The murder trial of Stephanie Lazarus opens in Los Angeles Superior Court a quarter century after the killing of her alleged romantic rival.

The defendant is a veteran police detective who says she did not kill Stephanie Rasmussen, the woman who married her ex-boyfriend. Investigators linked her to the case through DNA analysis of saliva from a bite mark on Rasmussen's arm.

The case has all the elements of a TV crime drama _ two pretty women, a bloody murder scene and a love triangle. The murder mystery has already inspired multiple TV reality shows. It is a classic cold case with detectives reopening it and tagging one of their own as a suspect.

DNA is expected to be the key and Lazarus' lawyer will say the evidence was contaminated.