çaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaça tonight on "nightline," the hot seat. it's a scene out of a cop film but this time the suspect is a cop herself. we have the extraordinary interrogation video of a female l.a. detective accused of murdering a love rival. plus, living in hell. the scenes are heartbreaking. children, living in misery. adults in squalor. ten years ago, abc news exposed terrible human rights abuses. tonight, we have the shocking update, as "nightline" investigates. and, awkward diplomacy. leaked state department cables take swipes at him and her and him. now, they're all meeting up in real life. could it make the most awkward

dinner party ever? it's a "sign of the times." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city this is "nightline," november 30th, 2010. good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with the law. and it is unclear which side of it the suspect in this case is on. chef was a 26-year veteran of the los angeles police department. by all appearances, a model cop, yet stephanie lazarus now faces murder charges. prosecutors say that almost 25 years ago, she beat and shot the wife of an ex-boyfriend and that dna evidence proves it. david wright reports. >> reporter: it's a scene straight out of a cop drama. the setting? an interrogation room in the bowls of lapd headquarters. the suspect doesn't know she's a suspect. she thinks she's being con

culted on an art case. >> do you know john rutten? >> john rutten? yeah, i went to school with him. >> reporter: but stephanie lazarus, herself a decorated police officer, is now on the hot seat. >> is there never any relationship that developed between you guys? >> yeah, we dated. you know i mean what is this all about? >> reporter: what it's all about is a cold case dating back nearly 25 years. the murder of john rutten's wife. >> you remember her first name? >> shelley, sherry i don't know, something. >> reporter: sherry ray. a 29-year-old newly wed beaten and gunned down in her own home. >> sherry was shot several times at close range in the chest by rounds of almost all which would have been fatal immediately. >> reporter: but not before fighting for her life against her killer who, police at the

time assumed was a male burglar who was never apprehended. all these years later, the lapd was able to take a fresh look at this cold case because of dna evidence the murderer left at the crime scene. >> it was some fluids that were connected to a bite mark. >> reporter: dna testing revealed the saliva from that bite mark belonged to a woman. family members have long suspected the ex-boyfriend of the victim's husband. >> she went to the lapd and told them about the fact that this lapd officer, john's ex-girlfriend ex-girlfriend, has shown up where sherry worked. >> reporter: the ex-girlfriend was stephanie lazarus. >> the police at the end told her, you're watching too much tv. >> had you ever met his wife? >> i may have. >> do you remember her name or anything or -- >> um -- um -- >> or what she did for a living

or where she worked or anything about her? >> well, i think -- i'm going to say, i think she was a nurse. >> sherry was a nurse, at glendale aventis medical center. on february 24th 1986 she called in sick, never to be heard from again. >> i don't understand why you're talking about some guy i dated a million years ago. >> do you know what happened to his wife? >> yeah, i know she got killed. >> you think about a crime that occurred in 1986 and now in 2010, you're being confronted, you know, completely out of left field. >> reporter: brad garrett says the videotaped interview suggests lazarus has something to hide. >> do you know what the circumstances were regarding her death? >> geez, let me think back. geez. >> her anxiety is just off the charts. >> i don't know. i don't think i did. >> her respiration has

increased. she has, at times, sort of rapid eye movement. she has a billlittle bit of a nervous giggle. >> is this something -- i mean you said i was going to interview somebody about art. >> she clearly is feeling like the world has just fallen upon her. >> some of sherry's friends say that you and her were having a problem because of the john situation. >> well -- >> reporter: after first denying ever speaking with sherry ray, lazarus starts to back pedal, admitting she may have confronted her at the glendale hospital. >> i don't think there was anything -- if conversation lasted a few minutes, i can't even remember. it wasn't like we went out to lunch or anything. >> the subject matter would have been memorable. the man they had in common. >> what you're telling me is when you guys met at the hospital, you guys talked but it wasn't -- from what you recall

confrontational, from either side? >> i don't think so. i mean -- i'm trying to, you know, turn my memory back you know, and i'm trying -- i can't even picture the, you know, picture the conversation. >> i think it's chilling. this should have been done back in 1986. >> did you ever fight with her? >> you mean like we fought? >> did you ever duke it out with her? >> no, i don't think so. >> you'd remember that. that would be a pretty -- >> yeah, i would think so. >> at this point, you don't have to be a veteran detective, like lazarus is, to get the drift. >> i fought with her, so i must have killed her. i mean come on. >> finally, after more than an hour of all this, the detectives get down to brass tacks. >> would you be willing to give us a dna swab? >> maybe. because now -- now -- now -- >> because now -- >> now i'm thinking i probably need to talk to a lawyer. >> what lazarus doesn't yet know is that the cops already had her dna.

and it's a match, with that bite mark from the crime scene. >> i'm shocked. i'm really shocked that somebody would be saying that i did this i mean, we had a fight and so i went and killed her? i mean come on. >> lazarus gets up and walks out of the room. in the hallway, the sound is still rolling as her fellow police officers place her under arrest. >> stephanie, you are under arrest. >> reporter: lazarus comes back to the interview room in handcuffs. her answers now are crisp and cold. >> stephanie, you know you have the right to remain silent you understand? >> yes. >> anything you say may be used against you in court, do you understand. >> yes. >> reporter: the whole reason this interview has been made public now is because it's evidence in the murder trial, due to start next spring. >> you want to talk to us right now? >> no. >> reporter: stephanie lazarus has pleaded not guilty. if convicted, she could face life behind bars. i'm david wright for "nightline" in los angeles. >> a story we will continue to follow.

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partners, the nonprofit group disability rights international. they released their report abandoned and disappeared, today. tonight, "nightline" investigates. mexico city on the eve of its bicentennial. but we haven't come here from the celebration. we're here to go inside places where few people ever go by choice. mexico's psychiatric institutions. our investigation began ten years ago, when we went to this psychiatric facility just outside mexico city. okay, we're in. it was a nor or the use place, where we witnessed patients without clothing in the freezing cold. all we could do is bring this woman a blanket. there were feces and urine everywhere. the stench unbearable. and there's no towels? and it's -- it's nauseating.

and we were stunned to see medications distributed by a patient from a cardboard box. at another hospital, we found children died and bound, even leashed to a window grate. after our report the government vowed to drastically alter the system. we decided to go back and see if they had. ten years ago when we went to mexico, it was clear there are human rights abuses taking place. >> very serious abuses. >> reporter: eric rosenthal is the director of disability rights international. we worked with him on our original report and teamed up again this fall. in the intervening ten years, has the system been cleaned up? >> it has not. i mean what is shocking is that it's as if time stood still. >> reporter: in fact we were shocked to find the same kids on the same mats rocking back and

forth. we recognize edd marie flores. we're told she's mentally retarlded. experts say people like her shouldn't need to be institutionalized. another young woman found just as we'd last seen her. but this time chewing on a bottle cap. no therapy, no treatment plan, no hope. how bad would you say the violations taking place here in mexico in these facilities are? >> i think frankly, they're among the worst that i've ever seen any place in the world. >> reporter: san francisco bay psychiatrist robert oaken worked with us ten years ago and has traveled the world examining conditions in men at the hospitals. so, this is warehousing. >> this is total warehousing. well, they're just abandoned. they're the castaways of society. >> reporter: treated without dignity, many of them heavily medicated. macario was here on our last

visit, too. he has epilepsy. and lives with his arms tied behind his back. >> it's torture to tie a person down and leave them strapped to a wheelchair for a lifetime. >> reporter: torture has a very specific legal meaning. do you mean it in that sense? >> we mean it in the strict sense of the term. it is a violation of article one of the u.n. convention against torture. a psychiatrist tells us with early intervention, all of the patients here would have had a totally different like. rosenthal rosenthal's group investigated 19 other institutions. in this one, they saw kids all jumbled together. some with disabilities others they say, with no apparent infirmities, like these lively toddlers. >> there's no oversight. there's no more or thing there's no quality control. it's a black hole. >> reporter: not only kids get lost in the black hole of the system. i wanted to find out what happened to all those patients i'd met a decade ago. that first horrible adult

hospital was closed after our last report. and we discovered that 60 patients were dumped here at the samuel ramirez hospital. where this doctor is in charge. even he acknowledges, while the facility is cleaner, the plight of the patients has not been improved. >> they just put them in different facilities. in order to appear like they transformed it. >> reporter: you're saying nothing really changed for the people. >> no, no. >> reporter: the doctor came to the hospital three years ago and has inherited many of the problems. he agreed to take us behind the locked gates. >> let's see something like hell. >> reporter: you -- you're the director here and you describe it as hell? >> you are going to see. i'm not lying. >> reporter: i mean, you look at this man's eyes and he tears up

with human contact. one wonders how long it's been since someone held his hand. we see patients lying naked, unattended, rocking. >> the rocking is a kind of psychological impairment. some of the -- the moaning. it's partially a psychological response to lack of human contact. >> reporter: this man is kept in isolation, we're told, because he bites. we didn't see the signs of aggression, but we did notice his urine-soaked pants. they have only ten clean sets of clothes for 13 patients a nurse explains. how do you feel when you go home? >> smashed against the floor. >> reporter: it was here deep inside the hospital, where we met juan carlos. perhaps no single person represents the agony of this place better than he does. sent as a child from another

institution, he lives in this red helmet with his arms tied behind his back. and he wears the helmet because? he constantly hits his head the director said. the doctor said it's not a good solution, but it's all they can do. in fact, he points out juan carlos is so used to living like this that he becomes agitated when the restraints are off, as we saw for ourselves. >> this is the first time that the -- is coming. >> people that look this dysfunctional really were not this dysfunctional when they came. life in the institution has led to a dee tier your ration. moreover, even the people that you see here after years of institutionalization could be helped if there were more staff in a more integrated setting. >> reporter: can you tell how

many of these people have been made worse by being institutionalized? >> all of them. >> reporter: all of them? >> almost all of them. >> reporter: you're taking a big risk to say all this publicly, aren't you? personal risk? >> just want to be honest, that's all. and somebody in the government got angry or mad or something, i'm really sorry. but it is our reality right now. >> reporter: and it needs to change? >> absolutely. >> reporter: because now the hospitals that are supposed to make people better only make them worse. what percentage of this population could survive outside an institution with appropriate support services in the community? >> i think the vast vast majority could survive with a lot of one to one attention in the community. >> reporter: but isn't that too expensive? especially for a country that spends less on its entire mental

health system than it takes to operate just one u.s. hospital. it's expensive, though. >> there's no amount of poverty in mexico that could explain two staff members trying to take care of 37 clients. there's no poverty that could explain this degree of abandonment. >> reporter: there are small glimmers of humanity. a gift of twiggs and grass to dr. oaken. >> this is about all they have to give. >> reporter: are you okay? we can't help but wonder. ten years from now, will it still be the same for people like juan carlos? we try to comfort him. he has the ability to be soothed, though. >> yes. he's scared. >> yeah. >> reporter: just frightened. >> frightened to death. >> but living in hell.

for its part the mexican government has pledged to support disability rights at the u.n. we spoke to an official at the mexican health ministry who acknowledges that will are serious problems in these institutions but claims that nearly 8 million new dollars have been allocated. we'll stale on they on the story. we'll be right back with tonight's "sign of the times." watch. [dramatic soundtrack plays] wasn't me. you think i could do something... that awesome? enter the "tron: legacy" get on the grid sweepstakes, at disney.com/getonthegrid. this film not yet rated. i'm off to the post office... ok. uh, a little help... oh! you know shipping is a lot

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áwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáwáw >> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with sit ya mcfadden. >> well the full scope of the damage to u.s. foreign policy from the release this week of secret diplomatic cables is still unclear. what is certain is that many are

deeply embarrassing. and there's one person with the delicate task of diffusing that tension. for john donvan, that's a "sign of the times." >> reporter: to speak diplomatically usually means that you do not say what you're thinking. as in, secretary of state hillary clinton arriving early this evening in kazakhstan -- >> nice to see you. you're so cold! >> reporter: she did not say, you know i'd rather be home right now. she did not say, hey, you look just like a female you know who. >> thank you very much. i'm honored to be here. >> reporter: she did not say, when asked by women about the damage caused by the great leak of 2010 -- >> we consider it regrettable that information that was meant to be confidential has been made public. >> reporter: she did not say that it's just plain embarrassing that now many of the leaders that she has to meet and greet and flatter and lecture and persuade and

reassure, and this is just a sampling of the last six months, that many of them now know what was said about them in those cables. you do not want to imagine the awkwardness, actually let's imagine it. it's dinner with secretary clinton as hostess and a table full of guests whose name cards include the comments made about them by invisible u.s. diplomats. so, open some wine for nicolas sarkozy, president of france yes, but also according to a cable, thin skinned and author authoritarian authoritarian. probably want to avoid sitting next to angela merkel that she's rarely creative. let's hope they're serving meat because putin is here, too, and he is russia's alpha dog. afghanistan's hamid karzai may not want to touch the food at all if it's true that he is

driven by pairranoia. and just as well that king jong ill will never be invited to eat anything at this table, for he is a flabby old chap. as for libya's moammar gadhafi, maybe he gets a table all to himself, as he is said to be just strange. it's fantasy, but what is not is the job mrs. clinton now has in front of her, one at a time to smooth a lot of ruffled feelings, beginning tonight in kazakhstan, the nation whose defense minister enjoys one cable said drinking himself into a stuper. oh, dear. what's a diplomat to do? well, just like a dinner hostess, smile and say nice things. >> you have to get along with people. you have to listen to them even if you disagree with them. >> reporter: whenever you're in earshot. and even apparently when you're not. i'm john donvan for "nightline" in washington. >> oh, boy. at least it's in the hands of a veteran. we'll be right back, but first, here's jimmy kimmel. >> jimmy: thank, cynthia. tonight, magic johnson.

autumn reeser is here. music from miguel. and we'll speak to the boy that was attacked by an otter. "jimmy kimmel live" is next.>ñ>ñ>ñ>ñ>ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaçaça

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