Dateline: The Smoking Gun - How did investigators catch Stephanie Lazarus in connection with Sherri Rasmussen's murder? Details revealed 

Dateline: The Smoking Gun showcases the case of Sherri Rasmussen's murder, where the victim was found dead in her house in Los Angeles. She was living a perfectly married life with her husband, enjoying her promotion as the director of nursing at the hospital. It was in 1986 when Sherri's murder took a toll on her family, but the case remained cold with the investigators believing it to be a burglary case.

When authorities reopened the case after almost 2 decades, post an advancement in DNA technology, they took the swab for the mark that was found on Sherri's body, a bite mark. This is when the DNA report proved the attacker is possibly a woman. It was Sherri's father who doubted her husband's ex-girlfriend, and the police started to follow Stephanie Lazarus, an LAPD officer who once dated John Ruetten. When they tried matching her retrieved DNA with the bite mark, it matched.

Read on to know how investigators caught Stephanie Lazarus in connection with Sherri Rasmussen's murder, as shown on Dateline.

Dateline: The Smoking Gun - How did investigators catch Stephanie Lazarus in connection with Sheri Rasmussen's murder?

When authorities reopened the case in the early 2000s, they revisited an important piece of evidence. This was a bite mark on Rasmussen's arm. They took a swab and got that tested, only to discover that it is from a woman. This made the detective look at the case through a new lens, as the DNA results had debunked the older myth of this being a burglary case involving two males. They submitted the DNA profile to CODIS, the national DNA database, but initially found no match.

In 2009, they shifted their strategy, and instead of connecting the case with random criminals, they started to keep an eye on every woman in Sherri's circle, and that is when their suspicion narrowed down on Stephanie Lazarus, who never caught the detectives' attention being an LAPD officer. They discovered that she once dated John Ruetten, Sherri's husband, and had also shown up at their house unannounced a couple of times.

When they went through her work schedule on the day of Sherri's murder, they discovered she had taken a day off from work, which cemented their doubt. Moreover, she had also reported her revolver missing a week after the murder. The same weapon had been used in the murder, given the bullet marks. However, because Lazarus was serving as an LAPD officer, authorities had to be secretive about their investigation.

This is how Stephanie Lazarus was caught, as shown on Dateline

The detectives started to follow her to notice her schedule and await a chance to collect her DNA confidentially, as explored on Dateline. They followed her to a retail store where she brought some drinks and discarded the cup. The police grabbed the cup from the trash and collected her DNA sample from the saliva.

The case finally completed a full circle when her DNA matched the DNA found on the bite mark on Sherri's arm. Once the detective had the DNA match, they began to plan her arrest. Lazarus was on duty with her weapon and equipment. They plan to call her for help in one of the cases and make sure she enters the interrogation room without a weapon.

When she was interrogated, she denied her involvement first, but still, the investigators arrested her based on DNA evidence. In June 2012, she was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison. The court proceedings also found her guilty, given the DNA evidence that helped prosecutors build a compelling case.

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