AIDS infected man convicted of 1st degree murder in sexual assaults

In an unprecedented decision in Canada, an Hamilton, ON man was convicted of 1st degree murder April 4 for deliberately infecting women with HIV, the virus which eventually causes AIDS. Johnson Aziga, 52, was put on trial in October for 2 counts of 1st degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault, and a single count of attempted aggravated assault.

The former Ontario government worker, father of three kids, and athlete met his victims in nightclubs, bars, and also through work. Besides the two deaths, five other victims currently have HIV, and another four were exposed to HIV, but tested negative.

In his instruction to jurors, Justice Thomas Lofchik said they need not find that Aziga planned and deliberately killed the two Toronto women for him to be found guilty of first-degree murder.
The deaths of S.B., 51, and H.C., 49, would automatically be first-degree murders if the jury found they were committed as the result of an aggravated sexual assault, Lofchik said.

The defence argued Aziga suffered from an organic brain disorder and a range of personal problems and did not have the state of mind to deliberately endanger the lives of his sexual partners.

Assistant Crown attorney Karen Shea told the judge she expects to have victim impact statements from many of the surviving complainants and their families.

SB's grown daughter did not wait to give her impact statement, talking to reporters after the verdict was announced. She talked about how her son lost a grandmother due to Aziga's actions.

“I thought that any person who would have common sense and who would have that evidence in front of them would find the same way that I felt — that he was guilty. How could you not connect that (sex) act with the sequence of events that led to her death...I don’t think that he should have any liberties... because he did not give any liberties to his victims by disclosing his HIV status. He denied them treatment and eventually for two of them, my mom included, they died.”

Aziga will be sentenced May 7. 1st degree murder carries a mandatory 25 to life sentence in Canada, where crimes with a maximum sentence over 2 years are always federal offenses. Misdemeanors, called "summary offences," can be provincial or federal offences in Canadian criminal law.

Rosie Dimanno, Toronto Star columnist, has a piece, "HIV-positive man killed with hatred." An excerpt is below.

Dishonest and duplicitous, thinking only of his immediate sexual gratification, the 52-year-old knowingly and intentionally exposed his unsuspecting lovers to the HIV virus right up until the morning of his arrest on Aug. 30, 2003. He cut a wide swath with his penis.