Trial against cardiologist Stephen Matthews begins in Denver

DENVER – The trial of a cardiologist accused of raping several women after slipping drugs into their drinks on dates began Monday afternoon. The prosecutor called his actions “systematic and calculated.”

Stephen Matthews, 36, appeared in court wearing a blazer and tie as the jury heard opening statements from prosecutors and his defense team.

“He controlled the narrative because he controlled her memory. He started gaslighting,” said Denver District Attorney Bree Beasley.

Eight of the 11 women who are to testify say he sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said in court on Monday. All of the women say they lost their memories after drinking with Matthews.

Almost all of the women, except one, met Matthews through dating apps like Hinge and Tinder. Another woman knew Matthews from her job at a local hospital.

According to prosecutors, many of the reports followed the same pattern: Matthews would arrange to meet women and give them drinks, often drugged tequila. Matthews would sometimes ask the women to play Jenga at his house, writing challenges on the game pieces.

During her opening statement, Beasley showed portraits of all the accusers and described a night gone wrong. She also showed pictures of bruises and cuts on some of their bodies.

While a defense attorney for Matthews acknowledged that the 11 women who came forward had certain optics, he said each woman’s story was very different. The defense attorney also said police were unable to provide physical evidence that the women were drugged.

“All we have are subjective statements,” Matthews’ attorney said in his opening statement.

Matthews remains jailed on $5 million bail. His trial is scheduled to last four weeks, with testimony from 11 accusers, their friends and family, doctors, a bartender, paramedics and detectives.