Stephen Matthews, a former cardiologist who was convicted over the summer of drugging 11 women and sexually assaulting nine of them, faces sentencing Friday afternoon in a Denver courtroom. Prior to that sentencing, one of the women he was convicted of drugging has shared her story in an on-camera interview with CBS News Colorado.

The woman, Allie, 34, says her “date” with Matthews in January 2023 “was the scariest day of my life. … The only time I thought I might die, honestly. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me if I lost consciousness.”

Allie, who asked that her last name not be used, said she hoped telling her story “gives one more survivor the courage to come forward and get justice for themselves and heal.”

Matthews was convicted in August of 35 out of 38 counts related to drugging and sexually assaulting numerous women between 2019 and 2023. He met the women on dating apps like Hinge and Tinder. But the women who testified against Matthews — including Allie — told remarkably similar stories of having drinks with Matthews and then losing memory of what happened next. Some said they remembered waking up naked after having non-consensual sex with Matthews.

Allie said while she lost memory after having a drink at Matthews’ west Denver townhome, she did not believe she was sexually assaulted but believes she was drugged.

“I was excited to go on a first date and get to know him,” she said, after the two connected via the Hinge app.

She said she liked that he was a doctor whose profile showed he was a dog owner who enjoyed the outdoors. Allie works in the health care field, is a dog owner and also enjoys hiking.

But after meeting Matthews at a bar for a drink, she agreed to walk with him to his townhome to let his dog out. Once there, she said she went to the bathroom but when she came out, he had mixed a drink for her that she never asked for.

“I didn’t want to be rude and didn’t want to offend him so I took the drink,” she recalled.

After drinking about a quarter of it, she quickly began to feel physically ill, her speech was slurred and she began losing her memory and her motor skills.

“I remember at one point falling all the way to the ground and looking up at him as he was about to film me,” she said.

She said the cardiologist put his arm around her neck and shoulders and put her in a headlock, and pulled her head back to forcibly kiss her. She said it was “painful” and she could not escape.

Allie said she thought to herself that she had to leave “Or I’m not going to be able to leave. I felt like I had to get out. I knew that my ability to control my body was quickly disappearing and if I did not leave within minutes, I didn’t think I would ever be able to leave.”

During the interview, she said she ran from Matthews’ home, initially leaving behind her coat, purse and shoes.

“I just had this intense desire to flee,” she recounted.

She said she summoned an Uber and vomited “uncontrollably” while in the car. Several other women who say Matthews drugged them also said they vomited.

The following day, Allie went to an urgent care center in Denver, hoping to get tested to see if she had been slipped a date-rape drug. She said after 20 minutes, the center said they did not have the supplies to do a drug test.

“I felt completely dismissed,” said Allie, “like they weren’t taking this seriously.”

She believes urgent care centers like the one she visited need to be better equipped to handle women who believe they have been drugged.

For several months, she felt isolated by what had happened.

“I absolutely did everything I could to make it my fault. I thought I was alone, I thought there was something wrong with me that made him want to hurt me,” she said.

But after discussing her experience with a friend, she was directed to a Facebook group where women had shared similar experiences after dating Matthews. She felt validated by seeing she was not alone, and then reported her experience to the Denver Police Department.

Testifying against Matthews proved difficult, as Allie now says the trial was “retraumatizing” as Matthews’ attorneys made her feel like she was on trial.

But the jury’s guilty verdicts proved a major step.

“It was a huge relief to have the jury say they believed me and the other women.”

She says she has struggled with anxiety, depression and nightmares since her single date with Stephen Matthews and is now hypervigilant about her safety.

“It’s exhausting,” she said.

She plans to talk about these issues when she again testifies Friday at Matthews’ sentencing.

“I am going to ask the judge for the maximum sentence. Every single day there’s at least a moment of my day that revolves around this person who hurt me.”

Allie says she has “no doubt” there are more victims of Matthews who have not come forward or have not been identified. She pointed to the volume of women Matthews was meeting on dating apps.

“I believe the survivors who came forward is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Allie said she has found helpful resources to deal with what she has been through via advocacy organizations like the Blue Bench, which works to prevent sexual violence, and Jane Doe No More, which aims at empowering survivors of sexual abuse.

Matthews is being held in the Denver jail on $5 million bond. His attorney, Douglas Cohen, declined to comment.

Brian Maass

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The editorials editor of the Los Angeles Times has resigned after the newspaper’s owner blocked the editorial board’s plans to endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a journalism trade publication reported Wednesday.

Mariel Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview that she resigned because the Times was remaining silent on the contest in “dangerous times.”

“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent,” Garza said. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”

In a post on the social media platform X that did not directly mention the resignation, LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong said the board was asked to do a factual analysis of the policies of Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump during their time at the White House.

Additionally, “The board was asked to provide (its) understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years,” he wrote. “In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being president for the next four years.”

Soon-Shiong, who bought the paper in 2018, said the board “chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”

Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review that the board had intended to endorse Harris and she had drafted the outline of a proposed editorial.

A LA Times spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The LA Times Guild Unit Council & Bargaining Committee said it was “deeply concerned about our owner’s decision to block a planned endorsement in the presidential race.”

“We are even more concerned that he is now unfairly assigning blame to Editorial Board members for his decision not to endorse,” the guild said in a statement. “We are still pressing for answers from newsroom management on behalf of our members.”

Trump’s campaign jumped on Garza’s departure, saying the state’s largest newspaper had declined to endorse the Democratic ticket after backing Harris in her previous races for U.S. Senate and state attorney general.

Her exit comes about 10 months after then-Executive Editor Kevin Merida left the paper in what was called a “mutually agreed” upon departure. At the time, the news organization said it had fallen well short of its digital subscriber goals and needed a revenue boost to sustain the newsroom and its digital operations.