Lazarus never initiated any contact with Ruetten.” Rasmussen decided on the morning (of the killing) not to go to work and stay home has never been explained,” Overland wrote in court documents.
STEPHANIE LAZARUS OBITUARY TRIAL
Overland added there was no evidence presented at trial that showed Lazarus knew where Ruetten and Rasmussen lived or that she knew their phone number.
“It is bleakly ironic that the defendant’s long-running deception now benefits her with respect to sentencing.”ĭefense attorney Mark Overland had pointed out, however, that his client’s personnel file is replete with commendations throughout her 26-year career and did not contain a single allegation of improper conduct or excessive force.
“Her efforts to mislead the initial homicide investigators permitted her to avoid justice for this crime for more than 20 years,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. Prosecutors asked the judge for the maximum sentence. The idea that saliva from a bite mark could be her undoing was inconceivable in 1986 when DNA wasn’t used as a forensic tool. Prosecutors suggested Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence such as fingerprints. No suspects were found and the case went cold until May 2009, when undercover officers followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of her saliva to compare with DNA left at the original crime scene, police Chief Charlie Beck said at the time. The case file, however, did mention Lazarus because of her relationship with Ruetten. Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because detectives then believed two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area were to blame for Rasmussen’s death.
The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark prosecutors say was left by Lazarus on Rasmussen’s arm.ĭefense attorneys argued the DNA evidence was corrupted over the years and could not be considered reliable. They claim Lazarus was consumed with jealousy when Ruetten decided to marry Rasmussen. “The media got to listen to DNA and guilt for 2 1/2 years before Stephanie had her trial.”ĭuring the trial, prosecutors focused on the romantic relationship between Lazarus and Ruetten after they graduated from college. “There was never a presumption of innocence,” said Steve Lazarus. Outside court, Lazarus’ brother and mother said their hearts go out to Rasmussen’s family, but they still support Lazarus and believe she did not get a fair trial.
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