but as detective jim nutall went through the original murder book, he found nothing on lazarus, evenhe ex-girlfriend of sherry's husband. >> no indication she was spoken to? >> no. >> just one notion in the chronology of 1986, somebody had written, stephanie l, po, as police officer. as her name had come up but not as a suspect. she seemed to be someone above suspicion. stephanie ilene lazarus grew up in southern california, a tom boy of sorts. loved sports. she attended ucla where she played basketball. it was during her college days that she met and dated john rutten, before and sherry got married. after graduating, lazarus surprised her family by joining the l.a.p.d., this when only a handful of women entered the force. >> i don't think had that i knew she was applying. >> reporter: stephanie's brother, steven. >> i was proud of steph. i thought it was a cool thing. >> reporter: stephanie lazarus quickly rose through the ranks of the l.a.p.d., she was popular. friendly and well regarded. her assignments also included project dare. she was twice named detective of the year. later,