Sherri Rasmussen and John Ruetten Background This includes how critical DNA evidence in the possession of police that could’ve identified the killer sooner was suspiciously lost.Ī cold case story, the Lazarus Files, involves the brutal murder of 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen who worked in the medical field as a critical-care nursing director in L.A. McGough is also a former TV scriptwriter and consultant for the iconic NBC television drama Law & Order.ĭisturbing as the crime itself, McGough’s book meticulously documents how LAPD homicide investigators initially failed to follow up on important evidence that pointed to a fellow officer as a possible murder suspect. A superb writer and an investigative journalist, McGough has the literary skills within his arsenal to write competently about a high-profile complex murder mystery. The story has all the makings of a lifetime mini-series or a Netflix true crime drama. Yet, what is so unusual about the Lazarus Files, is how a brutish female police officer murdered her romantic competition and continued to serve the community apparently without fear of apprehension. People magazine reports that McGough’s book is nonetheless “as engrossing as it is disturbing, using an understated style to take the reader through the complex and sensational case with great clarity.”Īs a 35-year veteran of true crime reporting and writing book reviews about real-life crime dramas, I recommend this book because it is among very few that delves deep into how some large police departments protect fellow officers. McGough’s book goes behind the scenes of a shocking murder that went unsolved for decades. Lazarus was suspected in the murder of a newlywed nurse named Sherri Rasmussen. In a packed true crime book titled The Lazarus Files A Cold Case Investigation written by Matthew McGough, author of Bat Boy Coming of Age With New York Yankees, McGough’s investigation strongly suggests the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) engaged in a systematic cover-up to protect an officer, subsequently identified as Stephanie Lazarus. Perry.Would a police department protect a fellow cop later proven to be a cold-blooded murderer hiding behind a badge? Sounds incredulous, doesn’t it? Well get ready for a spine-chilling story, filled with lust, steamy sex, a diary filled with dreams, broken hearts, a missing gun, police protection, careers destroyed, and a young ambitious life snuffed out too soon. She faces 27 years to life in prison when she returns May 4 for sentencing by Superior Court Judge Robert J. Rasmussen's father maintained that Lazarus should have been suspected from the start because he had been told that his son-in-law had been in a relationship with a cop who had threatened his daughter. Lazarus wasn’t initially considered a suspect because detectives at first believed Rasmussen was the victim of two male burglars. She has remained in custody since in lieu of $10 million bail.ĭuring the videotaped police interrogation, Lazarus said, "You're accusing me of this? Is that what you're saying? I can't believe this." In June 2009, Lazarus was arrested and allowed to retire. Lazarus’ defense attorney Mark Overland suggested the evidence was tainted because the bag holding it was torn after being in storage for 20 years. Prosecutors said they connected Lazarus to the crime through a saliva sample taken from a bite on Rasmussen’s shoulder. 38 caliber revolver with a two-inch barrel, the same one Lazarus bought from the Police Academy just before she became a cop.īut it was DNA evidence on which prosecutors based most of their case. Prosecutors said the bullet used in the crime came from an LAPD issued. Former Chapman law school dean John Eastman indicted in Georgia
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