A married man accused of not telling his longtime side chick that he was HIV-positive was charged with murder after the woman died of AIDS.
A judge on Tuesday set bond at $1.5 million for Ronald Murdock, who was indicted last week in the February death of 51-year-old Kimberly Klempner.
Murdock, 51, of Toledo, who also is charged with felonious assault, with the indictment stating that he was aware of his status without disclosing it to his girlfriend.
According to Klempner’s son, Murdock and Klempner were involved in a five-year relationship during which they had unprotected sex.
According to the report from the Ohio state police department, Murdock’s wife discovered that Murdock and Klempner were having an affair and divulged the information on her husband’s status to Klempner.
“By the time she found out and by the time everything was said and done, it was way too late,” said Josh Klempner.
His mother’s death certificate listed the cause of death as AIDS.
“She would have done anything for that man,” Josh Klempner said. “And for him not to come out in the beginning and tell her what was going on was not right.”
Ohio is among a large group of states that have HIV criminal laws, which generally make it a crime to expose others to HIV or fail to disclose HIV-positive status.
A growing number of advocacy groups and health experts have pushed for states to modify or eliminate those laws. Most of the measures were enacted before antiretroviral therapies greatly reduced the risk of transmission and transformed HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — into what is now considered a manageable chronic medical condition.
Most of the measures were enacted before antiretroviral therapies greatly that reduced the risk of transmission and effect of the HIV virus that causes AIDS into what is now considered a manageable chronic medical condition.