Since her arrest, Lazarus has steadfastly maintained her innocence. Its been nearly two years of hell, not knowing who did this to Sherri or why, he told the assembled reporters. After considerable political machinations, the LAPDs new Cold Case Homicide Unit went operational in November 2001. He also testified that Mr. Graham told him that night, referring to Mr. Walker and Miss Stearns: ''I guess they're going to declare a truce. What happened to Stephanie Stearns also known as Jennifer Nuttall and Sanchez were tasked with getting on-the-record statements from the Rasmussens and updating them on the investigation, without tipping them off to just how close the police were to making an arrest. Paul Turley, in his closing argument, addressed head-on the defendants evident rehabilitation and the three decades that had passed between the crime and the trial. The same person had indeed raped and killed both girls. To maintain secrecy, Stearns, Jaramillo, and Nuttall spent the next week working out of a conference room at the D.A.s office. Without the case file, Butterworth had little information regarding theories of the case or possible suspects, and so lacked context for her discovery. Murder Indictment in February. It was extremely difficult initially to process that possibility, he says. This book is both interesting and clumsily misleading. Two 15-year-old girls from neighboring villages outside Leicester, in the English Midlands, had been killed, one of them that summer and one three years earlier. In January 1987, a bold plan was announced: the police requested that all male residents between the ages of 17 and 34 provide blood samples for DNA analysis, to eliminate themselves as suspects. Attorneys say Stearns was told by Walker that the Grahams drowned while fishing in their small boat in a shark-infested lagoon at Palmyra Island, 1,100 miles southwest of Hawaii. But the one body was enough: Walker and Stearns were arrested in Arizona for murder. Police pinned down no suspects, and the case gradually went cold. Mr. Walker and Miss Stearns turned up here in October 1974, sailing the Grahams's yacht, the Sea Wind, which they had partly disguised and repainted. During those 39 years, 23,713 murders took place in Los Angeles. - Kindle edition by Bucy, Tom. Mr. Walker was walking along the dock at Ala Wai boat harbor when he saw Miss Stearns being taken into custody. But a curious detail caught Butterworths eye. By BARBARA GARCIA. When he was charged with drug sales in 1973, he swore he would never return to the California prison. He got sober and enrolled in college. Woman Denies Assisting in Palmyra Island Slaying It wasnt until nearly two oclock in the morning that Lloyd Mahany, a criminalist from the Los Angeles County coroners office, arrived to examine the body. It was useful for investigative purposes, but too imprecise to serve as a smoking gun. Stephanie Stearns fought back tears Tuesday when she testified about her decision to help her former lover Buck Walker flee drug charges in Hawaii and ultimately Ultimately, the not-guilty verdict turned more on Fuhrmans alleged racism and the LAPDs carelessness in handling evidence than on the validity of the DNA. TheAtlantic.com Copyright (c) 2023 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. According to Bugliosis book, Dorothy Young of La Mesa is an older sister of Bugliosi. Stearns and Jaramillo interviewed Lazarus for more than an hour, coming at her in an oblique manner that left it unclear whether they were speaking with her as a possible witness or a criminal suspect. The press loves these cases, Lambkin says. This mystery profile did not return a CODIS hit, which meant the suspect was not in the FBIs DNA database. It seemed strange that she would not be home; he knew she had called in sick to work that morning. Rasmussen was six feet tall and fit, and the ensuing struggle was ferocious. Miss Stearns and Mr. Walker were convicted in 1975 of stealing a sailing yacht that belonged to Malcolm Graham, 43, and his wife, LaVerne, 40, of San Diego. A woman who worked at a bakery in Leicester had been gossiping with co-workers at a pub when one mentioned that he had agreed to take the blood test on someone elses behalf. She is an actress, known for Dreamers (1999), Triple Threat (2005) where is stephanie stearns today Prosecutors say Walker, in an effort to get a working boat and food supplies to continue their flight from Hawaiian authorities, brutally murdered Eleanor Graham and bragged of forcing her husband to walk the plank while the man cried for his life. In February 2003, a year and a half after its formation, the cold-case unit made its first arrest, solving the 1983 murder of a young nurse and mother named Elaine Graham. Miss Stearns was sentenced to two years; Mr. Walker received 10 years and an additional three for the earlier drug conviction that had caused him to flee Hawaii. The whole family was waiting inside. They were convicted on Federal charges of boat theft and transport of stolen goods. Nels immediately sought out Mayer, the homicide detective, who informed him that the police were looking for one or more burglars in connection with the killing. Lambkin excelled at the work, but by 1990, he felt burned out and decided to shift to homicides. Using the LAPDs annual statistics, Lambkin tallied the numbers. They have also lived in Santa Clara, CA and San Jose, CA. The stolen BMW was found abandoned nearby about a week later, but it offered up no further clues. He and Miss Stearns shifted their sailboat to Honolulu. As tantalizing a clue as Butterworths DNA report provided in the Rasmussen casenamely, that a woman might be the murdererit did not point directly to a specific suspect, unlike the many cold hits rolling in thanks to Prop 69. Wednesday, April 26, 2023 | Today's Paper | 72.248 News. But the DNA results in front of Butterworth were XX, meaning that the person who bit Sherri Rasmussen was female. Stephanie Stearns When it was over, the killer stole the BMW parked in the garage. MYSTERY ON PACIFIC ATOLL LEADS TO MURDER CHARGE, https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/13/us/mystery-on-pacific-atoll-leads-to-murder-charge.html. She is an actress, known for Dreamers (1999), Triple Threat (2005) and America's Most Wanted: Then something changed, Most of Yosemite Valley is closed due to potentially perilous snowpack and flooding, Column: If not cops or guns, what will it take to make us feel safe? Stearns, 39, is accused of plotting Grahams death and helping Walker carry out the crime in what prosecutors have called a modern-day case of piracy and murder. Mr. Walker and Miss Stearns were convicted in separate trials of stealing and transporting the Sea Wind to Honolulu. Stephanie Garrett-Stearns named Chief Communications Officer If you dont solve one, well, no one solved it. As Stearns and Jaramillo would know, but Lazarus could hardly suspect, the moment she ended the interview and walked out of the room, she would be arrested, regardless of what she had told them. Eleanor Graham was either shot or clubbed, then her body was placed in a metal chest and set afire, according to prosecution experts. In 1988, Nels wrote a letter to thenChief of Police Daryl Gates requesting his intervention in the case, specifically looking into the possibility that an ex-girlfriend of Ruettens who was a police officer might have been involved. On April 30, the detectives entered Lazaruss name into the California state gun registry, which returned a list of all the firearms she had ever registered. A murder trial scheduled to begin in Federal Court here this fall will center on the disappearance of a San Diego couple who were swept up in the romance of cruising under sail in the South Pacific. He proposed to her that summer, and they married in November. Its been grueling, Stephanie Stearns told reporters after hugging her tearful parents, who sat in the front row throughout the trial. November 24, 2010, 3:30 PM. I wish Nick the very best in his next chapter., Before joining the Janey administration, Garrett-Stearns (pictured) served as Vice President of Communications and Fund Development for The Community Builders, Inc, where she led communications and fundraising strategy and program execution. At a time when public trust is paramount, our communications team will be a key link between City Hall and the residents of Boston as, we work to create a stronger, more equitable city., An alumna of The Partnership, Inc. Next Generation Executive program for professionals of color, Garrett-Stearns also completed the Business Management Institute at Cornell University. In December 2004, a criminalist named Jennifer Butterworth noticed the unworked request sitting on her colleagues desk and volunteered to handle it. She was acquitted Friday by a federal court jury. But as far as motive was concerned, the information that we had was that [Lazarus and Ruettens] relationship had been over since the previous summer. Stephanie Garrett-Stearns named Chief Communications Officer I found that Buck Duane Walker was granted parole in 2007. I first learned of the Palmyra murders when I saw the TV miniseries based on Vincent Bugliosi's book. Stephanie Stearns Miss Stearns surrendered and was freed on $100,000 bond. When confronted, Pitchfork confessed to the killings, and DNA analysis later confirmed that he had raped both girls. The units initial focus would therefore be on unsolved homicides committed from 1960 through 1998. In January, two persons from Natal, South Africa, were taking a break from their voyage by walking on a beach at Palmyra. That jumps off the page at you, because when you have that, and youre aware that the case is based on two male burglarswell, that alters the entire course of the investigation. Once there, the couple discovered that the condition of their boat and the lack of adequate supplies prevented their return. Stearns, 39, who was convicted along with Walker of stealing the couples yacht, testified that she lied to authorities to help him escape capture but knew nothing of the murder. Lazarus and John Ruetten had become close friends at UCLA, where theyd lived in the same dorm. They settled on Sherri Rasmussens. Given the number of drive-by shootings then occurring in the city, LAPD detectives were far more accustomed to picking shell casings up off the street than searching for hair strands, semen stains, and other barely visible bodily traces. Bugliosi's "And The Sea Will Tell" is an absolute prerequisite to this book. We felt it best, if were going to do this and hand the package to RHD, were going to hand it to them with everything done correctly.. Most of those that knew and loved her are gone and she has been shamefully abandoned by the sailing community. It was four books when it reached me, four books deep, Nuttall says of the case file. Stephanie Stearns Human Resources Professional Tewksbury, MA. Even as forensic technology was taking great leaps forward, the investigation into Sherri Rasmussens murder remained stalled. There was a hole in the temple of the skull. Mr. Walker and Miss Stearns had been trying to plant seeds, but most were eaten by sand crabs. Prop 69 required police to collect DNA samples from all individuals arrested for a felony or a sex crime, as well as from all state-prison inmates who had been convicted of such crimes. PARTINGTON Nuttall was tapped for the job. Soon, all that either of them find is trouble. But that began to change in 1989, when two lawyers, Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, convinced a New York judge that poor laboratory procedures warranted exclusion of DNA evidence that had been introduced against their client. In 1986, a young nurse named Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in Los Angeles. Stearns and Walker had sailed to Palmyra aboard a leaky boat and were the only other people on the atoll besides the Grahams at the time of their disappearance in 1974. But he told Nels, Give me time to do what I have to do, and I think Ill be able to have an answer for you., If a case against Lazarus was going to proceed, it was inevitably going to end up with the departments Robbery-Homicide Division, the elite detective unit that handles the citys most sensitive and high-profile murder cases. Hearing the shots, the downstairs burglar probably fled, ditching the video components. ATSWT reviewed the supposed facts surrounding the murder of the Grahams on Palmyra, and followed STEPHANIE STEARNS (aka JENNIFER JENKINS) upon her The accused killer of a San Diego woman on a tiny Pacific atoll told a U.S. District Court jury that she never harmed anyone in my life.. Seven months later, in September, the unit cleared four cases at once when it arrested its first serial killer, Adolph Laudenberg. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelors degree in human resources management from Michigan State University., Janeys appointment of Garrett-Stearns is her latest move to build one of the most diverse cabinets in the Citys history. Lazarus was friendly with a number of RHD detectives, which made assigning the case a challenge. Next he opened a sexual-assault kit and collected a series of swabs and slides. His dedication, leadership and skill have been invaluable. He walks me in, Nuttall recalls, and I drew a blank on what I was going to say. The awkward silence was broken when Loretta crossed the room to where Nuttall stood, and hugged him. So we looked for sexually motivated murders, where there was a better chance for DNA. He asked Nels about women who might have wanted to harm Sherri, and Nels recounted what he had told detectives in 1986 about Ruettens cop ex-girlfriend, who his daughter said had confronted her at the hospital where she worked. On September 19, DNA analysis was requested on evidence from the 1986 murder of Sherri Rasmussen. stephanie stearns today - negarimon Buck received 10 years for the theft Nels mentioned that his daughter had complained one or two months earlier about an ex-girlfriend of her husbands who had shown up at Sherris hospital one day and confronted her. She typed up her conclusions and sent the report to the cold-case unit on February 8, 2005. Detectives boxed up whichever cases werent being actively worked and sent them back to the divisions where they had originated, if there was room for them, or to the LAPD archives if there wasnt. He told acquaintances that he won the boat in chess games with a friendly millionaire, according to evidence presented at the trial. Simpson was soon linked to the crime by forensic evidencein particular, a blood-soaked glove that a detective named Mark Fuhrman reported finding on Simpsons property. His children and members of his church packed the gallery in support of him.
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