The Murder of Sherri Rasmussen

In 1986 Sherri Rasmussen was brutally murdered in her own home. She was a young nurse who had already worked her way to becoming the director of nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and had just gotten married three months earlier. But when her husband John returned home on February 24th, 1986 he found her laying dead on their living room floor and their home absolutely ransacked. Was this a case of robbery gone wrong or was someone in a position of power responsible?

Thank you to the no no no....notorious David White for research assistance:

Archibold, Randal. 2009. "Police Find Unlikely Suspect in a Cold Case: One of Their Own." New York Times, June 13: A11.

Bowden, Mark. 2012. "A Case So Cold It Was Blue." Vanity Fair, July.

McGough, Matthew. 2011. "The Lazarus File." The Atlantic, June.

Mikulan, Steven. 2012. "In plan sight: Stephanie Lazarus was an exemplary cop. She is also a murderer." Los Angeles Magazine, September.

New York Times. 2009. "California: detective must stand trial in 1986 killing." New York Times, December 11.

—. 2009. "California: Detective's Motion Denied." New York Times, December 8.

O'Neill, Ann. 2012. A bite, bullet and broken heart: Former LA cop stands trial for murder. February 8. Accessed November 11, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/justice/lazarus-trial-cold-case/index.html.

People v. Lazaus. 2015. B241172 (Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California, June 13).

Rasmussen v. City of L.A. 2012. B234731 (Los Angeles County Superior Court, November 15).

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.