When she continued to press Macchiarini about the pope, she said he blamed Vatican politics, alleging that the more conservative former Pope Benedict went behind Pope Francis' back to stop him from officiating the wedding. Alexander, who said she'd become close to the girl's family, was "devastated," and that Macchiarini was "depressed" about it, as they both had become attached to her. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. As these events were unfolding, Maccharini allowed Lindquist to follow him for a documentary film. She said that in November 2014, they had planned a trip to California to spend Thanksgiving with her family, "and he had been really stressed in the weeks before, and he had been talking to me for some time about how there were people that were against him, and his 'enemies.'". When a magical romance with a world-renowned surgeon develops into a nightmare, his fianc uncovers a path of destruction that leaves dead patients and shattered families in its wake. None of the promises Alexander said her fianc Paolo Macchiarini had made for their wedding day would come true. And the two go on a magic carpet ride together. [00:23:07] Bob: The first time you met him was where? In 2019, she produced the Oxygen doc Seduced By Evil, which chronicles another con-man, Derek Alldred. He has peoples lives in his hands.. Wake up to the real world! We were sitting together on the, on the plane, and I just sort of started pouring my heart out to him, and he was a very good friend. 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." It basically was, we've been asked to do this, and by virtue of being my fianc, because I'm this famous doctor, I feel that this is something we should do. She said she called the castle where all the guests were supposed to be staying and asked them about the reservation, which they didn't have. And so that meant me quitting my job at NBC and leaving New York and pulling my daughter out of her very difficult to get into private school in New York. 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. And he had been fighting with her in the courts in Brazil over this, and then she passed away, unfortunately. Alexander then married, Edson Jeune, a ballroom dancer. Reality struck Alexander's fantasy romance eight weeks before she was supposed to marry Macchiarini in 2015, when she received an email from a colleague with the subject line saying, "The Pope.". [00:08:01] Bob: Benita knows she wants to do a special about Paolo's work, but she needs a story, a patient that viewers can follow from beginning to end. "From that moment on, it felt like my head was spinning," Alexander said, "and it didn't stop spinning.". Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries. Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries'. Uh, I think he actually appreciated being challenged to an extent. You know, "You've, you've renewed my faith in love.". And we first met in early 2013. Moreover, the Italian investigator found records showing that despite planning a wedding with Alexander for so long, Macchiarini was still legally married. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. He was a flair for the dramatic and plans one romantic encounter after another. And so there was a lot of palpable excitement about this wedding, you know, people were really eager and excited for this wedding. You can also manage your communication preferences by updating your account at anytime. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. And it's, I was proud to work there. One of the reasons I am so adamant about continuing to talk about this is because I think victim-shaming is terrible. She said one question was heavy on her mind: "Why did you do this to me, why would you do that to anybody? AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. 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. "The surgeons in Turkey tried to repair it and there were some complications," said Rosemary Pinto, a personal injury lawyer later hired by Cetir's family. I have to tell you, and I'm like, you know, I'm a very boisterous, fun guy, that's, you know, and very um, slap-happy fun, and I literally stopped in my tracks, and was like, "Huh?" ", Jupiter and Venus appear to 'kiss' in the sky, What is graupel? [00:39:32] Bob: And as the day approaches, Benita gets to try on that custom-made wedding dress. And [00:14:24] Bob: It feels natural for Benita to share the family struggle with this world famous surgeon, a man who had spent his career cheating death, or trying anyway. But on the afternoon that she met him, a day before she was supposed to begin filming him, something happened that gave her pause. It wasnt surprising being a surgeon in Italy. [00:31:07] Bob: But what is a couture wedding gown designer? Um, maybe I felt like that at some point when I was really young and I had a, had a crush in school, I don't know, but I don't, I don't ever remember feeling like that. And then in radio, producing a radio talk show, and then in local television. [00:31:56] Bob: Benita sees a dress made by Christopher in a New York City store, but it isn't quite right. Learn how to subscribe to AARP Podcasts on any device. She couldn't run around and play. They had already decided to marry in Italy, where Macchiarini wanted a Catholic wedding despite rules against remarriages. www.aarp.org/volunteer. The documentary includes never-before-seen footage and photos and shows Alexanders search for the truth after such a shocking betrayal of the heart. ET. She found out exactly what hed lied about - and she said it was extensive. [00:42:33] Bob: When Benita comes to her senses, she switches back into investigative reporter mode, and decides to find out the real truth behind Paolo. And he, so his reputation sort of proceeds him, but when he walked in to where we were sitting that day, he, when he walked in, he looked right at me, and our eyes met, and I've never in my life had something like this happen to me before, but I, I felt like a silly, little schoolgirl. The doctors also raised the issue that Macchiarini had reported on a patient in a way that suggested the patient was still alive, even though they had died before the paper was published. You know, it was awful for her family. The emotions of the moment overwhelm her. I think he was looking for challenges, and uh, things that makes life much, much more exciting. [00:41:50] Benita: The day after I quit my job, I got an email from a colleague and the headline just said, "The Pope." [00:19:53] Bob: While the romance is intense, it's also very secretive. 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. Hundreds of Benita Alexander's friends and family had already bought their plane tickets to Italy to attend her extravagant wedding that was supposed to be officiated by the pope when it all came crashing down in a flurry of her fianc's deception. 'People Magazine Investigates' : Tracking Down the Man Who Allegedly Killed Mom of Two Joy Hibbs in 1991, Arrest Made in Beloved Mother's Cold Case Murder and Prosecutor Credits 'People Magazine Investigates', 'Hiding in Plain Sight': All About Jimmy Savile, Disgraced Royal Confidante Featured in Netflix Doc, 'People Magazine Investigates' : Inside Decades-Old Disappearances of 5 People Along the Snake River. He was kind of a rebel. And so we, we thought, you know, this is a perfect case to focus a story around, and so we started doing Hannah's story. 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. [00:01:54] Bob: Benita didn't start her career working for a larger network in New York. Alexander said Macchiarini later called her, telling her he was at the Vatican and that he had some big news: Not only did he find someone willing to perform the ceremony but he said it was his own patient, the pope himself. I didn't, you know, how do you, how do you not ask any questions, but all my friends convinced me, they said, "You know, Benita, you know he has amazing taste. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Alexander had already sent invitations to her closed ones. There's so much she couldn't do, but she had this sparkling personality. "Paolo was a really good listener," Alexander said. [00:25:58] Bo Lindquist: I think he liked the challenge. Paolo says to me, "I want to take over the wedding planning and I want to surprise you with everything. [00:38:44] Benita: I should say this wedding turns into something akin to the wedding of the century. By the time he performed the artificial trachea transplant on Cetir, he had already performed the same procedure on four other patients. [00:40:30] Benita: Paolo lived in Barcelona, and so we had talked about what were we going to do after the wedding. Just like, oh, the dance dress was crazy. The self-proclaimed love con expert is essentially currently utilizing her platform to expose various cases and empower brave women to not be shamed into silence, as per her Instagram. "He didnt know Pope Francis, he wasnt his personal doctor.". But her death was awful. [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. [00:03:01] Benita: Yeah, one of the ones um, there was a father in New Jersey, whose wife had abducted their son to Brazil, parental abduction, which is when one parent takes the child, against the other parent's will to another country. Paolo Macchiarini proposes to Benita Alexander before leaving US for work: Part 2Alexander seemed to be living a fantasy lifestyle. On your mark, get set, go. And then John Legend was supposed to be playing piano in the church. What is happening? In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails Benita Alexander attended Wayne State University, where she studied journalism. This was, I didn't even know what to say. Macchiarini took Alexander to several romantic getaways in Europe. And that's where we met for the first time. 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. This was holy cow. Benita Alexander has everything going for her. Benita was also the Co-Executive Producer and narrator for the 2016 TLC documentary, "Breaking the Silence," about sexual abuse. And I also had my beard uh, uh, cut there. I want, I just want to get the job done. Quack, quack, quack. [00:35:21] Bob: It does sound like the kind, I mean we were talking about what, 10 gowns? They make it for you in the lab, right. Elton John was going to be performing. They became friends and over time she felt herself falling for him, despite her journalistic integrity impeding the romance. Season 1 (206) 2018 13+ He Lied About Everything is the true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative producer Benita Alexander, and world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. [00:31:32] Bob: I mean that sounds like a very special process. [00:04:39] Benita: I think one of the things that can make you a good journalist if, is if you're able to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and if you're able to sympathize with them and empathize them and really try to understand what it is they're going through. [00:06:37] Bob: Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, he's doing surgeries that most doctors could only dream about. And it was very difficult for us um, with the story because, you know, we had all hoped for one of these happy endings, you know, this was, the hope was to do a two-hour special, and at the end of it, you know, Hannah's home in South Korea, running around the backyard with her, her big sister, and you know, being a happy toddler as, as she should have been all along, and you know, Hannah was the most vibrant little girl. We had, we had a very good relationship still when it came to our daughter and sharing custody and you know, both of us were very focused on our daughter. Yeah. Gerdin also said Macchiarini had failed to obtain ethical permits to perform the transplants, which he said amounted to experimentation on human subjects. The couple divorced in 2009. And I got so irritated with him, I actually hung the phone up on him. I want him to look around that courtroom and see the families of the patients whose lives he destroyed, and see my face and at last be forced for whatever few seconds to look us all in the eye and maybe understand what he did," Alexander said. In early 1982, shortly before her 16th birthday, Benita returned home from a sleepover to discover that her mother had left the family in the middle of the night. Benita Alexander is an award-winning television producer who is known for her won on Investigation Discoverys ID Now, Crimes Gone Viral, Dateline and Inside the Obama White House among other works. And then um, (sigh) oh her sisters, the two bridesmaids, and then two flower girl dresses. Yeah. It was beyond Benita's wildest dreams - Macchiarini reportedly told her he invited Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Elton John, and that the Pope himself would oversee the ceremony. In 2013, the successful documentary producer met world-renowned, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini while working on a project for a major network. 5 People Vanished Along the Snake River Beginning in 1979: Will Police Finally Catch a Serial Killer? [00:15:45] Benita: There was a particular moment when my ex-husband had gone into a coma, and I was in Illinois, and I was, I was um, very upset about everything and trying to figure out a way, I was talking to Paolo about trying to figure out what to do and how to say goodbye, and uh crying about the fact that I hadn't been able to say goodbye. "The first thing we did was inform our boss, and then we also informed Paolo Macchiarini's bosses at the university," Corbascio said. [00:37:05] Benita: Everything was very, very secretive, and because the Pope was doing this, um, and Paolo told me that the Vatican would not even announce it until the day of our wedding so that the news didn't leak out. And it's a beautiful building, and it just has this feeling about it, you know, as you, it's a very special feeling too. For AARP's The Perfect Scam, I'm Bob Sullivan. I didn't know what to think. [00:35:53] Bob: And while the dresses are being made, while the other wedding preparations are underway, Matthew meets Paolo. 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. This is totally different. I was like why, why are you videotaping me again. Emmy Award Winning . [00:09:12] Bob: And so, Benita travels to Boston to meet the miracle worker for herself. He was listed as one of . [00:32:26] Bob: And so she comes in with a small team, right, and you all sit around a table, and what does she say to you? Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly I found him very um, hmm, he had a presence about him. You know, we should do this to help Pope Francis, we should do this to help the Catholic church, and so it was almost like an obligation. 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. [00:25:28] Bo Lindquist: He was definitely prone to getting angry and, and could be quite violently. And it was, when I walked back to the motorcycle, he kind of, he just got off the motorcycle and I walked up to him, and I had tears streaming down my face, and he, he just grabbed me, you know. And so it was kind of the perfect case for us to focus our story around. [00:38:37] Bob: But even without asking any questions, one thing is clear, this wedding is going to be big. [00:19:01] Bob: It's just making it harder for every man in the world. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music| Spotify | Stitcher|TuneIn. Benita Alexanders personal life story was part of the documentary film, He Lied About Everything. Although her family said the injury wasn't serious enough to necessitate a tracheal transplant, she still underwent the procedure and went on to experience tremendous pain. Prior to this, Benita spent 17 years in network television, producing long-form documentaries, breaking news, investigations, specials and hard news features for NBC. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. [00:32:14] Matthew Christopher: She actually came to my private showroom which was really cool, and um, I had my whole staff there, and we had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and I was like, what is going on here? But as the wedding planning continued, Alexander's fianc became increasingly embroiled in work-related issues. "I put it all in a message. 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. [00:32:33] Matthew Christopher: (laugh) She said to me as I um, she said to me, "Well, Matthew, (or team)" she goes, "Well, I'm getting married by the Pope." I did not think that by pulling that thread, we would completely undo the sweater.". During her investigation into Macchiarini, Alexander hired private investigators in the U.S. and Italy. [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. Instead, he says their underlying health conditions were fatal and may have been a factor in their deaths. I was really taken back. One name kept coming up over and over again, Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. Therefore, when Benita met the charming Paolo Macchiarini in the spring of 2013, thanks to NBCs A Leap of Faith, and he swept her off her feet, she crossed the professional line to start a romance with him. "That wasn't true. And so I thought, okay, maybe its not as crazy as it, as it sounds. . [00:33:49] Matthew Christopher: I mean yeah, I'm like oh, look. It was at this point that Benita said she started to feel that something was not right. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. 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. On the back of his motorcycle, he drove her along the Illinois River until they found a place where she could memorialize her ex-husband. It was going to be this four-day event in Rome, you know, with a red carpet event the night before the wedding, and a big brunch the day after the wedding, and people bought plane tickets, they bought fancy, you know, red carpet attire for this wedding. [00:41:47] Bob: But not as scary as what happens next. But Benita's intuition overtook her and she hired a private investigator to look into the surreal wedding. 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