00:35:59.562 she was becoming more and more nervous. 00:35:59.629 --> 00:36:01.397 Did you ever fight with her? 00:36:01.431 --> 00:36:02.765 You mean, like we fought? 00:36:02.832 --> 00:36:05.401 Yeah, did you ever duke it out with her? 00:36:05.435 --> 00:36:07.236 No, I don't think so. I mean... 00:36:07.303 --> 00:36:08.705 You would remember that, right? 00:36:08.771 --> 00:36:10.974 That would be a pretty... 00:36:11.040 --> 00:36:12.308 pretty specific. 00:36:12.342 --> 00:36:14.510 Yeah, like I said, obviously... 00:36:14.577 --> 00:36:18.181 You know, I mean... 00:36:18.247 --> 00:36:20.183 It just doesn't sound familiar. 00:36:20.249 --> 00:36:22.352 I mean, what are they saying? 00:36:22.418 --> 00:36:25.188 So, I fought with her? So, so... 00:36:25.254 --> 00:36:27.991 Getting the jump, or the leap... 00:36:28.057 --> 00:36:31.461 They're saying I fought with her, so I must've killed her. 00:36:31.527 --> 00:36:35.031 I mean, c'mon. I mean, that's... Y'know... 00:36:35.098 --> 00:36:37.300 I don't even know who these people are. 00:36:37.367 --> 00:36:39.869 I can't even say I met any of these people. 00:36:39.936 --> 00:36:41.371 I mean, it's insane. 00:36:41.471 --> 00:36:44.941 And its relating to a guy that you were dating, 00:36:45.008 --> 00:36:46.275 and she is dating now. 00:36:46.342 --> 00:36:49.679 Just like a whole love triangle type of thing. 00:36:49.746 --> 00:36:51.748 You figure you would remember that, right? 00:36:51.848 --> 00:36:53.449 Well, I would think. 00:36:53.483 --> 00:36:57.286 So, if we ask you to give us a DNA sample, 00:36:57.353 --> 00:36:58.688 a Buccal swab, 00:36:58.755 --> 00:37:01.224 so we can identify or eliminate you, 00:37:01.290 --> 00:37:03.092 would you be willing to do that? 00:37:03.126 --> 00:37:04.494 Maybe. 00:37:04.560 --> 00:37:06.329 'Cause I know this... I... 00:37:06.396 --> 00:37:07.897 That's what we're onto. 00:37:07.964 --> 00:37:11.768 I mean, because right now, from looking at the evidence, 00:37:11.868 --> 00:37:15.772 it's possible we may have some DNA at the location. 00:37:15.872 --> 00:37:17.774 I just can't even believe it. 00:37:17.874 --> 00:37:19.208 I mean, this is just... 00:37:19.275 --> 00:37:20.877 I mean, I'm shocked, I'm really shocked, 00:37:20.943 --> 00:37:23.046 that somebody would be saying that I did this. 00:37:23.112 --> 00:37:26.582 I mean, we had a fight and so I went and killed her? 00:37:26.649 --> 00:37:28.084 I mean, come on. 00:37:28.151 --> 00:37:29.786 That's... 00:37:29.886 --> 00:37:31.354 Okay, alright. 00:37:31.421 --> 00:37:34.791 Thanks for giving me the courtesy. 00:37:34.891 --> 00:37:36.392 Thanks for your time. 00:37:36.426 --> 00:37:39.162 And she got up to walk out of the interviewing room 00:37:39.228 --> 00:37:40.997 and walked a short distance in the hallway 00:37:41.064 --> 00:37:44.734 and was met by our arrest team that we had in place. 00:37:50.306 --> 00:37:52.275 I think that there was the shock 00:37:52.341 --> 00:37:55.445 that for 26 years that she had gotten away with this. 00:37:55.511 --> 00:37:57.547 That if I was gonna get caught, 00:37:57.613 --> 00:38:00.149 I was gonna get caught early-on in the investigation, 00:38:00.183 --> 00:38:01.350 and it never happened... 00:38:01.417 --> 00:38:04.353 That this was something that was done 00:38:04.420 --> 00:38:06.923 that never gonna come back to haunt her. 00:38:09.959 --> 00:38:11.394 As we're leaving the building, 00:38:11.461 --> 00:38:13.496 there were helicopters swarming all over headquarters. 00:38:13.529 --> 00:38:14.831 The news was already out 00:38:14.897 --> 00:38:17.200 that we had arrested one of our own for murder. 00:38:17.300 --> 00:38:19.535 And I remember saying to my partner, 00:38:19.535 --> 00:38:21.804 "Oh my God, what did we just do?" 00:38:23.539 --> 00:38:25.141 Because this was something 00:38:25.208 --> 00:38:26.542 that's obviously extremely rare... 00:38:26.576 --> 00:38:29.011 Arresting one of our own members for a murder. 00:38:29.078 --> 00:38:31.581 That hadn't happened in decades. 00:38:32.482 --> 00:38:34.717 A Los Angeles Police detective 00:38:34.784 --> 00:38:37.186 has pleaded Not Guilty 00:38:37.186 --> 00:38:39.589 to the 1986 murder of her ex-boyfriend's wife... 00:38:39.655 --> 00:38:42.158 The trial was over six weeks in length. 00:38:42.225 --> 00:38:45.795 Even though you feel you have phenomenal evidence in the case, 00:38:45.862 --> 00:38:48.331 you never know how that jury's gonna evaluate that evidence. 00:38:48.397 --> 00:38:49.866 This would be speculation on my part, 00:38:49.966 --> 00:38:53.302 but I believe Stephanie went there to try and abduct Sherri 00:38:53.369 --> 00:38:55.872 to take her somewhere else, to kill her. 00:38:57.707 --> 00:39:00.810 And at the point that Sherri fought back, 00:39:00.877 --> 00:39:02.211 the plan went awry. 00:39:02.245 --> 00:39:05.047 And at that point she to stage the burglary 00:39:05.114 --> 00:39:07.817 and then really kind of distance herself from John, 00:39:07.884 --> 00:39:10.153 because to be close to John after that 00:39:10.219 --> 00:39:13.156 would've been to greatly increase the likelihood 00:39:13.222 --> 00:39:15.191 that she would be identified as a suspect. 00:39:16.092 --> 00:39:19.862 What we thought was her motive for the murder... 00:39:19.896 --> 00:39:22.532 She thought that with Sherri out of the way, 00:39:22.598 --> 00:39:24.700 she could come back into the relationship. 00:39:24.767 --> 00:39:27.170 But I think she overestimated it again, 00:39:27.236 --> 00:39:28.738 how John felt about her. 00:39:28.804 --> 00:39:31.274 All these things kinda led us to the idea 00:39:31.374 --> 00:39:32.975 that she had never really gotten over John Ruetten 00:39:32.975 --> 00:39:35.545 as the first love of her life. 00:39:35.645 --> 00:39:37.079 What I found interesting was, 00:39:37.146 --> 00:39:39.148 when John Ruetten got up 00:39:39.148 --> 00:39:42.151 and made his impact statement.. 00:39:42.218 --> 00:39:44.287 Your Honour, I'm John Ruetten. 00:39:45.721 --> 00:39:49.358 Sherri Rasmussen had a profound impact on so many people... 00:39:53.262 --> 00:39:55.631 I was proud that she agreed to be my wife. 00:39:55.665 --> 00:39:57.400 And the fact that Sherri's death 00:39:57.466 --> 00:39:59.902 occurred because she met and married me 00:39:59.936 --> 00:40:02.271 brings me to my knees. 00:40:05.641 --> 00:40:08.744 I do not know, and fear I will never know, 00:40:08.811 --> 00:40:10.846 how to cope with this appalling fact. 00:40:10.913 --> 00:40:13.683 Stephanie, during that impact statement... 00:40:13.783 --> 00:40:15.685 Though she didn't look at John Ruetten, 00:40:15.785 --> 00:40:18.521 it seemed like she was paying attention 00:40:18.588 --> 00:40:20.590 to everything that he was saying, 00:40:20.656 --> 00:40:23.459 almost as if there was still, in her mind, 00:40:23.526 --> 00:40:25.194 a connection between her and John Ruetten. 00:40:25.261 --> 00:40:26.696 Stephanie had a journal 00:40:26.762 --> 00:40:28.297 that we found in her home 00:40:28.331 --> 00:40:31.300 where she had talked about different times she was upset. 00:40:31.334 --> 00:40:33.536 There was a very powerful attraction 00:40:33.536 --> 00:40:35.705 for her to John Ruetten. 00:40:35.771 --> 00:40:38.574 She was devastated when he chose to 00:40:38.574 --> 00:40:41.410 end it and pursue Sherri. 00:40:41.477 --> 00:40:43.613 And in searching her computers, 00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:45.815 and learning that years after the murder and after, 00:40:45.881 --> 00:40:48.117 she was already married to her husband, 00:40:48.184 --> 00:40:50.353 that she was still searching for John, 00:40:50.419 --> 00:40:53.422 trying to see where he lived, for example... 00:40:53.489 --> 00:40:55.992 She still had not let go of this person 00:40:56.058 --> 00:40:57.627 from her life, from her mind, 00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:07.236 We the jury, in the above entitled action, 00:41:07.303 --> 00:41:10.373 find the defendant Stephanie Eileen Lazarus 00:41:10.439 --> 00:41:14.110 guilty of the crime of the murder of Sherri Rasmussen. 00:41:14.744 --> 00:41:20.316 _ 00:41:20.349 --> 00:41:24.453 Stephanie Lazarus got 27 years in prison, 00:41:24.520 --> 00:41:28.024 plus a certain amount of time for the use of a firearm. 00:41:28.124 --> 00:41:32.461 To me it doesn't weigh against the amount of time that Sherri 00:41:32.528 --> 00:41:35.665 never had with the rest of her family. 00:41:35.765 --> 00:41:37.500 DNA in this particular case 00:41:37.566 --> 00:41:39.769 gave us the perspective to go back 00:41:39.835 --> 00:41:41.170 and look at other things... 00:41:41.237 --> 00:41:44.173 How the apartment looked, how she was treated, 00:41:44.240 --> 00:41:46.275 and just the idea that it was 00:41:46.342 --> 00:41:50.046 different from the original theory of the crime. 00:41:50.946 --> 00:41:54.784 DNA is the lynch pin in solving this case. 00:41:55.851 --> 00:41:57.620 And in this case, 00:41:57.687 --> 00:42:00.823 it was able to take us all the way through to a conviction.