Left: Stephen Matthews (Colorado Heart & Vascular). Right: Stephen Matthews booking photo (Denver Police Department)
After the presentation of more than 60 witnesses and mountains of evidence, Stephen Matthews, a former cardiologist who sexually assaulted and drugged nearly a dozen women he met on dating apps after inviting them into his home under false pretenses, has been convicted by a jury in Colorado.
So sprawling were the 36-year-old man’s attacks that a former district attorney in Denver referred to Matthews at trial as “one of the most prolific serial rapists in the history of the state of Colorado,” according to local Fox affiliate KDVR.
The trial concluded on Aug. 8 after running for roughly a month. Matthews faced 38 various sexual assault criminal charges and a jury found him guilty on all but three counts, according to a statement from the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
He was found not guilty of sexual assault – incapable of apprising nature, sexual assault – physically helpless and sexual assault – submission against will.
According to prosecutors, the drugging and sexual assaults of at least 11 women took place from 2019 to 2023. Matthews was arrested the first time in March 2023 after a woman claimed he drugged and sexually assaulted her following a date. He was arrested again in April 2023 and charged anew after nine more women came forward alleging the same. By October, over a dozen victims had come forward, and as noted by the Denver Post, some of Matthews’ victims said they had no idea of how they ended up waking up in his home or how they got there. One woman who did not take Matthews up on a second date said the former doctor responded to the rejection by sending her nude photographs of herself.
At trial, 11 women stepped forward to testify against him, saying the former heart doctor met them on dating apps. His actions followed a distinct pattern: he would invite them on a date near his home, then invite them to come inside for something innocuous. As Law&Crime reported, some victims said Matthews claimed he had to walk his dog before agreeing to briefly enter his home,
Then things grew dark, the women said.
Matthews would offer the women a drink once inside. Then maybe he would insist they play a board game or otherwise try to get them to stay in the residence with him. Bree Beasley, a prosecutor who delivered arguments at trial, told the jury this was all part of Matthews’ perverted ruse.
“When the defendant insists, ‘No, just stay for five more minutes,’ that stands out to her because the defendant knows how quickly this is going to act. And he knows if she just waits five more minutes, he’s got her. And he did. Because the next thing that she remembers is waking up completely naked on the floor, screaming, ‘What did you do?’ She’s terrified,” Beasley said, according to KDVR.
The women told jurors their memory of what happened to them next was often foggy — if not nonexistent — but always horrifying.
One woman, according to KDVR, told investigators that she remembered only waking up in Matthews’ home naked and handcuffed to the sofa while vomiting.
“Stephen Matthews took advantage of nearly a dozen women in the most egregious way imaginable, and for that he will now pay a significant price. I hope today’s verdict provides a measure of comfort to all the victims, whose courage throughout this case should be an inspiration to us all,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said Tuesday.
One woman who said she was raped by Matthews was put under difficult cross-examination and at one point acknowledged to his defense attorney that she sent a text message to him saying she thought she had been drugged but qualified it with, “I don’t think it was you.”
She apologized for her drinking and said she was embarrassed, according to CBS News.
Defense attorneys seized on this and suggested the woman was engaged in her own ruse and was trying to bait Matthews after feeling ashamed.
During the trial, Matthews was held in a Denver jail on a $5 million bond.
He will be sentenced on Oct. 25.
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