DENVER — The trial of a cardiologist accused of raping multiple women after drugging their drinks during dates began Monday afternoon with a prosecutor calling him “systematic and calculated.”
Stephen Matthews, 36, appeared in court in a blazer and tie as the jury heard opening statements from prosecutors and his defense team.
“He controlled the narrative because he controlled their memory. He began to gaslight,” Denver prosecutor Bree Beasley said.
Out of the 11 women expected to testify, eight of them say he sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said in court on Monday. All of the women say they lost their memory after having drinks with Matthews.
Nearly all of the women, except one, met Matthews on dating apps like Hinge and Tinder. Another woman knew Matthews where she worked at a local hospital.
Prosecutors said many of the accounts involve the same pattern—Matthews would meet women on dates and give them drinks, often tequila that was spiked. Matthews would sometimes ask the women to play Jenga at his home with dares written on the blocks.
During Beasley’s opening statements, she showed portraits of each accuser and gave an account of a night gone wrong. She also showed images of bruises and cuts on some of their bodies.
A defense attorney for Matthews acknowledged the optics of 11 women coming forward, but said each woman’s story is quite different. The defense attorney also said police have not been able to provide any physical evidence the women were drugged.
“All we have is subjective testimony,” Matthews’ attorney said during opening statements.
Matthews will remain locked up under a $5 million bond. His trial is expected to last four weeks, with testimony from the 11 accusers, their friends and family, doctors, a bartender, paramedics and detectives.