Jury Was Racist, Convicted HIV Killer Says
Globe and Mail, May 27, 2011
A man convicted of killing two women by infecting them with HIV says he was only found guilty of first-degree murder because the jury was racist.
Johnson Aziga, 54-year-old Ugandan immigrant believed to be the first person in Canada convicted of murder through HIV transmission, is testifying at his dangerous offender hearing.
Mr. Aziga’s convictions are related to 11 women with whom he had unprotected sex without telling them he had HIV and seven of the women became infected, with two dying of AIDS-related cancers.
On the stand today, Mr. Aziga said he admits he is guilty of aggravated sexual assault for not telling the women he was HIV positive before having unprotected sex with them.
But he says he shouldn’t have been convicted of murder because while he exposed them to HIV, he doesn’t believe he is definitely the source of their infections.
Mr. Aziga, who is black, says the jury found him guilty of the two murder counts because they were biased and racist.
