And Benita had a veil, and I brought over some dresses, and we were having some champagne, giggling and sketching, and it was so fun. My then ex-husband, who I had moved to New York with and the father of our beautiful daughter, was dying of brain cancer. They make it for you in the lab, right. We need to be pointing the finger at the con man.. That's next week on The Perfect Scam. ", Jupiter and Venus appear to 'kiss' in the sky, What is graupel? [00:24:37] Bob: Paolo is a natural subject for a documentary film. Spouse John Noel, Edson Jeune, Macchiarini, Source of Wealth Acting and Producing career. Benita Alexander is a producer, director, writer, and narrator, who has actually been behind several episodes of IDs Now, Dateline, and even Inside the Obama White House. It thus comes as no surprise that her professional success has given way to her confidence. ET. [00:02:31] Benita: Yeah, right! In the meantime, please feel free [00:35:01] Matthew Christopher: No, no, just her friends who are so much fun. I don't know if I was nervous. I want, I just want to get the job done. [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. "He said he was having trouble finding a priest to marry us," she said. Alexander was in head over heels for Macchiarini. Benita was also the Co-Executive Producer and narrator for the 2016 TLC documentary, "Breaking the Silence," about sexual abuse. I found him very um, hmm, he had a presence about him. And her parents were just distraught, you know, they wanted, they had been told she might live 6 or 7 years, and there's no cure. That makes me crazy. "He was a good listener and gave me sage and solid advice.". Alexander had already sent invitations to her closed ones. And it was, it was things like this all the time. Along the way he promises her a fairy tale wedding to be officiated by the Pope. 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. And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. "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. "He was a top doctor, he spoke six or seven languages. Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. 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. In fact, he told me that Paolo would often leave their interview to engage in some frantic texting with someone, probably a lover, probably Benita. [00:31:56] Bob: Benita sees a dress made by Christopher in a New York City store, but it isn't quite right. Alexander was working on a documentary about Macchiarinis success in the medical field. 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. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. I want to focus on work. You know we went on this incredibly romantic trip to Greece, and he was always videotaping me. So I just found him very, I don't want to say intimidating, because intimidating's not the word. 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. Macchiarini had reported that after his first patient underwent the procedure, a healthy trachea was beginning to develop, Lindquist said. She couldn't do anything that a normal child could do. The personal relationship between Alexander and Macchiarini continued to blossom. 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. Benita has spoken about her experience in numerous national and international TV and radio programs. And so I thought, okay, maybe its not as crazy as it, as it sounds. Wake up to the real world! Paolo says to me, "I want to take over the wedding planning and I want to surprise you with everything. You know, part of it is you meet so many different people that you would never meet otherwise, but when you can tell a story that actually makes a difference in someone's life, that, to me, that's one of the most beautiful things about journalism. You know, all these celebrities were coming. It was, it was really, really difficult. [00:33:22] Matthew Christopher: Right. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo 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." "I was doing a story about regenerative medicine and his name kept coming up," Benita, a New York resident, said on the podcast Dr Death: Miracle Man. And so he took me on his motorcycle along the Illinois River. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. And then in radio, producing a radio talk show, and then in local television. I mean my, I mean my jaw was on the floor. 5. The couple divorced in 2009. Six years later, in 2009, they filed for divorce. Lindquist had begun his own investigation into the claims brought forth by Macchiarini's colleagues. You know he loves to surprise you. I mean it got to the point where he loved to surprise me, everywhere we went. And I tend to be a very empathetic kind of person, and I am very sensitive, and I care a lot about people and so I've always used that in journalism to really sort of get inside somebody else's shoes or, or their story. A contact she had to the Clintons told her they'd never heard of Macchiarini. It has led to extensive reform work internally at KI in order to improve and clarify a number of regulations and routines.". After Cetir's surgery, doctors say she had to undergo an additional 191 surgeries for other complications. I did not think that by pulling that thread, we would completely undo the sweater.". "I couldn't fall apart because I am a single mother with a daughter who needs me. I see a woman and two kids," she said, adding that she knew about Paolo's wife in Italy. What started as dream relationship developed into a nightmare filled with lies and deceit. Death podcast. ET on ABC. And it's presented to me by Paolo, it's not even about our wedding or about our love story. Famous For Being an American actress and producer. "He and I started going to dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about all this stuff. He says to me, "I want to take over the wedding planning and I want to surprise you with everything. "The first thing we did was inform our boss, and then we also informed Paolo Macchiarini's bosses at the university," Corbascio said. 5. I was torn up about it, and my last day at NBC was in May of 2015. 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. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? In fact, the scientist was embroiled in lawsuits and accusations at work. But when it comes to the wedding, Paolo takes the lead. [00:19:03] Benita: (laugh) Yeah, yep, yeah. [00:40:15] Bob: With that dramatic entrance comes a dramatic exit too. And she, unfortunately, was born with no windpipe. He was, he was just there when I needed somebody. For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard. Macchiarini and Benita quickly started planning an extravagant wedding, she said. Benita has become a recognized love conned expert and along with speaking engagements, she is a regular guest correspondent on "The Dr. Oz Show." And there are special considerations now that the wedding is going to be at the Vatican, so she asks the store how she can get in touch with the designer? And this trip had been planned for a very long time. The providers terms, conditions and policies apply. From what we can tell, Benita still resides in New York alongside her daughter, where shes primarily a freelance executive producer for Lion Television, all the while serving as a public figure. And that presence was really something, it was really something. ABC7's Dallas Raines explains the difference, Jury selection begins for convicted torturer accused of escaping jail. I was so conflicted about it. [00:34:35] Bob: The first step is working with Benita on ideas for the wedding dress. The Love Con: Directed by Star Price. That was insane. [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. You can also manage your communication preferences by updating your account at anytime. He was dying and Macchiarini became someone Alexander could lean on. You know this man adores you. Benita has to keep a secret. [00:35:38] Bob: I mean it sounds like that could cost an infinity if you wanted it to. Macchiarini did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. [00:34:42] Matthew Christopher: We were going to meet later, so we just discussed the idea and it started with the wedding gown itself, and then had dinner at her house, and made dinner, and it was fun, and we were discussing things and how all these pieces were going to grow. Kind of like being in a fairy tale, you know. As a journalist, Alexander knew she couldn't get involved with the subject of her story. The Karolinska Institute commissioned an external investigation into the allegations. And he's getting noticed in the medical field. [00:18:58] Bob: I love you in rose petals on the bed. [00:25:22] Bob: And while Paolo loves to talk about his work, he isn't always charming. I was, I was conflicted about it. We had a long time together on the flight from Korea to Illinois. Learn how vehicle tech like blind spot warnings and drowsy driving alerts can help make driving safer. But everything else, I'm planning everything, and you can't ask me any questions." 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. [00:12:57] Bob: And there is another reason Benita must focus on her work at the time. 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?'". Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next. And somehow, when I read that email, I guess all those little red flags that I had been ignoring, the things that were eating at my gut, I just knew. You know the, the invitations talked about needing a password, a secret password to get into the wedding, and you couldn't get in unless you had the invitation with you. 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