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At approximately 9:45, a neighbor, Anastasia Volanitis, noticed the garage to Rasmussen's condominium was open with no cars inside. Both Ruetten and Rasmussen's sister tried to call Rasmussen at home several times that day, beginning at approximately 10 a.m., but Rasmussen did not answer.
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Ruetten left for work at 7:20 that morning. On February 24, 1986, Rasmussen lived in a condominium on Balboa Street in Van Nuys with her husband John Ruetten and worked as a nurse at a Glendale hospital. It was further alleged that appellant personally used a handgun in the commission of the offense.
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Finding no prejudicial error, we affirm.īy information dated December 18, 2009, appellant was charged with the willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder of Sheri Rasmussen on Febru(Pen.Code, § 187, subd.
Stephanie lazarus obituary trial#
The jury found appellant guilty, and she was sentenced to 27 years to life.Īppellant raises the following contentions on appeal: (1) the pre-accusation delay violated her due process rights (2) the trial court erred in denying a defense motion to quash search warrants used to search appellant's home and computers (3) the trial court erred in denying a defense motion to traverse the search warrants (4) the trial court erred in admitting a tape of appellant's pre-arrest interview by LAPD detectives (5) the trial court erred in failing to hold a Kelly hearing before admitting evidence of partial DNA profiles from material found on the victim's fingernails developed through use of a “MiniFiler” DNA test kit 1 and (6) the trial court erred by failing to allow the defense to introduce evidence of a burglary that occurred in the area six weeks after the murder, and by preventing the defense from cross-examining the prosecution's crime scene expert about the burglary. The bullets used to kill Rasmussen were of the type then used by LAPD officers, and were discharged from a gun similar to one owned by appellant, which she declared stolen two weeks after the shooting. She went to Ruetten in tears, begging him to reconsider, and later confronted Rasmussen at work. At trial, the prosecution established that appellant had been in love with Ruetten and was emotionally devastated when she learned of his and Rasmussen's 1985 engagement. The 1986 crime was not solved until 2009, when a DNA profile obtained from a bite mark on Rasmussen's arm was matched to appellant. Johnson and Michael Katz, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.Īppellant Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, a 25–year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), was charged and convicted of first degree murder in the shooting death of Sheri Rasmussen, the wife of appellant's former lover, John Ruetten. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Linda C. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Tickle, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Stephanie Ilene LAZARUS, Defendant and Appellant. Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.