"If you guys think I'm a suspect, I have a problem with that"

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February 24th 1986 is a typical, sunny Monday in Van Nuys, California—until John Ruetten comes home after work to a terrifying discovery: his wife of 3 months, Sherri Rasmussen, is lying unresponsive on the floor of their condo. As cops question John, he seems genuinely distraught by Sherri's death—but cops don't realize there's something he's not telling them. After John’s failed polygraph, they discover that Sherri was being stalked in the weeks leading up to her murder, and this stalker was determined to cover their tracks. As the case goes cold, Sherri's father, Nels Rasmussen, begins piecing together clues, kicking off a 20 year fight to expose what really happened to Sherri, and get justice before it's too late.

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Credits:

Written, directed & edited by Alexandre Gendron

Researched by Amanda Hein

Voiceover by William Akana

Produced by Alexandra Salois & Salim Sader

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Sources:

Getty Images

48 Hours: One of Their Own, CBS, 2010

20/20: The Killer Down the Hall, ABC, 2024

Dateline: Detective Story, NBC, 2019

The Real Murders of Los Angeles: Once Bitten, 44 Blue Productions, 2023

Snapped: Stephanie Lazarus, Jupiter Entertainment, 2012

Stephanie Lazarus - Full Length Police Interrogation Video, Red Circle Interrogations and Confessions, 2020

Top 5 Most Disturbing Details About The Stephanie Lazarus Case, Grunge, 2025

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