Ex-detective's Murder Trial Goes To LA Jury

Published March 6, 2012 11:00PM (EST)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles jury now has the case of a former Los Angeles police detective accused of murdering an ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986.

The case was submitted to the jury Tuesday afternoon following intense closing arguments by the defense and prosecution.

Key evidence in the cold-case prosecution of Stephanie Lazarus is DNA from a bite mark on the arm of victim Sherri Rasmussen, who was bludgeoned and shot in her condominium just months after her marriage.

Lazarus was a young police officer at the time. By the time of her arrest she was a veteran detective specializing in art crimes.


By Salon Staff

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