Man Convicted of Murder for Passing on HIV to Partners
TORONTO — An HIV-positive Hamilton man has become the first person in Canada to be convicted of murder for spreading the virus that causes AIDS.
A jury of nine men and three women deliberated for 2 1/2 days before finding Johnson Aziga guilty Saturday on two counts of first-degree murder and 10 of the 11 counts of aggravated sexual assault that he faced.
Aziga, 52, was found guilty of attempted aggravated sexual assault in the case of one of his former partners.
"It's certainly precedent setting here in Canada because we now have a conviction for first-degree murder involving HIV transmission," Crown Attorney Karen Shea said after the verdict came down.
The Crown said Aziga endangered the lives of 11 women by having unprotected sex with them and failing to disclose he had HIV.
Seven of the women tested positive for HIV and two died of AIDS-related cancers, the jury heard. The four other women tested negative.
Prosecutors painted Aziga as a callous and arrogant man who "outright lied" about having HIV to women with whom he had sex, and in some cases, convinced his partners condoms were no longer necessary.
Aziga's lawyers argued their client did not have the "mental wherewithal" to deliberately endanger his former lovers, citing a brain disorder, heavy drinking and post-traumatic stress.
"If you have a brain disorder, then you do things that people who do not have that kind of condition do," defence lawyer Davies Bagambiire said after the verdict was handed down.
"Did it deprive him of the capacity to form the intent to commit murder? Obviously, the jury found otherwise."
A native of Uganda and former research analyst at the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario, Aziga was diagnosed with HIV in 1996.
He was counselled not to have unprotected sex and to tell partners of his health status, jurors heard during testimony from public health officials.
Despite several warnings and being served with an order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to wear condoms and inform his partners he had HIV, Aziga continued to have unprotected sex, jurors heard.
In order to find Aziga guilty of aggravated sexual assault, the jury had to find the women did not have HIV before they had sex with Aziga and would not have agreed to sex had they known he carried the virus that causes AIDS.
To return with a verdict of guilt on the two first-degree murder charges, jurors had to conclusively find Aziga infected his two former partners and that their deaths stemmed from an aggravated sexual assault.
The Crown maintained two women, who can only be identified as H.C. and S.B., were essentially injected with a "slow-acting poison" that destroyed their immune systems and, because they didn't know Aziga had HIV, they were unable to seek effective treatment, leading to their cancers and to their deaths.
Aziga is the first person in Canada, possibly the world, to be found guilty of murder for lethally infecting a partner with HIV, legal observers said.
He has been in custody since his arrest in 2003 and his trial was rescheduled four times as he fired his Legal Aid-funded defence teams.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas Lofchik refused to grant a fifth delay last September after defence lawyers said they needed more time to prepare.
Proceedings began in October and were scheduled to run six weeks but spanned into March.
A murder conviction carries a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
Aziga will be sentenced May 7.
Is there a solution to prevent this scenario from happening again?
Answer by Jaggy
He purposely did it with them just for fun / and risked their lives
he deserves a slow and painful death like the others
Answer by endo cyster
aids dosent kill you right away but it is a death sentence.if he knew he had aids and passed it on. it is like murder since hes infecting someone with a disease that will eventually kill them
Answer by lil_stainton
ha wow thtas crazy messed up and retarded all at the same time isay canada is stupid for that
Answer by hetnerd
that's awful to kill people just because your gonna die. that's like blowing up a tower in a airplane!just because you do not die right off hand, you die later does that make it any different? he should rot in jail, that's the most selfish deed i have ever herd of. those poor women i can t imagine what there going through! thats worse then crashing into a building, think when you have aids you get really weak sick die, slow painful death. hell would not even serve this guy justice nor would any time in jail he needs a further punishment.
Answer by Jessica
I agree that the jury got this right. He is a disgrace to society and needs to be locked up for the remainder of his life.
Orignal From: Mental Health: Man convicted of murder for passing on HIV to partners?
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