A superior court judge set bail at $10 million for veteran Los Angeles Police Department Detective Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, who is accused of shooting and beating to death her ex-boyfriend's wife 23 years ago.

Lazarus, a well-regarded veteran cop dedicated to tracking stolen art, was arrested while working at Parker Center on June 5. Police allege that Lazarus beat and shot to death 29-year-old Sherri Rae Rasmussen, a hospital nursing director, on February, 24, 1986.

Rasmussen's husband, John Ruetten, found her body when he returned home

from work.

For years, Homicide detectives believed the killing was committed by men during a burglary gone bad. Rasmussen's father fruitlessly begged LAPD to consider Lazarus as a suspect, because Lazarus had been in love with Rasmussen's husband. Then early this year, DNA tests of cold-case evidence showed the killer to be a woman — and police finally looked closely at one of their own.

Earlier this month, a judge in a preliminary hearing found there was enough evidence against Lazarus for her to stand trial for the murder.

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