Please enable Javascript in your browser and try I had to understand what happened and why. [00:30:34] Bob: Now your wedding is a cause. Macchiarini had told Alexander that he was on a work trip in Russia, but when Alexander pulled up near his home, she said he was standing on the steps with his dog. She was devasted to learn all the lies told by Macchiarini. We need to be pointing the finger at the con man.. We had been divorced for a couple of years at that point and for three years, and he was diagnosed with glioblastoma which is a very, there's no good kind of cancer, no good kind of brain cancer, but the, you know, the outlook is not good, you know they, they kind of give someone two years at the most. Alexander is well-known for her career in production and film and was also in a relationship scam that made headlines and fueled her documentary, "He Lied About Everything." Benita has spoken about her experience in numerous national and international TV and radio programs. See production, box office & company info, Fatal Experiments: The Downfall of a Supersurgeon. [00:04:24] Benita: Right, yeah, and they're not always happy endings, and you do, you, unfortunately, you know, you report on a lot of very, very difficult things in news. She soon discovered that as she lived an apparent fairy tale romance -- with someone who not only seemed to care for her and her daughter but also lavished her with expensive gifts and trips -- others were already searching for the truth about Macchiarini. And that was the moment I just thought, oh, I'm, I'm falling for this man, you know, and I just, I just sort of melted into his arms. She had already spent good money on her wedding preparations. A successful TV journalist, the single mother-of-one was interviewing him for a report on cutting-edge medicine. Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next. Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English Buy Season 1 He is one of the world's leading cardio thoracic surgeons. With Whoopi Goldberg filling the narrators seat, the series kicks off with the story of Paolo Macchiarini, a former world-renowned thoracic surgeon now known for research fraud and his strange involvement with an unsuspecting producer by the name of Benita Alexander. But unfortunately, her personal life has been marred by a turbulent childhood in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and a series of unsuccessful relationships. On Feb. 14, Investigation Discovery, in conjunction with Efran Films, will premiere the astonishing and true story of love gone wrong in a new documentary special called, He Lied About Everything. I see a woman and two kids," she said, adding that she knew about Paolo's wife in Italy. They became friends and over time she felt herself falling for him, despite her journalistic integrity impeding the romance. The Korean girl that had undergone Macchiarini's procedure in Illinois, whose story Alexander had been sent to cover, had died in the time following the surgery. He worked at the place that awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. I was just giddy with happiness. I don't want you to do anything except find your dresses and just, all you have to do is show up and look beautiful. It started with Andrea Bocelli was going to be singing in the church, because Paolo told me that his mother and Bocellis mother were friends. "He didnt know Pope Francis, he wasnt his personal doctor.". ", Heartbroken, Alexander continued to discover more of Macchiarini's lies in the ensuing months. [00:36:44] Bob: I feel like there's some people you meet who are simultaneously uh impressive but uncomfortable. It was an excellent place. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? [00:31:04] Matthew Christopher: I'm a couture wedding gown designer. [00:06:46] Benita: And he was, as I said, called the super surgeon, and he was the pioneer in this field. I mean most 8-year-olds will change their minds, you know, many times, but I never changed. It was magical. Hosted by Benita Alexander. And he said, he finally said, "Well, I'm going to go and talk to my contacts at the Vatican." [00:36:55] Bob: Benita, the TV producer, is very used to managing all the details of a big event. [00:34:17] Bob: Well, at some point you transition from wow to okay, I've got to get to work on this, right? This is a surgeon. Um, and so he had, we were coming back into the room after dinner one night, and I was kind of teasing him. They live in the same area outside Florence. After Cetir's surgery, doctors say she had to undergo an additional 191 surgeries for other complications. And this trip had been planned for a very long time. Documentary Two-hour special that investigates the perfect engagement gone wrong between Emmy award-winning journalist, Benita Alexander, and the internationally acclaimed surgeon, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? [00:23:20] Bob: Bo also spent many months following Paolo around the world, getting to know him, getting Paolo to open up to him. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. You are no longer 21 !!! She'd been in the intensive care unit in Turkey for three years, and her health was still deteriorating. As these events were unfolding, Maccharini allowed Lindquist to follow him for a documentary film. Benita met and married a fellow reporter, John Noel, and moved with him to New York, where they welcomed their daughter in 2003. Which sounds a bit absurd, however, he is an Italian surgeon. The scale . In addition to her work at NBC, she was the Executive Producer of the Oxygen documentary, "Seduced by Evil," which premiered in 2019 and reveals how a group of women banded together to take down the man who stole everything from them. [00:39:49] Matthew Christopher: Um, so Paolo was going to have a place where he came out, after he did something with the Pope, and he said he's going to give her this ring, and there were going to be fireworks and blah, blah, blah, but he was going to be handed off to her in this dress, right, for a reception, and the dress was going to come out with this tulle overskirt, and it was going to ripped off by Paolo, and it was going to have a dance gown underneath, like Dancing with the Stars. You know, it was awful for her family. "I went full on into investigator mode as I knew he wouldnt tell me the truth," Benita said. Excellent place. The university even cited some of the whistleblowers, reprimanding them for their participation in some of Macchiarini's papers. Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries'. The famous surgeon, a miracle worker who gives hope to hopeless patients, who's rewriting the rules of medicine. Alexander felt compelled to cancel the wedding, yet while she tried to figure out the extent to which Macchiarini had lied, she said she let him think they would still marry one day. I mean it was crazy. On your mark, get set, go. I mean it got to the point where he loved to surprise me, everywhere we went. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails Cetir died waiting for the lung transplant she desperately needed. ABCs The Con is a true-crime documentary series that unveils the curtain on the people behind some of the most atrocious scams in recent times. [00:17:35] Benita: Around this time that my ex-husband, John, passed away, we became romantically involved. My daughter who, you know, has been through a lot. I was so career-driven, and so career-oriented, but I was madly in love. 5 People Vanished Along the Snake River Beginning in 1979: Will Police Finally Catch a Serial Killer? He, he had sort of slowly moved his way into my heart and I, I think I just really needed to be wrapped in love at the time, and I, yeah, we fell in love. But the biopsies showed the cells were dead and that there was actually fungi growing on the plastic, he said. That's next week on The Perfect Scam. This very personal film, which Benita narrates herself, documents how her fairytale romance with a world-renowned surgeon turns into a nightmare. [00:11:55] Bob: And how old were you then? If you want to tell somebody's story well, it, it helps if you can really tell it from their perspective. [00:33:49] Matthew Christopher: I mean yeah, I'm like oh, look. [00:26:12] Bob: So while Bo follows Paolo around the world learning more about the miraculous procedures he is performing, Hannah's Story finally airs on NBC. He had told her, as personal surgeon to the Pope, the leader of the Catholic church wanted to marry the couple, she explained. What do they discover? The Karolinska Institute commissioned an external investigation into the allegations. He's Catholic. And it came down to how are we going to accomplish doing all these pieces for this wedding that is going to be so high profile, so exclusive, I mean I've never heard of anything so, it was, I mean in my career I've experienced some great things; this was wow. You can also manage your communication preferences by updating your account at anytime. He never did that with me, but I, I've, I have seen him really being quite, quite unpleasant with um, PhDs and people who were sort of subordinate. But our guest list was insane because now that the Pope was marrying us, he kept inviting all these dignitaries, you know, so world leaders were coming to our wedding. In fact, the scientist was embroiled in lawsuits and accusations at work. "The headline is that it started out as a beautiful love story and it ended up as a total nightmare," said Benita. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Journalist Benita Alexander (right) has revealed chilling clues that disclosed her lover and famed surgeon Paolo Macchiarini as a "romance scammer", The two fell for each other when Benita was interviewing Macchiarini for a story, The couple planned a lavish wedding set to take place in 2015 that felt too good to be true after Macchiarini said the Pope would officiate it, Benita decided to hire a private investigator, which led to her discovering her famous surgeon lover was actually facing legal trouble over his innovative techniques, Benita said she left her job of 17 years to marry Macchiarini, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). But, she said he was in a "foul mood" the entire time they were there as he dealt with the continuing fallout from the allegations. [00:23:10] Bo Lindquist: The first time was in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute. Six years later, in 2009, they filed for divorce. But when it comes to the wedding, Paolo takes the lead. People often tell me that afterwards, that, you know, I'm very hyper-focused and very no-nonsense, you know, all business. Benita has since spoken up about her experiences in the media, given public speeches, and written detailed articles in renowned publications to bring awareness to the concept of love con. How to, what do we do now? And we first met in early 2013. Paolo says to me, "I want to take over the wedding planning and I want to surprise you with everything. receive communications related to AARP volunteering. [00:41:47] Bob: But not as scary as what happens next. [00:19:53] Bob: While the romance is intense, it's also very secretive. For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard. "As furious as it makes me what he did [to me and] my daughter, the thought that this is a man who has people's lives in his hands. So it was uh, quite, quite in--, incredible or remarkable to, for those words to come out of her mouth. "I talked to my editors and we started thinking, 'Well, let's just keep pulling on this thread. But as the wedding planning continued, Alexander's fianc became increasingly embroiled in work-related issues. You will be asked to register or log in. Nobody, except my closest friends and family, knew about the Pope because we weren't allowed to talk about it, but they knew that was a big VIP wedding. [00:04:33] Bob: But it also sounds like you get pretty, your stories are very emotional, and you get pretty involved in your subjects, right. The 56-year-old actually has a podcast appropriately titled Benita & the Berracas for the same, and she continues to be an active advocate on the matter. Uh, I think he actually appreciated being challenged to an extent. Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Quack, quack, quack. Megan Hilty on the Tony's, like she got best dress, or Debra Messing, or you know, Carli Lloyd, like the whole soccer team coming in, I'm dressing Carli Lloyd for all these, for the ESPYs, and, you know, all these amazing people that I've dressed over the years, even the Oscars and I'm, I mean it's going wow, I made it to where I love what I do. The couple had the wedding planned for July 2015. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. So just under two months before the wedding, and it was just difficult. For other inquiries, Contact Us. related to AARP volunteering. That was insane. The procedure uses the framework of a plastic tube lined with the patient's stem cells and is intended to help them replicate into a healthy version of the failing organ. And, and so we pivoted the story a bit to make it a little bit more about some of Paolo's other patients and more about, you know the field of regenerative medicine. [00:14:35] Benita: The thing about Paolo is he's a very good listener, and we, after a shoot sometimes, would go out to dinner, or we would be in a group of people talking. We had 300+ people coming from all over the world. How does one design a wedding dress for a wedding [00:34:25] Matthew Christopher: With the Pope? And, and, and embraced me and held me so hard. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. She couldn't run around and play. That hideous under eye makeup , the obvious heavy Botox , that absurd VERY heavy makeup AND that over-dyed silly black hair says it all. Emmy Award Winning . My friends and my family all adored him. It was kind of romance on steroids. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. I didn't even, I, I, I stopped in hesitation. So this is not really out of the realm of possibility that he would have contacts at the Vatican. Benita Alexander, and swept her off her feet with a marriage proposal and promises of a wedding . [00:25:58] Bo Lindquist: I think he liked the challenge. It really affects you. "It said that he had a normal functioning airway," Corbascio said. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Which clearly would completely change the face of, of medicine and, you know, all these people that been told they have no hope or no chance, it, it would be, it would be a gamechanger, right. And that presence was really something, it was really something. I also believe that exposing what happened, and exposing him, might keep him from hurting others. Um, made dinner, and did all this, and then we were discussing and showing fabrications and doing sketching and then like, you know, where were we going to begin? Benita now uses her personal story of survival and resilience to help other women who have been love conned find the road to recovery. I had to expose him.". [00:19:03] Benita: (laugh) Yeah, yep, yeah. [00:00:34] Welcome back to The Perfect Scam. I didn't know what to think. Her new podcast "Benita and the Berracas," will feature Benita talking to other women who open up to her about their own love conned stories, along with advice on how to avoid becoming a victim. But her death was awful. I mean, I got this sort of chill through my body, like there was some sort of electric spark, and I remember, in my head, thinking, 'What the hell was that?'". And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. And he said, you know, I actually met with Pope Francis. And I went, What? You know and he said, And I, I have great news. Um, Hes, hes going to help us um, were going to have somebody that will marry us, and he offered to do it himself. You know I said, What? You know, and I actually kind of called BS on him because I, I said, Thats absurd. [00:24:45] Bo Lindquist: I mean he basically said that he was going to revolutionize medicine, and, and not just invent a new kind of a trachea or a new kind of transplant, but actually revolutionize surgery. They make it for you in the lab, right. I'll take care of it." It was, it was a huge change and a huge change for my daughter. And I was, I was really moved by that. [00:08:14] Benita: But we, we started looking into him, and then he was about to do a transplant on this beautiful, beautiful little toddler, um, her name was Hannah, from Seoul, South Korea. Health was still deteriorating BS on him because I, I have great news other complications was difficult! 191 surgeries for other complications on Flipboard to recovery the Snake River in. She had to undergo an additional 191 surgeries for other complications he had a normal functioning airway, Benita. 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