Murderess ex-LAPD cop who gunned down ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986 is denied parole after being branded a liar with no remorse

Plans to release former LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus from prison were denied by the California Board of Parole Hearings following dramatic testimony from the friends and family of the woman she murdered in 1986.

Tuesday's decision overturned a November recommendation by a parole panel that Lazarus should be freed after serving 15 years of a life sentence.

The 64-year-old former member of the Los Angeles Police Department was jailed in 2009 following a dramatic trial that led to Lazarus' conviction some 25 years after the murder of her ex's new wife.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office asked the parole board to review the plan to set Lazarus free in April.

According to the LA Times, tears flowed as John Ruetten spoke of the brutality used to murder his wife, 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen.

Stephanie Lazarus, now 64, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering her ex-love interest's new wife in 1986 and subsequently covering it up for decades

Sherri Rasmussen and John Ruetten on their wedding day, a mere four months before Stephanie Lazarus murdered Rasmussen

Lazarus, jealous of the pair's relationship, murdered the new bride, a crime that she finally confessed to committing before a parole panel last year.

Lazarus had been a detective with the LAPD for 25 years when homicide investigators reopened the cold case of Rasmussen's murder and tested DNA from a bite mark on the victim.

The reopened investigation led to the 2009 arrest of Lazarus, who had expertly covered up her actions all those years ago and then lied for decades to friends and family.

Lazarus met Ruetten while they were both students at UCLA in the late 70s.

The pair dated unseriously for several years post-graduation, but Ruetten testified at the murder trial that he would not have used the word girlfriend to describe Lazarus.

Shortly after Ruetten proposed to Rasmussen, Lazarus confronted him and begged him to break it off.

But Ruetten and Rasmussen got hitched in 1985, just one year before Ruetten returned home from work one day to find his wife deceased after having been badly beaten and shot in the chest several times.

The first investigation found that Rasmussen had been the victim of a robbery by two men at the home she shared with her husband. No arrests of any suspected killers were ever made.

On Monday, some of Rasmussen's friends and family, including her two sisters, asked the parole board to keep the killer behind bars.

Lazarus, they said, was anything but a 'youthful offender' at the time - she was 25 at the time of the killing - and according to her detractors was a highly skilled member of the police force who used her knowledge to plan and execute the murder.

John Ruetten, pictured at Lazarus' mid-2000s sentencing hearing, delivering a victim impact statement

Sherri Rasmussen was just 29-years-old and had only been married for four months when she was murdered in her marital condo

Parents of shooting victim, Sherri Rasmussen, Neil Rasmussen, and his wife Loretta appear at news conference after a court hearing for Los Angeles Police detective Stephanie Lazarus, Tuesday June 9, 2009 in Los Angeles

Though criminal justice reform groups have advocated for the release of Lazarus, a parole board decided against it on Tuesday

Criminal justice reform groups have long-been focused on Lazarus' case and have argued in favor of her freedom due in part to the leadership she has shown during her time in prison.

Jane Dorotik of LA's Innocence Project, called Lazarus 'kind, compassionate and a dedicated individual. She has taken full responsibility for her actions.'

Dorotik previously served a dozen years before having her conviction overturned.

Others told the board that they believe Lazarus is a 'transformed person.'

Lazarus herself did not make an appearance before the board on Monday, but spoke to the panel in November about the murder:

'It makes me sick to this day that I took an oath to protect and serve people, and I took Sherri Rasmussen’s life from her, a nurse. All I could think about was getting out of there before the police showed up.'

The LAPD detective who arrested Lazarus a decade-and-a-half ago, Gregg Stearns, spoke against her release.

'Stephanie Lazarus stalked her victim, chose a time and place when she knew she would have the victim alone. Brought cordage to bind her, used an improvised suppressor to execute her, staged a burglary and then disposed of the murder weapon and filed a false police report with an outside agency to explain the absence of that weapon,' said the veteran Robbery-Homicide Division officer.

'Those are not the hallmarks of youthful offense. They are the hallmarks of criminal sophistication and maturity,' he added, noting that he believes Lazarus is certainly capable of committing the same sort of crime again.