Transcripts, Video Show LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus Getting Busted for Murder

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 25, 2010 — -- New details on a Los Angeles cold case that led to the murder arrest of a respected police detective show how the case played out like a suspenseful Hollywood script.

Court transcripts and video of an interrogation on the morning of June 5, 2009, reveal how police detectives lured fellow Los Angeles Police Det. Stephanie Lazarus to an interrogation room in the basement of the Los Angeles Police Department's headquarters under false pretenses.

The awkward, sometimes tense interrogation came as a shock to the suspect, who eventually asked, "Am I on 'Candid Camera'?"

But, in fact, Lazarus soon was under arrest for allegedly gunning down Sherri Rae Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse, in 1986, less than four months after Rasmussen married Lazarus' former lover.

At the time of the murder, police believed Rasmussen was the victim of a botched robbery by a suspect or suspects who had committed other crimes in the neighborhood, but no one was arrested and it eventually became a cold case.

Rasmussen's family urged police to keep the investigating going. While the victim's father did not know Lazarus by name, he urged police to look to his daughter's widowed husband's ex-girlfriend, Lazarus.

In 2003, the case was re-examined as part of a slew of cold cases dating back to the 1960's. DNA evidence revealed saliva found on the victim's body belonged to a woman and not a man. New interviews were conducted with the victim's husband, John Ruetten, her father and other family members.

It was then that Det. Lazarus became a suspect. An undercover officer was assigned to follow her and finally collected DNA samples from the veteran officer.