True Crime Vault: Doctor Deceit

Summary

20/20 True Crime Vault: Doctor Deceit (April 7, 2026)

Episode Overview

This riveting episode of 20/20’s True Crime Vault dives deep into the tragic story of Maria Cruz, an accomplished Filipino immigrant whose life in New York was cut short after falling victim to Dean Fiallo—a charismatic but fraudulent practitioner in the beauty industry who posed as a licensed doctor. The episode traces the rise and fall of Fiallo, the heartbreaking search for Maria, the shocking discovery of her fate, and the relentless quest for justice by her loved ones and law enforcement. Rich with interviews and firsthand accounts, the episode serves as both a cautionary tale and a reflection on accountability, remorse, and the long shadow of a crime.

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Main Characters

• Maria Cruz: Dedicated banker, immigrant from the Philippines, and devout Catholic.
• Dean Fiallo: The conman at the heart of the case—charming, deceptive, and ultimately deadly.
• Greg Bach: Fiallo’s boyfriend and financial supporter.
• Family & Friends of Maria Cruz: Provide personal context and emotional resonance.
• Criminal Justice Experts, Detectives, Investigators: Guide the investigation and legal proceedings.
• Jeannie McIntosh: Journalist spearheading parallel pursuit in Costa Rica.
• Dr. Frank Spinelli, Mark Ritchie: Colleagues/friends providing insight into Fiallo’s character and activities.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

Maria Cruz’s Life and Aspirations

• 00:19–01:36: Maria Cruz is profiled as an immigrant success story—quiet, ambitious, deeply religious, and committed to bettering herself.
• "Maria wanted to make the most of her appearance. She took great care with her skin..." – Family member of Maria Cruz (01:36)

Enter Dean Fiallo

• 01:56–03:15: Fiallo enters Maria’s life as her skin care provider. Over many sessions, he wins her trust but is secretly unlicensed.
• "They had no clue that he was not qualified to inject anybody with lidocaine or use a laser wand." – Narrator (02:42)
• "She trusted you?... Yes." – Interviewer & Dean Fiallo (03:08–03:10)

Exposure and Downfall

• 03:16–04:49: Fiallo’s medical fraud is exposed in October 2002. Some clients remain loyal; he gets a reduced sentence for cooperating but continues to operate illegally.
• "He was given a four-year sentence, but it was cut down to six months..." – Criminal Justice Expert (03:52)
• "He showed up the next day. My boss had to threaten him by calling the police." – Dr. Frank Spinelli (04:22)

Personal Ruin and Descent

• 04:49–08:39: Fiallo’s finances collapse. He becomes reliant on Greg Bach, accumulating $85,000 in debt, strains relationships, and begins working surreptitiously again.
• "I was paying the mortgage. I was paying for all the home repairs." – Greg Bach (05:16)
• "It got to the point where I couldn’t even afford to buy food." – Dean Fiallo (04:49)
• "That I didn’t face up to my responsibilities. That I used people." – Dean Fiallo (05:54)

Maria Cruz’s Disappearance

• 09:03–11:01: On Palm Sunday, April 13, 2003, Maria attends mass and disappears, alarming coworkers and family.
• "She didn't show up for work on Monday. Her coworkers were worried..." – Criminal Justice Expert (09:20)
• "Maria's siblings flew over from the Philippines. They started putting up flyers in the neighborhood." – Family member (11:01)

Investigation Stalls, Breakthrough in Garage

• 11:48–13:08: Police are frustrated. Efforts to find both Maria and Dean are fruitless. Attention briefly shifts away from Fiallo, until later discoveries change everything.

• "You’re hoping for a break, for some kind of call from the public..." – Detective (11:48)

• 13:17–14:09: Subpoena access to Maria’s email reveals last appointment with Fiallo.

The Concrete Slab and The Suitcase

• 27:09–34:01: Greg recalls Fiallo’s odd concrete project in the garage and, upon Mark Ritchie finding a woman's purse (Maria’s ID and cards) in Dean’s belongings, puts two and two together.

• "I don't want to know. I really don't want to know." – Mark Ritchie (27:09)

• "The idea came to me to make Maria a part of that slab. I just can't believe I did it, but that's what I did." – Dean Fiallo (33:47)

• 31:15–34:01: Police, armed with new information, break up the slab and find Maria Cruz's decomposed body in a suitcase.

Fiallo on the Run in Costa Rica

• 20:29–22:13; 36:05–45:00: Fiallo flees to Costa Rica, living lavishly and in denial, but remains conspicuous. Law enforcement and journalist Jeannie McIntosh track his movements, leveraging local leads.

• “He spends a lot of time sleeping, spends a lot of time drinking... this was Dean Viollo at the beach.” – Criminal Justice Expert (43:12)

• "Dean Faello makes an impression... He’s narcissistic. He likes to make a splash." – Jeannie McIntosh (38:47)

• 44:45–45:07: Costa Rican police, tipped off, arrest Fiallo at a resort.

Attempted Legal Maneuvers and Extradition

• 47:13–48:40: Fiallo’s desperate bid to be adopted by a Costa Rican family (to block extradition) fails.

• "The attorney I was working with went to them and asked... would you consider adopting me? And they said, sure." – Dean Fiallo (47:48)

• "They were younger than I am. But, you know, at this point, we were desperate." – Dean Fiallo (47:58)

• 48:50–49:09: After months, he is extradited to New York.

Confession and Remorse

• 49:27–52:57: Fiallo finally recounts details of Maria’s overdose on lidocaine, his impaired state, his panic, failed response, and the covering up of her death.
• "I know I was drunk and high during her final treatment. ...I used too many vials of lidocaine." – Dean Fiallo (49:43)
• "I can't understand that either. I can't. I can't give you a logical explanation..." – Dean Fiallo (51:25)

Justice and Aftermath

• 54:02–54:25: Fiallo pleads guilty to first-degree assault and unauthorized practice; sentenced to 20 years.

• "The judge calling Dean’s actions senseless and depraved." – Narrator (54:18)

• 55:13–57:06: In prison, Fiallo claims to have reformed—becoming a Quaker, studying, writing about criminal justice, expressing remorse.

• "There was a hope that I could make sense of what I had been through." – Dean Fiallo (55:14)

• 57:06–59:39: Released after 18 years, Fiallo works a humble job and articulates a statement of apology to Maria Cruz’s family.

• "Words cannot express the depth of my sorrow and remorse for causing the death of Maria Cruz." – Dean Fiallo (58:37)

• 59:39–END: Maria’s family, upon hearing the apology, are moved but the pain remains.

• "This has shed light. I ended up crying so hard while reading this. The pain doesn't really go away." – Maria’s sister (59:39)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Trust and Betrayal:
  "She trusted you?... Yes." – Interviewer & Dean Fiallo (03:08–03:10)
• On Remorse:
  "That I didn’t face up to my responsibilities. That I used people. That I didn’t care how I hurt them." – Dean Fiallo (05:54)
• On the Cover-up:
  "Without thinking, I put Maria in the suitcase and put her in my car and took her to my house." – Dean Fiallo (33:13, 51:59)
• On Avoiding Accountability:
  "Is he back to his old tricks? Saying something one thing and doing something else? Because I wouldn't believe the man if he was sitting at this table." – Mark Ritchie (57:26)
• On the Emotional Toll:
  "It was painful, and it brought with that pain a sense of relief. Now they knew they could bring her remains back to the Philippines." – Family member of Maria Cruz (34:57)
• On Final Regret:
  "Words cannot express the depth of my sorrow and remorse for causing the death of Maria Cruz..." – Dean Fiallo (58:37)
• Family’s Response:
  "I ended up crying so hard while reading this. The pain doesn't really go away." – Maria’s sister (59:39)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Maria’s Background & American Dream: 00:19–01:36
• Dean Fiallo’s Deceit and Fake Credentials: 01:56–04:06
• Fiallo Exposed, Consequences, and Personal Collapse: 03:52–08:39
• Maria’s Disappearance and Family’s Search: 09:03–12:02
• Discovery of Evidence, Police Breakthrough: 27:09–34:01
• Concrete Slab Discovery: 31:15–34:01
• Life on the Run in Costa Rica: 36:05–45:05
• Arrest and Failed Legal Maneuver: 44:45–48:40
• Confession and Cover-up: 49:27–52:57
• Sentence, Remorse, and Aftermath: 54:02–59:39
• Family's Emotional Response: 59:39–END

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Themes and Reflection

• Trust and Betrayal: How appearance and charm can obscure deeper deceit.
• Addiction, Denial, and Consequence: Substance abuse’s role in impaired judgment and cascading tragedy.
• Persistence in Justice: Family, friends, and law enforcement’s tireless efforts to find the truth.
• Remorse and Redemption?: Fiallo’s attempt at restitution and the enduring skepticism from those he hurt.
• Unresolved Pain: The lasting impact on victims’ families and the limits of justice and apology.

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Conclusion

This episode is a labyrinthine tale of deception, heartbreak, and relentless pursuit of truth. It humanizes the victim and reveals the immense damage wrought by trust misplaced—on one side, the aspirations and innocence of Maria Cruz; on the other, the unraveling and misleading path of Dean Fiallo. In the end, the search for accountability and meaning continues, echoing through those left behind.

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For further exploration, listen to the full episode or accompanying 20/20 content for the unique voices and perspectives that make this tragic case unforgettable.

Transcript

[Jeannie McIntosh]

Whether you're into unsolved mysteries, solved mysteries,

[Narrator]

or creating your own mysteries, Amazon Music's got millions of podcast episodes waiting. Just download the Amazon music app and start listening to your favorite podcasts ad

[Jeannie McIntosh]

free included with Prime.

[Narrator]

Welcome to the 2020 True Crime Vault, where heart stopping headlines come to life. Maria Cruz came to New York from the Philippines to fulfill her dreams, her ambition.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Maria Cruz is kind of an example of the best possible of immigrant success story, the reason people come to America. She was a tiny woman, quiet, incredibly religious, Catholic.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She was so devout that when Maria first arrived in New York City, she lived in a dorm that was run by nuns.

[Friend or Acquaintance of Maria Cruz]

I Met Maria actually 20 years ago because that's when I moved to the dorm. Maria is kind of quiet. She's very professional, go getter, very ambitious. She has all this dream, you know, American dream.

[Narrator]

She got an MBA at Fordham, she got a job at Barclays. She worked in an office on Park Avenue. How amazing is that? She moved from a residential place for women to her own apartment in a high rise on the west side.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

Maria wanted to make the most of her appearance. She took great care with her skin and got facials and used products to help her skin's health. And she was very much aware of how she dressed, how she carried herself, and how other people saw her.

[Narrator]

Who better to fit into that desire for Maria Cruz but Dean Fiallo, who relished making people look and feel good. According to Dean, she had some scarring on the inside of her legs that she basically wanted erased with a laser. And that's what Dean says he treated her for.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

How many times did you see her?

[Dean Fiallo]

I would say somewhere between 10 and 15 times. You know, we spent many hours during the treatment talking with each other.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

How did she strike you? Initially?

[Dean Fiallo]

Quiet and shy. But then I learned that she was a very smart, successful person.

[Narrator]

Maria Cruz, like so many other clients of Dean Faello, and acted on faith. He played the part, he looked the part, he acted the part. They had no clue that he was not qualified to inject anybody with lidocaine or use a laser wand.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did you ever tell her that these treatments are supposed to be accompanied by a medical doctor?

[Dean Fiallo]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She never asked?

[Dean Fiallo]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She trusted you?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yes.

[Narrator]

You're a doctor, so I can trust you. I don't have to.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

I don't have to worry.

[Dean Fiallo]

Well, yeah, I mean, you could trust me.

[Narrator]

Why would you be practicing medicine without a license, Dean? Imagine what Maria and other clients must have thought in October of 2002 when the news came out that Dean was Not a doctor, but was practicing as if he was.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You were all over the news at that point. So what happened to all your longtime. Were they not all almost simultaneously alerted that you were bad news?

[Dean Fiallo]

They were all alerted. Amazingly, a few of them still stayed with me.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Dean actually got out of all this with, you know, a pretty sweet deal. He was given a four year sentence, but it was cut down to six months because he agreed to alert authorities to other people who were doing the same type of things illegally that he was.

[Greg Bach]

Part of the stipulations regarding his plea agreement was that he had to close down his business and never work with lasers again.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dr. Frank Spinelli worked out of the same office building as Faella.

[Dr. Frank Spinelli]

To our surprise and shock, he showed up the next day. Patients started showing up. He had every intent of continuing to work. My boss had to threaten him by calling the police. But he thankfully went. Dean had hurriedly taken the laser out. Of course.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Finally, Dean is forced to shut down skinnovations for good. But now he's not just a man without a practice. He's a man with no source of income.

[Dean Fiallo]

It got to the point where I couldn't even afford to buy food. I had to borrow money from Greg Bach to buy food.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

This is a turning point for Dean, but it's also a turning point in his relationship with Greg. He's out, like $7,000 on bail, on legal fees. And Greg foots it because Dean is in debt. And Greg believes there's something there that's salvage. He's not a bad guy. He's just broken.

[Greg Bach]

I was paying the mortgage. I was paying for all the home repairs. I paid up on the back mortgage. I paid up on the back utility bills. And so all told, it was coming up to about, like, $85,000.

[Mark Ritchie]

Greg was paying for everything. Greg was chasing Dean around the house with a promissory note, and Dean wouldn't sign it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You owed Greg tens of thousands of dollars at that point. Other people, too.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

People who loved you, who helped you.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What does that say about Dean Faello?

[Dean Fiallo]

That I didn't face up to my responsibilities. That I used people. That I didn't care how I hurt them.

[Narrator]

He has gone to New York, made it. He was the center of nightlife. He had become this practitioner in the beauty industry. He had lots of friends, a beautiful mansion, a handsome boyfriend. All of it crumbles right at his feet.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

For Dean Fialo, this was hell on earth. It was a hell of his own building. But he was in a bad, bad, bad place.

[Dean Fiallo]

I had Gotten to the point where the demons were around me.

[Narrator]

Despite his drug addiction, his debt, his criminal charges, his practice closing down, Dean Fialo is not going to stop now. He's taking everything underground. And that means he has not seen the last of his clients. And including Maria Cruz.

[Dr. Frank Spinelli]

On Palm Sunday, she had disappeared. And I was very concerned that this was going to end badly.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

In the weeks and months after his arrest, Dean goes into a deep depression. The only career he's ever really had, certainly the only place he's ever made serious money, is gone.

[Narrator]

The cold reality is that Dean, Dean is out of money. Greg has been sustaining him as much as possible, but it's getting ugly. There's only one thing for them to do, and that's to sell the beloved historical mansion.

[Dean Fiallo]

I had no choice. I had to sell the house. I had lived in the house for 18 years. I loved the house.

[Greg Bach]

He would be despondent and feel defeated and depressed. He didn't have access to that stat. All you know, I felt that he was using whatever he could get, like whatever street drugs, whether it be cocaine, he was unraveling.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

It's pretty clear that Dean thought the only way he could get out of this hole was to make money. The only way he knew how to make money was to go back and do his procedures.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Where did those treatments take take place in this period?

[Dean Fiallo]

At a friend's apartment on 16th Street.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And how would the word even get out to patients at this point?

[Dean Fiallo]

Phone, contact me. Reaching out and letting people know if they wanted to continue treatment, I was available.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

It's just so beyond the pale. This was a back alley laser procedure. I mean, it's just bad on top of bad on top of bad.

[Narrator]

It's April 13, 2003. It is palm Sunday, and for Maria Cruz, that means attending mass at her church. At her parish, St. Malachy's.

[Priest at St. Malachy's]

Maria would have been one of the people in the congregation listening to the reading of the Scriptures. I la the Mass, you know, Maria would have approached the altar to receive communion.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

She didn't show up for work on Monday. Her co workers were worried when she didn't show up the second day. The co workers find an aunt who was the emergency contact number in New Jersey. And the aunt called two of her sons.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

They went to her apartment and saw Wall street journals laying outside of her door. And that wasn't like Maria. The Wall Street Journal was next thing to the Bible to Maria. And all her co workers are very concerned.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

On Tuesday, April 15, Maria's uncle walks into the 13th Precinct in Manhattan and files a missing persons report.

[Detective]

The detectives were concerned because her uncle, who came in was so concerned that this was out of her normal course of behavior. A thorough search was conducted of her apartment and the building where she lived. In her apartment was meticulous. There was no sign of foul play.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Police are able to uncover more details of Maria's activities on that Palm Sunday. They even find surveillance video of Maria stopping by her office building to pick up some paperwork.

[Detective]

We got information back that her credit card had been used in Lohman's Department Store. On the day we suspected she had disappeared, she went to an ATM and withdrew money. And we were concerned that maybe she had been followed and abducted while she was taking money at the atm. But we reviewed the ATM video and there was no indication of that.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

Maria's siblings flew over from the Philippines. They started putting up flyers in the neighborhood. One of Maria's uncles went up one street every day, putting up 500 flyers. Every block got a flyer. Manhattan was papered with those flyers about their missing loved one.

[Priest at St. Malachy's]

The parishioners came forward and then said, father, what can we do to help? So I said, let's disseminate the flyer.

[Friend or Acquaintance of Maria Cruz]

All over the city, everybody was upset. As soon as we found out that she was missing, we looked everywhere in the city. Downtown, uptown. It's like forever searching.

[Detective]

At this point, the investigation or frustration is mounting. You're hoping for a break, for some kind of call from the public or some kind of tip, something that can point us in a direction that we haven't already looked in.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, Dean Fiallo is over in New Jersey, still trying to sell his house, and he has, in fact, found a buyer. But there's a litany of repairs that have to be made, and his friends have all come in to help.

[Mark Ritchie]

When the real estate agent came and saw the house, she gave us four typed pages of stuff to be done.

[Dean Fiallo]

When you get ready to sell the house, they do an inspection and make a list of things that have to be repaired. And there were some repairs that had to be done to the sidewalk.

[Mark Ritchie]

Well, I ended up buying between 30, maybe 35 bags of cement.

[Narrator]

One day, right before the closing, Greg notices that Dean is out in the garage area of the mansion, and he's pouring a concrete slab. And Greg's thinking, well, what is that for?

[Greg Bach]

She didn't make a lot of sense to me. So I, like, walked up to him and said, like, what are you doing? And he starts screaming at me, you know, to get out of the garage. Leave him alone. Get out of Here, don't get back.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Five months have passed since Maria's disappointment and the case has gone cold. But then detectives finally get the break they're looking for.

[Detective]

So we go to the Manhattan District Attorney's office to get a subpoena to access her email account. We were able to determine that she had made an appointment for the day she was missing to see a doctor in the vicinity of where she had last used her credit card. And we know that doctor was identified as Dean Fialo.

[Narrator]

Obviously, police want to find Dean Fialo. The problem is he too has vanished.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

Now, they couldn't find Dean. He's got a date to appear in court in October. But Dean didn't show up for that court date.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Didn't tell his attorney, didn't tell the prosecutor, didn't tell anybody. He just doesn't show up.

[Detective]

We have a connection to Maria, who we know is Dean. But we can't find either of those people.

[Narrator]

Missing man, missing woman. And when detectives finally draw the nexus between those two people, the revelation is mind blowing.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

Lights and sirens, lights and sirens.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

When Dean disappeared, everybody began to ask

[Narrator]

the questions of why this once handsome toast of the town now has the law chasing after him for practicing without a license. And then there's that other matter of a missing client.

[Detective]

We have a connection to Maria, who we know is Dean. But we can't find either of those people.

[Dean Fiallo]

How somebody who seemed like they had so much going for them could have everything go so, so completely and totally wrong.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Now a fugitive on the run.

[Mark Ritchie]

He was the housemate from hell. I'm going into the city and I'll see you later. I never saw Dean again.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

This guy who could be literally anywhere

[Dean Fiallo]

in the world,

[Jeannie McIntosh]

he's narcissistic. He likes to make a splash.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dean Faello makes an impression. He said he was a doctor.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

Dean's whole adventure is just crazy. All I could think of is I have to find Dean Filo.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

It's just bad on top of bad on top of bad.

[Greg Bach]

Well, these are some pictures of me and Dean. This is at the very, very end. No, we actually look kind of happy. You wouldn't be able to see the stress behind her eyes. Now that I look back at these images, I mean, I just can't help but be angry.

[Narrator]

Dean Fiallo had everything. Extraordinary good looks. He has money, stature. He's got love. He's got a beautiful mansion. And this man takes all of it and chucks it over a cliff.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Everywhere Dean turned was bad. He'd broken up with Greg. But in a nasty Way, he owed him $85,000.

[Narrator]

Now everything's coming to a head.

[Greg Bach]

You know, Dean's legal problems, from forging scripts to being busted for practicing medicine without a license.

[Dean Fiallo]

It wasn't the destruction of the work that bothered me so much as my personal descent into hell. I was terrified of who I had become.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So with no money and no business, Dean sets up an illegal practice out of a friend's 16th street apartment in downtown New York, where one of his patients had happened to be Maria Cruz, the young banker who'd gone missing.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Dean still is depressed, lethargic, sleeping all the time. And Dean moves in with a neighbor.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's really like a picture perfect suburb.

[Mark Ritchie]

Yes, it really is.

[Dean Fiallo]

And very quiet.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And here's your old house.

[Mark Ritchie]

This is where I lived. And that was going on on the first day. It became a nightmare. He was the housemate from hell.

[Dean Fiallo]

I was a spoiled brat at times. I didn't want to do the things that I was supposed to do because I was getting away with what I was doing.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Dean eats all his food and starts wearing his clothes. And Mark's like, dean, dude, quit wearing my clothes.

[Mark Ritchie]

I even put a note on it, Dean, do not wear my jeans directly. On top of them, he had to

[Advertisement Voice]

move it to get the pair of

[Mark Ritchie]

jeans he had on. And so I was furious. And then all the liquor was gone, all the wine was gone. And the noise, I had it.

[Dean Fiallo]

I had enough.

[Mark Ritchie]

Then he had a month to leave. He said, I'm going into the city, and I'll see you later. And I never saw Dean again.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, Maria's family is mired in this horrible mystery. Where is their daughter?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

As the investigation into the disappearance of Maria Cruz continues, investigators frustration is mounting.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

They ran out of clues, and they were hoping somebody would come in. The angry boyfriend, the person who saw something. Something's gonna have to break for us to break the case.

[Narrator]

It's now September of 2003. Summer has come and gone. Guess what else has come and gone? All of Dean Biello's court dates.

[Detective]

Dean did not make a court appearance to answer for the charges of practicing without a medical license.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

There's a warrant issued for Dean's arrest.

[Greg Bach]

So I get a call from the bail bonds company telling me that Dean did not show up for his sentencing. Now I'm responsible for the rest of that bail. And I was just so infuriated by the way I'd been treated. And I was determined that I was not gonna let him get away with it. I was gonna hunt him down and hold him Accountable for what he did to me.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

And now suddenly he's gone. And everybody realized, oh, we just thought we hadn't seen him because his life is falling apart. No, there seems to be something else at work. But for the moment, nobody could figure

[Dean Fiallo]

out what it was.

[Detective]

It's frustrating for myself and investigators because at this point we have a connection to Maria, who we know is Dean, but we can't find either of those people.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

And when you find out where Dean went, you go, of course. That's so Dean.

[Mark Ritchie]

The phone rings. They said, is this Dean Faello? I said, yes. And they said, well, this is Blah blah Airlines and we're trying to fill when you might be coming back from Costa Rica. So now I know where he's at.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Was the plan to hide out?

[Dean Fiallo]

I can't say it was a plan. It was an escape.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So you first went to San Jose, right?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, I landed there.

[Mark Ritchie]

He went to the underbelly.

[Narrator]

Let's get freaky.

[Mark Ritchie]

It was all nice and dancing and strippers. He was doing the same thing he did when he was younger in New York City.

[Dean Fiallo]

I went to a few bars down there, but I really felt uncomfortable. What am I doing here? I just didn't know what to do. So I looked for resort hotels and wound up in Aguanacaste. Absolutely beautiful, on a mountaintop where I watched the sunrise and the sunset every day. Then I went to the hotel and met somebody who was a manager there. He and his wife were living in esports. It got to the point where they said to me, like, this is ridiculous. You're spending all this money here at this hotel. So I decided to go live with them.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did they know your backstory?

[Dean Fiallo]

No.

[Narrator]

In just a few short months, Dean Faello has managed to create a brand new life for himself in beautiful Costa Rica. Meanwhile, up in New Jersey, brand new clues emerge that may just lead to revelations in the disappearance of Maria Cruz.

[Mark Ritchie]

I find a gym bag. I thought, well, this is really odd. So I opened it.

[Advertisement Voice]

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[Narrator]

Defaelo has moved along literally and figuratively basking in the sun and warmth of Costa Rica with not only a care in the world.

[Dean Fiallo]

I didn't have a plan. My intention was to enjoy Costa Rica. Red expression. La pura Vida, you know, the wonderful, pure life where you enjoy the beauty of Costa Rica.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So did you lose yourself in that idea?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, it was easy. It was too easy.

[Narrator]

Dean fits right in in Costa Rica. He's moved in with a local family from Esparza. But he cannot hide from the collateral damage of his past.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

You know, Mark finally kicks Dean out. He leaves a bunch of stuff in Mark's garage.

[Mark Ritchie]

And I find a gym bag, great big gym bag. And when I pulled it open, I found a woman's purse. I thought, well, this is really odd. Why does Dean have a woman's purse?

[Advertisement Voice]

Purse.

[Mark Ritchie]

I opened the purse, and I found Maria's wallet, her driver's license, and all of her credit cards.

[Narrator]

Maria is Maria Cruz. Now, at this point, Mark Ritchie has no clue who she is or why her identification ends up in his garage. But he sees a phone book, he calls three numbers, really doesn't get anywhere, then decides, well, I did what I could.

[Mark Ritchie]

Well, I thought maybe Dean was using somebody's credit cards to buy drugs. And then I thought, well, maybe he's into credit card fraud. Before I put everything back in the bag, I set out Loud in the garage. I don't want to know. I really don't want to know.

[Narrator]

Now it's the Christmas season. Great. Bach is angry. Dean owes him $85,000. He decides he's going to call Brian Ford, the investigator from the Attorney General's office, and find out how can I get my money back.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

So he calls me up and he says, detective Ford, I have some information you might be interested in.

[Greg Bach]

And we had a really long, productive conversation.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

And at some point, Greg says, it just doesn't make sense this, you know, this probation he's on. It's not that bad. Why would he jump bail and just disappear? And Brian Ford, the investigator, says, well, maybe it's because we just went and asked him about a missing person.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

And Greg asks him, when did she go missing? And he said, oh, it was back in April 2003.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

And Greg was like, april, April, April. That was the first eureka moment.

[Narrator]

Greg decides to share a rather interesting story. It had to do with a phone call with a mutual friend of he and Dean's.

[Greg Bach]

Dean had called him under really dubious circumstances, that he had been treating a woman who went into anthropolactic shock. And he didn't know what to do. But I had understood that he had gotten her medical help and that she was fine.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

A series of light bulbs began to appear over people's heads.

[Greg Bach]

Maybe she didn't go to the hospital. Like, maybe he is responsible for her being missing. And then so in my mind's eye, I walked myself through every room of that house, just trying to think. I had made mention to Dean that, like, if you wanted to lose something forever, like, put it in the garage and you'll never find it.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

The second eureka moment came when Greg was like, Dean was building something like a concrete block or a concrete slab out in the garage before they moved the house.

[Greg Bach]

And then it clicked about that concrete project. And it was like, is that where she could be?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We can only see the front of it here, but it goes back further.

[Greg Bach]

Yeah, that's where he was pouring a slab.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Pouring a slab of concrete. He was strangely guarded about his garage project though, right?

[Greg Bach]

Yeah. I was just curious as to what he was doing and what was taking so long. But one thing that I hadn't realized is that there was a suitcase in the garage, like a black carry on. But then I do remember having seen it the day of the cement project and then not seeing it.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

And he started thinking and thinking and he put two and two together.

[Greg Bach]

My concerns was that my hypothesis might be right.

[Narrator]

Greg decides he has to sit down and write a letter to detectives saying he just might know something about a missing person.

[Greg Bach]

I had composed a letter to Brian Ford that I might have pertinent information as to the whereabouts of this missing person. It was a very tenuous moment. I knew that, like, once I did this, like, there was no turning back. I was really concerned about what I'd be putting into motion.

[Detective]

Mr. Bakker was very forthcoming with information at this point. The break in the investigation we were hoping for. This, we hoped was going to lead us to solve the mystery as to what happened to Maria.

[Narrator]

20 minutes outside of Manhattan on a beautiful tree lined street in Newark, New Jersey, police have their eyes on a certain mansion, one belonging to Dean Fiallo.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

When Greg told us about the cement block and all that, we wanted to

[Detective]

go on out there and we desperately would like to see what's in that garage and get a hold of Dean.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

They show up at the house and show the poor new owners, hey, here's a search warrant. And by the way, we're going to dig up a concrete slab in your garage.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

It was a big house, a couple of stories, big fences around it, guest house in the back. It looked like an Estate before they started to jackhammer. I said, look, I have to film this. So I turned the film on and I said, go ahead.

[Detective]

At that point, emergency service had jackhammers and shovels jackhammered through the cement, the cement floor and the cement foundation that he was building.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

Once they broke the concrete, the smell of decomposition was very strong.

[Detective]

You could see that they knew they hit something. And as they pulled apart the rubble and shoveled out the debris, one of the police officers reaches in, pulls out a suitcase covered in dust, opened the suitcase, and we found what were human remains.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

We begin with a woman's body found in a basement. Police made the discovery in Newark, and they say the remains may be linked to a bank worker who disappeared from Manhattan nearly a year ago.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

At some point, you had to figure out what to do with her body.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah. Without thinking, I put Maria in the suitcase and put her in my car and took her to my house. Weeks passed.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Weeks passed.

[Dean Fiallo]

She sat in my garage. I was getting ready to close on the sale of the house. And in the garage, there was a slab that had to be repaired. And the idea came to me to make Marie a part of that slab. I just can't believe I did it, but that's what I did.

[Greg Bach]

It was, like, really, really shocking. I was trying to convince myself that I'd been wrong. And for it to come to such a dark and sinister conclusion was just like devastating.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The decomposing body discovered in a home in Newark is indeed that of Maria

[Dean Fiallo]

Cruz, a New York woman who had

[Interviewer/Investigator]

been missing for nearly a year.

[Mark Ritchie]

When I found out, a lot of things hit me all at once. The extra cement I bought at Home Depot, the woman's purse. And when I looked at the handle of that luggage, I said, you son of a bitch. It was the exact piece of luggage that I moved. I unknowingly moved that body.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

Maria's family flew in. They had a memorial service.

[Priest at St. Malachy's]

Where's the justice of God? How come this terrible thing happens to a good person? It was a test of faith.

[Friend or Acquaintance of Maria Cruz]

For the family of Maria, the funeral was very sad. One of the saddest funeral that I ever attended.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

It was painful, and it brought with that pain a sense of relief. Now they knew they could bring her remains back to the Philippines.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

The discovery of the body obviously changes everything. Dean's situation goes from being, a year ago, he was Dr. Quack to now, suddenly he's the prime suspect, suspect in a murder case.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

My phone rings, and it's the city desk editor. And he's like, Jeannie Mac. Jeannie Mac. Lights and sirens. Lights and sirens. Your guy Dean Faello killed Maria Cruz. I stopped for a beat and I thought, how would Dean Faello know Maria Cruz? And how would this all come together?

[Criminal Justice Expert]

At this point, all we know is that Dean has a spear. We don't know if he's in Yonkers. We don't know if he's in Miami. This guy who could be literally anywhere in the world.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

This story has exploded, and all I could think of is I have to find dean filo.

[Narrator]

Jeannie McIntosh has some good law enforcement contacts, and she learns through one of them, who did a passport search, that Dean has fled to Costa Rica.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

At the New York Post, it was, why are you standing here and why aren't you on a plane?

[Narrator]

Welcome to San Jose, Costa Rica.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I wonder what Dean Faella was thinking when he first touched down here in San Jose 20 years ago. He couldn't have picked a more beautiful country to escape to. We flew down to San Jose to meet up with Jeannie Mac, retracing her hunt for Dean Faello to see what we could learn about his time on the run. Does it look like it did 18 years ago when you first stepped foot in?

[Jeannie McIntosh]

It looks more crowded than I remember. You know, it's a lot busier.

[Narrator]

More people.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

I have no plan. It's just this big adrenaline rush. It's the thrill of the chase because it's big. It's a country I've never been to. And so the only thing I could think to do immediately was go to the US Embassy. I just walked over to this guard station and I said, hi, we'd like to see someone about a fugitive from the United States. This man, Dean Faello, he's wanted in New York for murder. They knew nothing. They said, look, we don't have any correspondence, any phone calls, anything from New York to go look for this guy. So we can't look for him until we have a warrant.

[Narrator]

Back in New York, the wheels of justice are grinding slowly. Police are still trying to determine cause of death. Jeannie McIntosh is staying ahead of the police because she's in Costa Rica, boots on the ground, doing her own investigation.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

We just went from place to place showing his picture. We showed it in the public square. We showed it at restaurants, we showed it at bars. We got lucky and we found this Internet cafe. He was recognized immediately. They even said, oh, he's in here a couple times week. I felt like we were really hot on his trail. We went out at night because I knew he liked clubs and Gay bars. And we started going to those. We walk in the door with the picture. The woman says, hi, hey. Yes. C, C, C C. She's seen him and he's been there.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It's very distinctive.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

I think that Dean would be incapable of going into somewhere and just saying, I'm just gonna sit here quietly in the corner. He's narcissistic. He likes to make a splash.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dean Faello makes an impression.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

Dean Faello makes an impression. Yeah. Dean's whole adventure and what he's doing is just crazy in juxtaposition to there's a dead woman under the concrete in his house. I would come back to the hotel in the evenings and I was trying to make a grid to just kind of centralize where he might be. People had seen Dean but no one had seen Dean today or yesterday. It was maybe last week. I thought, I wonder if he's left. And that's about the. That I started to hear that it'd taken off west to this town called Samara.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Could you feel the net start to

[Dean Fiallo]

tighten at that point? It was. I was fleeing.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And what better place for a showdown with police than the pool bar? Was there a sense that you were just going to go out with a bang. From 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Detective]

Did you say someone got shot? Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami gunned down the key to this case. It's Brian. An hour before he died, he was

[Criminal Justice Expert]

on the phone arguing with somebody.

[Dean Fiallo]

This might be a hit.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

You want the truth? They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We had a killer amongst us.

[Sports Announcer]

Murder at the U.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

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[Narrator]

Dean has been living pretty comfortably in Costa Rica for several months. But now there's this news of the discovery of Maria's body and it's hitting the Costa Rican headlines and Dean is really feeling the heat.

[Dean Fiallo]

One day I went to check my email and for some reason I clicked on the news. I remember seeing Maria's photo.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The same one that was on those missing posters.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, the same panic and fear that I felt when I realized that Maria had passed away. That returned, I just reacted and grabbed stuff and fled.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The Dean Filo trail continues to a beach resort that's less than 100 miles away, but several hours drive because the roads are so windy. We're going to try and go to that beach resort. See if anybody can tell us more about why Dean would have chosen such a public place to hold up. You cover the reception. Take me back to the first time you met him.

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

I see the one guy is coming. He said you had room available. I don't care. They have money. I want the best room.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He didn't care how much it cost.

[Dean Fiallo]

How much?

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

I think so the guy is rich or the guy is crazy. I say, what do you do in the United States? He says, the doctor.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He said he was a doctor.

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

The doctor.

[Villa Manager in Costa Rica]

My name is Philippe. My family has owned this property for the last 30 years. We're at villa number one. This is where Dean was staying when he stayed with us. He wanted to have the most secluded villa in the complex.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

He was just in his element, having a great time, spending tons of money.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was known to be a big tipper.

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

Every time he'd give me $100, the Proteina, the tip.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

US$100?

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

Yes, US$100.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

He spends a lot of time sleeping, spends a lot of time drinking. And I'm going way out of limb here, chasing a couple of pool boys. I mean, this was not a guy who was overwhelmed with grief or worry. This was Dean Viollo at the beach.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What did you serve him?

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

Melon, coconut cream and vodka.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You drinking?

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

Drinking, drink.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Many drinks. Many drinks every day.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

Every day.

[Villa Manager in Costa Rica]

I believe that he knew his arrest was imminent because he decided to come and enjoy the most of life at the time.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

It is a measure of Dean's arrogance that while as a fugitive, he didn't even travel under another name. He was Dean Violo at this beach resort.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You were spending a lot of money. You bought the best room in the whole hotel. Was there a sense that you were just gonna go out with a bang?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, I was on a suicide mission. I was just doing things to just enjoy the last moments. And it was hedonism, pure hedonism.

[Villa Manager in Costa Rica]

We found out about Dean through the local newspaper. Our on site manager called us in the morning and said, look at the picture. The guy is staying here in one of our units. He had committed murder. I believe my father called one of his friends, the lawyer Vincenzi. They decided to come down and talk to Dean first.

[Immigration Police Officer]

I told him, you are going to be arrested in the next few hours or a day or two.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

One way or another.

[Immigration Police Officer]

Yeah, exactly.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did he seem nervous at all?

[Immigration Police Officer]

Not at all. He was very calm. He just got outside the pool, ordered his cocktail and he was drinking it.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And what happens next?

[Immigration Police Officer]

Almost like an hour or Two hours later, the immigration police came up.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What's the first visible sign to you that the jig is up?

[Dean Fiallo]

Seeing police in flak jackets walking around the hotel.

[Narrator]

After four months of living on the run, a day of reckoning has arrived. Dean Baelo is arrested by Costa Rican immigration police for overstaying his visa

[Jeannie McIntosh]

in Costa Rica. They don't do what we do in New York. They don't do a perp walk. I said, look, since we couldn't see him arrested, could we have a perp walk walk? When they brought him back to San Jose, sure enough, there was their per walk. With all the Costa Rican guys walking them into the jail.

[Dean Fiallo]

I was overwhelmed by the amount of attention. There was lights and cameras and flashes going off. That was a surprise. I really was, like, unsure of what was going to happen next.

[Brian Ford, Investigator]

We walk into the jail, and it was, like, really a creepy spot. The floor was just dirt. I said, wow, what kind of a jail is this? You know? I said, you know why you're in here, right? He goes, yeah. I says, we can't talk to you, but you know what we're bringing it back for? He goes, yeah, I do.

[Hotel Staff in Costa Rica]

And you do.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Later with the mar,

[Narrator]

New York City detectives want Dean Fo back in their custody fast. But it's not going to be so simple.

[Villa Manager in Costa Rica]

What's her next?

[Narrator]

Because Dean Fo has another trick up his sleeve.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We are in a small town about two hours from the capital city, San Jose, called Esparza. It was here that Faelo lived for about three months with that couple he met earlier in his travels.

[Dean Fiallo]

They were living in this house that was just really run down. And so I found a nice place and convinced them to move and pay the rent.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

After Dean's arrest, he spent months fighting extradition. But it was his time spent with that couple that gave his new immigration attorney an idea.

[Dean Fiallo]

The attorney I was working with went to them and asked them, you know, would you consider adopting me? And they said, sure.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did that not strike you as absurd?

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Yeah.

[Dean Fiallo]

I thought, this is not gonna work. They were younger than I am. But, you know, at this point, we were desperate.

[Narrator]

On its face, it seems to be a brilliant idea, because there's a loophole in the extradition policies that if you're a citizen of Costa Rica, you cannot be extradited. So why not let Dean get adopted?

[Dean Fiallo]

There's nothing in the law that says it cannot be done. But I said, okay, let's give it a try.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hail Mary.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah. Hail Mary. Pass.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So Dean's attorney fought for. For Months to try and get the adoption approved. But ultimately, because the couple was younger than middle aged Dean, a judge ruled against it.

[Dean Fiallo]

And then after it was turned down, I think two, three days later, they woke me up at 5:00 clock in the morning and said, get dressed. You're going.

[Detective]

Our detectives work closely with Costa Rica to get through the extradition process and eventually fly him back to New York.

[Dean Fiallo]

I didn't know what was ahead, but there was also a sense of relief that, okay, finally the truth is out. When I realized that they were going to charge me with a form of murder, the gravity of the situation took hold.

[Narrator]

In October of 2006, nearly three years after Maria died, Dean Fiallo stands before a Manhattan Supreme Court judge and admits that Maria had come to see him on that fateful day for a procedure,

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dean Fialo sat down with me to reveal for the first time what he says are the full details of what really happened to Maria that tragic late afternoon on 16th street when he says she came to him seeking laser treatment for scarring on her thighs.

[Dean Fiallo]

I know I was drunk and high during her final treatment. She was in a lot of discomfort, and it was a long treatment, and I used too many vials of lidocaine.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And you're doing this drunken high?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah. There's no logic to it. There's no justification. I knew it was wrong. And deep down inside, I was afraid that something was going to go wrong.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What was the first sign of trouble, Dean?

[Dean Fiallo]

Labored breathing.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She was conscious of?

[Dean Fiallo]

Yep. But I didn't recognize that she was on the verge of going into shock.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dean told me her labored breathing continued for about 10 minutes before things took a terrible turn.

[Dean Fiallo]

She stopped breathing. I was working on the area and I looked up. There were bubbles emerging from her mouth.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did you call for help?

[Dean Fiallo]

I delayed calling for help. I tried cpr. Could not get her to start breathing again.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Had you been trained in what to do if a patient goes into shock?

[Dean Fiallo]

The proper training? No.

[Narrator]

Dean takes the time to call another doctor, someone he knows, to say, this is what's happened. What should I do?

[Criminal Justice Expert]

An actual doctor who says, how about calling 911? How about taking you to the hospital? But he didn't either.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

People can understand panic, the ravages of addiction. Very hard to understand how you could not react by calling 911 or trying whatever you could to get this young lady saved.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, I can't understand that either. I can't. I can't give you a logical explanation, because there is an explanation.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What was Maria's Posture at that point.

[Dean Fiallo]

She was completely limp at that point. I put my head on her chest and I checked to see whether she was breathing and she had no vital signs.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Did you check for a pulse?

[Dean Fiallo]

No, I did not.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Do you even know how to do that?

[Dean Fiallo]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dean then described what he says he decided to do with Maria's body after he believed she was dead. Does the COVID up begin immediately?

[Dean Fiallo]

This is the scary part as to how. It was an automated reaction. Without thinking, I put Maria in the suitcase and put her in my car and took her to my house.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

But obviously this requires deliberation.

[Dean Fiallo]

I don't think there was thinking involved. It was just reaction. I went upstairs to my room and I just laid on the sofa. Maria's body stayed in my car. I was there for two days. I didn't know what to do.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Soon there would be missing persons posters and an all out effort by her family, her colleagues to find her.

[Dean Fiallo]

I didn't see any posters. I did get some voice messages. Her sister called and left a message on my voicemail.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You never returned those calls?

[Dean Fiallo]

No.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What was it like to hear the voice of Maria's desperate sister on the phone?

[Dean Fiallo]

Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

[Sports Announcer]

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[Detective]

We're the first pick in the NFL Draft.

[Sports Announcer]

The 2026 NFL Draft. April 23rd, 25th on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. Also streaming on the ESPN app.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Never heard of the Mole on April 6th. I prefer to keep my presence a shadow. The age of Mo, My Lord Maul begins.

[Narrator]

We're not gonna take out the whole empire.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Join me and we will have our revenge. To those who have betrayed me.

[Dean Fiallo]

Die well,

[Sports Announcer]

Shadow Lord.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Streaming April 6th only on Disney plus

[Narrator]

on December 4th, 2006, Dean was originally charged with murder and he was able to bargain and plead that down to to one count of first degree assault and practicing medicine without a license. The judge calling Dean's actions senseless and depraved. He was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You walk in through the gates of Vatican to begin a long prison sentence. What's going through your mind now?

[Dean Fiallo]

Uncertainty. I had no strategy there other than to work on my education, to do something with my time there. So I read.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I read voraciously at this point. Are you out of the grips of addiction and thinking differently? Thinking clearly?

[Dean Fiallo]

Well, the sobriety and the lucidity allowed me to figure out, okay, what am I going to do?

[Narrator]

What he did do was take all that time and use it to his advantage. He became a Quaker, learned a lot about criminal justice reform. He began writing very intensive pieces regarding criminal justice.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You really threw yourself into the writing, gave me purpose.

[Dean Fiallo]

There was a hope that I could make sense of what I had been through.

[Narrator]

After all these years in prison, has Dean FIO really changed?

[Dean Fiallo]

I started to think about it and I realized that I haven't truly expressed my sorrow and my regrets, you know, for what I've done not only to Maria, but to her family also.

[Narrator]

Dean Viollo now finally has something to say to Maria Cruz's family.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

After serving 18 years behind bars, Dean was finally paroled just this January. His life is a bit more humble now. He's working as a maintenance man at a grocery store. Dean, what's life like for you now that you're out of prison and settling back into the free world?

[Dean Fiallo]

You know what I love is the simplicity. Doing very simple things like going to the gym, coming back to my apartment, putting on YouTube and cooking. I think part of my mission now is to talk about, okay, what happened, what led to it and what I'm doing now to recover and re enter society as a law abiding citizen.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What about people like Greg Bach and other friends? Do you have plans to account to them?

[Dean Fiallo]

I am not refusing to account to anybody. It's unfortunately because of the magnitude of what I've done. It's a big task.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Long list.

[Dean Fiallo]

Yeah, long list. But I have a lot of work ahead and I'm not going to shy away from doing that work.

[Greg Bach]

I've heard Dean is expressing remorse, but my immediate response is to just like don't believe anything he has to say. He's been released and there's this understanding that he has paid his debts to society, but he hasn't paid his debt to me.

[Mark Ritchie]

Is he back to his old tricks? Saying something one thing and doing something else? Because I wouldn't believe the man if he was sitting at this table.

[Narrator]

Maria Cruz's family can only be the ones to know if they would forgive him or not. What was unforgivable was his whole behavior and f duping the public.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Do you wonder, am I still the man that did that thing?

[Dean Fiallo]

I don't think that I am the same person. I don't believe it. But I have fooled myself many times and I fooled other people. That worries me.

[Dr. Frank Spinelli]

I believe people can be rehabilitated. Dean deserves a chance now. He's out of jail and he has a life to live. What he does with that life is up to him.

[Narrator]

Dean and I had several conversations about his journey, where he's been, what he did, and what he hopes to achieve. One of the things that he said he wanted to share a statement of apology to Maria's family.

[Dean Fiallo]

Words cannot express the depth of my sorrow and remorse for causing the death of Maria Cruz. Not a day passes that I do not think of Maria or think of her family and why I acted like such a coward. I used more than the usual or recommended amount of lidocaine for the pain. She had a reaction, went into shock and stopped breathing. I did not get her the medical help that she needed and she deserved. I panicked and I covered up her death. I hope that I'm no longer the person who took such a risk with Maria's life. I get inspiration from Maria. She was forgiving and supportive. And I'd like to think that she's helping me to transform and atone for what I did, for what I did to her family, and helping me to become a better person one day at a time.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

When we shared Dean's statement with Maria's family, her sister responded. We have wanted to know what really happened on that fateful day for such a long time. This. This has shed light. I ended up crying so hard while reading this. The pain doesn't really go away.

[Detective]

And that's our program for tonight.

[Criminal Justice Expert]

Thanks so much for watching.

[Detective]

I'm David Muir. From all of us here at 2020

[Dean Fiallo]

and ABC News, good night.

[Narrator]

And you can find all new broadcast episodes of 2020 Friday nights at 9 on ABC.

[Family Member of Maria Cruz]

We gather here tonight to bring women back to their rightful place.

[Narrator]

The Testaments, a new Hulu original series from the executive producers of the Handmaid's Tale. It's easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters. The battle isn't over.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

There comes a time when you have

[Mark Ritchie]

to take action, when you have to

[Narrator]

choose your own destiny.

[Jeannie McIntosh]

Destiny.

[Narrator]

Watch the new Hulu original series the Testaments April 8 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.