On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old nursing director Sherri Rae Rasmussen was found beaten and shot three times in the Van Nuys apartment she shared with her husband, John Ruetten. LAPD initially treated the death as a botched burglary, but the investigation stalled for decades amid few leads.

Rasmussen’s father, Nels Rasmussen, long suspected that LAPD officer Stephanie Ilene Lazarus — who had been in a prior relationship with Ruetten — was involved. Detectives reopened the cold case in 2009 and focused on Lazarus after DNA from a bite mark on Rasmussen matched a sample taken from a discarded cup. That evidence became central at trial.

The case included several lawsuits: Rasmussen’s parents alleged the original investigation mishandled or suppressed evidence implicating Lazarus, and criminalist Jennifer Francis later sued the City of Los Angeles claiming she faced pressure and retaliation over the DNA findings.