A Toledo, Ohio man was in court this week facing charges that he committed murder, not with a weapon, but with the deadly virus HIV/AIDS. Ronald Murdock, 51, was in a five-year relationship with Kimberly Klempner, 51, during which she contracted HIV and then AIDS. Klempner learned that Murdock was the person who infected her when she looked through his prescription bottles and discovered HIV medication. Murdock never told Klempner that he was HIV-positive during their relationship. Murdock was married to another woman during his affair with Klempner.
Klempner died in February 2017 and her cause of death was listed as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Because he did not disclose his HIV status and knowingly had sex with Klempner, Murdock was indicted on charges of murder and felonious assault. A Lucas County Criminal Court judge set Murdock’s bail at $1.5M this Tuesday. At his initial hearing, Murdock did not enter a plea and his arraignment has been postponed until June 13, 2017, because he does not yet have a lawyer.
Murdock is just another person in the long line of recent criminal cases prosecuting people who know they have HIV and are having sex without telling their partners their status. The Center for HIV Law & Policy in New York has recorded more than 280 arrests and prosecutions related to concerns about HIV exposure in the United States.
Earlier this year, the case of Michael Johnson received attention after his conviction was overturned for spreading HIV among his sex partners. In 2013, Johnson was a college student at Linwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. He was a wrestler on the college team and went by the nickname “Tiger Mandingo.” Johnson was a closeted Black gay man who was popular among white gay men in the college town. After his conviction, many felt Johnson was being used as a scapegoat for HIV infection and helped further stigmatize people who are HIV-positive.
If convicted, Murdock could face life in prison for murdering Kimberly Klempner by infecting her with HIV/AIDS.
