Parole denied for former LAPD detective found guilty of killing ex-boyfriend's wife

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Stephanie Lazarus will not be released from prison, at least for now, after a panel decided to rescind her parole. Experts say it's a unique case.

Joshua Ritter, who is a former Los Angeles prosecutor, says "This was a crime, not of what we could consider usually passion, but a crime of planning and deliberation. I mean she stalked her victim. She planned it. This was an execution-style killing."

Lazarus was a rookie cop at the time of the murder in 1986 but was arrested and charged with 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen's death in 2009 when she was working as an LAPD detective. Rasmussen had married Lazarus' ex-boyfriend just three months earlier.

When investigators interviewed her, Lazarus told them "I am really shocked that somebody would be saying that I did this, that we had a fight and I went and killed her?... c'mon!"

After that interrogation, Lazarus walked out of the interview and was arrested. She was tried in 2012, found guilty and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

She was at the California Institution for Women in Corona for a parole hearing on Wednesday. Lazarus told commissioners that she studied the bible and got a master's degree in "divinity studies."

RELATED: Early release under consideration for LAPD ex-detective convicted of murder

The state Parole Board is weighing whether to release a former LAPD detective who was convicted in 2012 of killing her ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986.

"Today I have learned that I cannot control anyone but myself, and I am responsible for my decisions," she added.

Rasmussen's husband John Ruetten told commissioners Lazarus had lied before.

"The inmate has exercised her rights to the fullest but has never done the right thing...This is not a typical criminal rehabilitation...I am asking that this grant of parole be reversed."

"She's only served 15 years out of a sentence that had an exposure of life for her. So I think they're thinking to themselves, maybe, despite her conduct in prison, the fact that she does appear to be a model inmate, this is the type of case that they want to take another deeper look at," Ritter said.

There will be another chance for parole. Lazarus will be set for another suitability hearing within 120 days.