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Maria Cruz, a Filipino-American investment banker from New York, went mysteriously missing in April 2003. Cruz's workplace reported her missing to her family when she failed to show up for work, and they were unable to get in touch with her. After a brief search, the 35-year-old's family filed a missing person's report.
Detectives eventually linked the disappearance to Dr. Dean Faiello, a dermatologist facing accusations of practicing without a license. Cruz reportedly died during a laser treatment, and her decomposing remains were discovered the following February underneath a concrete slab in his garage. Faiello eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
New York Homicide on Oxygen recently revisited Maria Cruz's murder case in an episode titled Dr. Fraud, which aired on the channel on Saturday, August 5, 2023.
Here's an official synopsis:
"When a young banker disappears, police piece together her final moments, leading them to a professional who's not as he presents himself."
An investigation into Maria Cruz's disappearance led detectives to pretentious dermatalogist Dean Faiello
According to The Cinemaholic, Maria Cruz was a Filipino-American investment banker who resided in New York's West Side area. Her boss was the first to notice her strange disappearance in April 2003.
Cruz did not show up for work or important meetings and did not react to text messages or calls. When concerned coworkers arrived at her house, the 35-year-old even failed to answer the door. Her family was alerted, and after a brief search, they filed a missing person's complaint on the evening of April 18.
When an extensive search failed to yield results, detectives started retracing Cruz's final moments, and the name Dr. Dean Faiello, a dermatologist facing accusations of practicing without a license, came up. She was reportedly undergoing Faiello's treatment for a rare mouth condition called Black Tongue.
Months before, Faiello was reportedly charged with three counts of practicing medicine without a license and was ordered to stop treating patients, but he continued to do so from a friend's Manhattan apartment. He was also under active investigation at the time Cruz went missing. However, soon after the disappearance, the pretentious dermal fled to Costa Rica.
Dean Faiello claimed he "used too many vials of lidocaine" during Maria Cruz's treatment on April 13, 2003
Detectives then learned that Dean Faiello had spoken to one of his friends about rushing one of his patients, [Maria Cruz] to the hospital after she started having seizures from a local anesthetic in April. Following this, he hastily sold his house.
According to ABC News, Faiello revealed that he "was drunk and high during her [Cruz's] final treatment" on April 13, 2003, and that he "used too many vials of lidocaine."
"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," he said.
Faiello further disclosed that when Cruz began displaying signs of medical distress, he called a doctor friend, who urged him to either call 911 or rush the patient to the hospital, but he didn't do as asked, and she died.
After the tragic incident, Faiello claimed he stuffed Cruz's body in a suitcase, took it to Elwood Avenue, and kept it in the garage for weeks. Later, he placed the decomposing remains underneath a slab and poured cement all over it to conceal the crime. The house was put up for sale and immediately sold.
Maria Cruz's remains were discovered about a year later, on February 18, 2004. Dean Faiello was arrested in Costa Rica for overstaying on February 26 and was eventually extradited to the US the following May. He was indicted on a second-degree murder charge and pleaded guilty to the crime, receiving a 20-year term.
Learn more about Maria Cruz's strange death on Oxygen's New York Homicide.
