He was giving people who had no other hope. Along the way he promises her a fairy tale wedding to be officiated by the Pope. And I was really wrestling with all of it. Best Known For For her appearance in ID Now (2017), Dateline NBC (1992) and Inside the Obama White House (2009). And I, I think at least that it makes me a better writer and a better journalist. Before their wedding, the couple visited Italy, where Alexander asked Macchiarini to show her where their wedding celebrations would take place. And so they got FDA approval for Paolo to do the surgery in Illinois, and they got him a special medical license to do the surgery in Illinois. They said that the patient was doing fine and that's not true: One of his lungs was completely obliterated from a chronic infection.". Benita Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer and Paolo Macchiarini fall in love after meeting in 2013 while she is working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering w Show more. Benita graduated magna cum laude from Wayne State University in Michigan, with a B.A in journalism. And she, unfortunately, was born with no windpipe. Lindquist said the documentary sparked outrage in Sweden, and weeks later, new investigations into Macchiarini began. The article's author, journalist Adam Ciralsky, had also uncovered fabrications in Macchiarini's professional life, and he documented a number of examples of Macchiarini misrepresenting his medical training and work history. Her first marriage was to fellow journalist John Noel. She is currently the voice of the true crime series "Still A Mystery" on Investigation Discovery, and she has narrated four seasons of this ongoing, multi part show. And this trip had been planned for a very long time. Star-Studded Wedding Becomes Brides Worst Nightmare, Part 1, Journalist exposes her celebrity fianc, part 2, Computer hacker drains couple's life savings. [00:38:37] Bob: But even without asking any questions, one thing is clear, this wedding is going to be big. 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. And he came to visit us in Australia, and I was just, I was only 8, but I was ab--, absolutely infatuated with what he was doing and asked him all these questions. [00:33:44] Bob: And you, you had outfitted Broadway stars, famous people, but even for you this was a big deal. Mathias Corbascio, another cardiothoracic surgeon who worked at the Karolinska Institute at the time, said the intensive care unit doctor responsible for her care began consulting with him on the literature written by Macchiarini on tracheal replacements. 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. She said Macchiarini had told her that for their wedding, the Vatican had offered them the pope's summer residence in the Italian town of Castel Gandolfo. I'm kind of a control, you know, right, I'm kind of a control freak. He says to me, "I want to take over the wedding planning and I want to surprise you with everything. And she meets Christopher at his shop. [00:35:41] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, and we definitely um, we made sure that through this process, we made sure we took care of her, you know what I mean. I'm, you know, I like, I like information. He wrote love notes in lipstick on her mirror and left roses on the bed in the shape of hearts. She couldn't do anything that a normal child could do. He speaks 5 or 6 languages, and he works all over the world, and you know, dresses very beautifully. He seemed that way in his work as well, but here he is talking to me and spending all this time listening to me and seemed very vested in this little girl that he had never met. [00:11:55] Bob: And how old were you then? [00:33:22] Matthew Christopher: Right. 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. "That's when he told me that there was this kind of clandestine network [of doctors] who are on call, basically, for these people.'". What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. But despite his seemingly busy schedule, Alexander said Macchiarini offered to plan their wedding. "He comes around the corner, he looks right at me and in that second something happened. Um, it hit all of us very, very hard. She was just like a little ray of sunshine, and a) I was just, it was so devastating when she didn't make it. With the preparations nearly finished, Benita decides to take maybe the toughest step she's ever taken in her 20-year career as a journalist. It was an excellent place. 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. Learn how vehicle tech like blind spot warnings and drowsy driving alerts can help make driving safer. to search for ways to make a difference in your community at ET on ABC. [00:01:28] Benita: I grew up in Australia, and I had an uncle, my mother's brother, who worked for Radio Free Europe. In 2015, she served as a co-executive producer on Breaking the Silence, which featured DWTS pro Cheryl Burke, and Counting On alums Jessa Seewald and Jill Duggar Dillard. [00:24:37] Bob: Paolo is a natural subject for a documentary film. Alexander, an award-winning documentary TV producer, met Macchiarini in 2013 while working on a story about the surgeon's pioneering work transplanting synthetic tracheas, or windpipes. "He said he was having trouble finding a priest to marry us," she said. [00:18:58] Bob: I love you in rose petals on the bed. "She had suffered at least two strokes; she had lost much of her vision, so she was partially blind; she couldn't walk," Pinto said. Meanwhile, the investigation into Macchiarini's professional life was ramping up -- the Karolinska Institute was investigating whether he'd fabricated aspects of his medical research. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. Then, one morning, she read in The New York Times that Macchiarini's colleagues at the Karolinska Institute had accused him of scientific misconduct and filed a complaint with the university. Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English Buy Season 1 Fans can also watch He Lied About Everything on InvestigationDiscovery.com. [00:39:38] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, I mean we were going through fittings, we were going through the process of um getting things together. Claiming he was in demand. He was incredibly generous, you know, and so romantic and just so wonderful. And so he took me on his motorcycle along the Illinois River. [00:35:01] Matthew Christopher: No, no, just her friends who are so much fun. "The woman in Barcelona was not his wife. Eventually, she died. She finds that story in South Korea. It's a very aggressive form of brain cancer. In 2013, she was featured in the NBC documentary "A Leap of Faith." She has won numerous awards for her work. With Whoopi Goldberg. Nothing anybody could do for her, and then like so many of Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's patients, they did a google search and found this kind of a magician of a surgeon who said I can help your little girl. I was just giddy with happiness. The famous surgeon, a miracle worker who gives hope to hopeless patients, who's rewriting the rules of medicine. With a purported VIP list of friends and clients that included former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and entertainment icons such as Elton John, their wedding was expected to be one of the biggest events of the year. Exploring the troubling tales of people manipulated by claims and promises that proved too good to be true, it reveals how the perpetrator fooled their victims and made them pay the price for their misplaced trust both emotionally and financially. But the biopsies showed the cells were dead and that there was actually fungi growing on the plastic, he said. [00:31:09] Matthew Christopher: Um, a couture wedding gown designer is someone that actually design gowns from beginning to end, whether that's draping, whether that's sketching; couture means it's handmade. My then ex-husband, who I had moved to New York with and the father of our beautiful daughter, was dying of brain cancer. Macchiarini denied the accusations coming from his colleagues at the Karolinska Institute to Alexander, and she doubled down on supporting Macchiarini. And Paolo had said to me, "You, you need to find a way to say good-bye to him," and he said, "I'll help you." You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. Uh, I think he actually appreciated being challenged to an extent. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. I mean I, I loved NBC. I didn't know what to think. [00:12:11] Benita: Not like that, you know, this was, this was one of those almost cliche movie moments where, you know, I don't even believe in love at first sight, but there was some sort of thing, something happened. Benita Alexander has been working as a Macchiarini at NBC News. A successful TV journalist, the single mother-of-one was interviewing him for a report on cutting-edge medicine. Her film "He Lied About Everything," about her own personal story with a con man, aired on Investigation Discovery in 2018 and continues to air around the world. Macchiarini had told her that he and his wife were separated, but that the divorce hadn't yet been finalized legally. It does make it difficult sometimes, because you, some stories are so heavy and so difficult, and I would sometimes, it would take me weeks sometimes to sort of shake a story, and people would sit with me, and their stories would sit with me for a long, long time. 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). Control freak and so romantic and just so wonderful Institute to Alexander, and doubled! Of our trusted provider how old were you then took me on his motorcycle along the way he promises a! 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