Fatal Attraction: The Book Is Never Closed — Ep. 4 | MK Confidential

September 11, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Stephanie Lazarus sat in a California state prison on February 12, 2025, answering questions under oath. She was 64 years old and had been in custody for nearly 16 years. On the other side of the video screen were Sherry Rasmussen’s two sisters, Connie and Teresa, along with Sherry’s two nieces and John Rutten—the man Sherry married, the man Stephanie killed Sherry over and still lost. A parole commissioner named Kevin Chappelle asked Stephanie about a phone call she made on a February morning in 1986. Sherry had answered. Chappelle asked what Stephanie felt when she heard Sherry’s voice.

“I was enraged,” Stephanie said.

She described going down the stairs of her condominium and taking a cord off her workbench. Chappelle asked why she brought that cord to John and Sherry’s home. “Because I was so angry that if she got in my way to see John, I was going to strangle her.” Chappelle asked what she was thinking by the time she reached Sherry’s front door. “I’m going to kill her if I don’t see John.”

Teresa watched her screen, listening to Stephanie talk about murdering her sister. At these parole hearings, Teresa makes a point of staying visible. “Personally, I make an effort to,” she said. “But she never looks up.”

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What you'll learn

1 Fatal Attraction: The Book Is Never Closed — Ep. 4 | MK Confidential
2 (01:00) **Stephanie Lazarus's 2025 Parole Hearing** - Stephanie, now 64 and 16 years into her sentence, testifies under oath about murdering Sherry Rasmussen in 1986
3 (04:57) **Flashback: The 2012 Trial** - Stephanie Lazarus pleads not guilty and refuses to testify as prosecutors build their case
4 (09:48) **The Verdict and Sentencing** - After 17 days, the jury finds Stephanie guilty of first-degree murder
5 (12:24) **The Investigation's Original Failures** - Sherry's father Nels Rasmussen began his own detective work the day after the murder
6 (17:47) **The Single Line in the Murder Book** - Stephanie Lazarus appears exactly once in the case file for 22 years
7 (18:19) **The Missing Trace Evidence** - In 1992-93, Nels and Loretta drive to Van Nuys trying to restart the case

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Megyn Kelly

Show Notes

“MK Confidential” tracks the winding road to justice for Sherri Rasmussen — and why it took so long. With her killer in custody, Sherri’s family watches at trial, sentencing, and early parole hearings to keep her off the streets. The process is arduous, and ongoing.

Megyn sits down with Sherri Rasmussen’s two sisters, Connie Wilkinson and Teresa Lane, to trace the case through their eyes. From the LAPD investigation that plodded along for decades to the cycle of parole hearings and appeals, the arrest of Stephanie Lazarus proves to be only the beginning.

For years, Lazarus maintains her innocence. Then, when it seems her parole is on the line, she flips, and begins revealing details drip-by-drip about the night she took Sherri’s life. Lazarus will make the same case next month; Sherri’s family will be ready. This is Episode 4 of the Sherri Rasmussen story.

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