Sherri’s beauty was disfigured, obliterated, blotted from existence by three close range shots to the chest. “She was beginning a future with a man Lazarus loved. “Sherri Rasmussen wore the white wedding dress believed was hers,” said Presby. Presby said Lazarus got away with the horrific crime for almost 20 years until a saliva sample from a bite mark on Rasmussen’s arm that was found in a coroner’s fridge in 2005 linked her to the slaying.

Prosecutors believe that Lazarus was so overcome by being jilted by her lover that she bumped off his 29-year-old wife of three months, Sherri Rae Rasmussen, in a fit of jealous rage, and then used her skills as a policewoman to cover up the crime. Today, the former cop, now 51, sits in a Los Angeles courtroom, accused of the vicious slaying of a romantic rival that occurred when she was a young rookie on the force. Over her 26-year career, the married mother of an adopted baby girl won numerous citations and awards by her peers who commended her outstanding abilities, sense of humor, and her “strong moral values.” She and her partner appeared in the LA Weekly’s 2009 People Issue where she was described as a “serious Tyne Daly look-alike à la Cagney & Lacey.” Eventually, she landed a prestigious post as an art-theft investigator, responsible for all thefts and burglaries targeting fire art. She began her impeccable career in Hollywood as a patrol officer before quickly moving on as a supervisor of detectives. Stephanie Lazarus was a dedicated police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

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