Workers discover a young woman has overdosed in a hotel room filled with drugs and a video camera, but the police never take any action against the older man who was with her. After getting a tip, LA Times investigative reporter Paul Pringle learns the man is Doctor Carmen Puliafito, the dean of USC’s medical school, who’s been living a secret life of hard drugs and coercive sex with the victim. Pringle and his colleagues are stonewalled by Pasadena police and the administration at USC. But once they uncover enough to print an explosive story about Puliafito and the medical school, they find their own editors are slow-walking the exposé on the powerful university. 

From iHeart Podcasts and Best Case Studios comes “Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption.” Pringle recounts the steps of his investigation into Puliafito and lengths taken by USC to cover up the scandal. Pringle also points fingers at the bosses in his own paper who acted as if they were in cahoots with the university to kill the story.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "FALLEN ANGELS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.

In Crime of the Week: cock up.

For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.

Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.

This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.