A quack doctor who ran a thriving skin and laser clinic in Manhattan where a botched surgery resulted in the death of a patient admits that “deep down” he always knew “something was going to go wrong.”
In exclusive clips obtained by The Post from an ABC “20/20” episode slated to run on Friday, bogus physician Dean Faiello, 63, agonizes over the gruesome murder of Maria Cruz in 2003 during a jailhouse interview at Attica Correction Facility.
Faiello described the 35-year-old investment banker as “quiet and bashful” and recalled meeting her at his Gramercy Park clinic between 10 and 15 times.
“We spent countless hours conversing during the treatment,” he told ABC News’ senior investigative correspondent David Scott.
In addition, he admitted that he never informed Cruz or any other customer that the complicated laser procedures they requested could only be administered by a licensed physician.
Faiello, who has a history of substance misuse, remembers being “drunk and high” on April 13, 2003, during Cruz’s last visit.
Maria Cruz’s parents, Irenes and Rodolfo Cruz, hold a picture of their daughter at their home in Queens in February 2004.
“I used too many lidocaine capsules,” he added, recalling the moment Cruz slumped into convulsions.
“There is no logic or explanation for it,” he continued. “Deep down, I was terrified that anything would go wrong.”
Cruz sought treatment from Faiello for a black mark on her tongue. Since 1996, Faiello’s medical spa, SkinOvations, has attracted an affluent clientele. — first practicing from a Park Avenue site, then at a position with a sought East 73rd Street address and lastly to the the Gramercy Park neighborhood.
Faiello omitted to disclose that he was practicing without a medical license, while promising patients benefits with his unique laser hair removal, blood vessel elimination, and electrolysis procedures.
Faiello, who according to The New York Times was chosen “Most Likely to Succeed” by his high school class in 1977, did not complete college.
In October 2002, The Post published a bombshell investigative article that resulted in his arrest on three counts of practicing medicine without a license.
Cruz, age 35, sought treatment from Faiello for a black mark on her tongue.
Subsequently, he was released on bond on the condition that he discontinue treating patients, but he continued to see clients in secret from an apartment on West 16th Street.
Nearly two decades later, crime reporter Pat LaRama described to ABC how Faiello influenced patients.
She mourned, “He looked the part, acted the part, and played the role.”
Faiello is being detained at the Attica Correctional Facility.
Faiello reportedly moved Cruz’s body in a bag to his Gilded Age estate in the Forest Hill district of Newark when he knew she was dead.
Then, he interred her body beneath the garage.
Subsequently, Faiello fled to Costa Rica on a three-month visa. A few days after the body of Cruz was discovered in February 2004, he was arrested.
Faiello, who was in his forties at the time of Cruz’s death, explains in the “20/20” interview his odd attempt to get adopted in order to avoid extradition.
A covert video still of Faiello lying about his medical credentials to a potential patient.
He was unsuccessful and returned to the United States in May 2005, where he subsequently pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in exchange for a 20-year sentence.
Airing at 9 p.m. EST, the two-hour program includes interviews with investigative journalists Jeane MacIntosh and Barbara Nevins Taylor, who published The Post’s initial article, as well as Faiello’s former love partner Greg Bach. Additionally, the investigator Brian Ford and former coworkers of both Faiello and Cruz make an appearance.
»Dean Faiello, a murderer and “fake doctor,” felt “deep down” that something would go wrong«