Revoking the parole of a former Los Angeles police officer convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Los Angeles police officer serving a sentence of 27 years to life in prison for the unsolved 1986 killing of her ex-boyfriend's wife was stripped of his chance at parole Wednesday.

Stephanie Lazarus was convicted in 2012 of the murder of Sherri Rasmussen, a 29-year-old nurse who was bludgeoned and shot to death in the apartment where she lived with her husband of three months, John Ruetten. She was only arrested in 2009.

The State Board of Parole Hearings heard arguments from attorneys from both sides during a roughly 90-minute hearing Wednesday. The three commissioners then met privately and returned with the decision to revoke an earlier grant of probation, according to attorney John Taylor, who represents the Rasmussen family.

Taylor said the family was relieved by the decision.

“Lazarus was on parole in advance and was able to evade arrest for 23 years after the murder. She has expressed no remorse for the cold-blooded execution of Sherri Rasmussen, which occurred during her time as an LAPD officer. “It is unfair to the family that she is now being released and enjoying her life while collecting her LAPD pension,” Taylor said in a statement following the board’s decision.

A special parole board committee ruled last November that Lazarus was eligible for parole. The full board considered her case in May, but the final decision was postponed until this week. An attorney for Lazarus could not be located Wednesday.

Rasmussen's sisters and his widower gave emotional testimony about their pain during May's hearing, describing Lazarus as a conniving criminal who used her police training to cover up the murder.

At their trial 12 years ago, prosecutors focused on the romantic relationship between Lazarus and Ruetten after they graduated from college. They claimed that Lazarus was filled with jealousy when Rütten decided to marry Rasmussen.

The case hinged on DNA from a bite mark Lazarus left on Rasmussen's arm, according to prosecutors.

Lazarus was not a suspect in 1986 because investigators at the time believed that two robbers who had attacked another woman in the area were responsible for Rasmussen's death.

No suspects were found and the case was not shut down until May 2009, when undercover investigators followed Lazarus and obtained a sample of her saliva to compare with DNA left at the original crime scene, police said.

Prosecutors suspected that Lazarus knew to avoid leaving other evidence such as fingerprints.

Lazarus rose through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department and became a detective in charge of art forgery and theft.