Snapped Stephanie Lazarus

Status: Incarcerated 

On Oxygen's Snapped, Season 9, Episode 18 the story of the murder of her ex-boyfriend John Ruetten's new wife Sherri Rasmussen by Stephanie Lazarus is shown. The show is described as Stephanie Lazarus was a Los Angeles police detective who committed the murder of her ex-boyfriend John Ruetten's new wife Sherri Rasmussen in February 1986, and got away with it for two decades.

This happened in California.

Stephanie Lazarus was convicted of first-degree murder.[16] Later that month, she was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison

The appeal includes:

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.   Ruetten left for work at 7:20 that morning.   Rasmussen called in sick.   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.   At approximately 9:45, a neighbor, Anastasia Volanitis, noticed the garage to Rasmussen's condominium was open with no cars inside. When Ruetten returned home at 6:00 p.m., he noticed the garage door was open and Rasmussen's BMW was missing.  There was broken glass on the driveway from a shattered sliding glass patio door.   The door from the condominium to the garage, which Ruetten had closed and locked when he left that morning, was ajar. Rasmussen was lying dead on the living room floor, still wearing her sleep shirt and robe.

The pathologist who examined Rasmussen declared the cause of death to be three gunshots to her chest, all fatal.   One was a contact wound and at least one was inflicted while she was lying on the floor or against a similar hard surface.   There were abrasions on Rasmussen's arms, near the wrist, consistent with injury from a rope or cord. There were signs that Rasmussen had struggled with her assailant, including multiple contusions, lacerations and abrasions on her hands, mouth, face, head and neck.   Broken pieces of two of Rasmussen's fingernails were found on the floor near the condominium's front door.   An injury on her face was consistent with a blow from the muzzle of a gun, with a size and configuration matching a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.   There was a blow to her head consistent with a broken vase found near her body.  On Rasmussen's left inner forearm was an apparent bite mark.   The pathologist examined it under a microscope.   Based on the amount of hemorrhaging and the absence of inflammation, she determined that the injury had been inflicted at or about the time of Rasmussen's death

Stephanie Lazarus is housed at California Institution for Women. You can write to her at:

Stephanie Lazarus WE4479
California Institution for Women
16756 Chino-Corona Road
Corona, CA 92880





To view graves or obituaries, click on the victim name link. To read the full appeal filed by the killer, use the link on the killer's name.

Looking for other female inmates? Try these sites

Deadly Affairs | Deadly Women | Fatal Attraction | For My Man 

Snapped Killer Couples | Twisted Sisters | Women Behind Bars