Doctor Accused of Injecting His Girlfriend With HIV

When a doctor’s girlfriend tried to break off their decade-long relationship, he retaliated by injecting her with blood from an AIDS patient, prosecutors charge.

Dr. Richard J. Schmidt, 48, was charged Tuesday with the attempted second-degree murder of a 33-year-old nurse. He allegedly told her that the deadly injection was a vitamin B-12 shot.

The woman, who was not identified, tried several times to break off the relationship before finally ending it in 1994, Dist. Atty. Michael Harson said.

When they were seeing each other, the woman would often receive vitamin injections from Schmidt for fatigue, with the final one being given Aug. 4, 1994, said police.

On that night Schmidt came to the woman’s home and offered to give her a B-12 shot while she lay in bed. She declined, but he was insistent.

“Before she could do anything more, he jabs her in the left arm. She never even sees the hypodermic. Next thing, he’s leaving almost immediately,” Harson said.

The two never had physical contact again and the affair ended a month later, about the time the woman developed suspicious symptoms. A blood test confirmed that she had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Although the woman could have been infected in her job, DNA tests suggest that the virus in the woman’s blood originated from the AIDS patient Schmidt had been treating, Harson said.

Schmidt’s lawyer denied the charge.

“He just believes this woman is out to try and ruin his life with this charge,” lawyer Frank Dawkins said.

Schmidt, who remained jailed Wednesday, could be charged with second-degree murder if the woman dies from AIDS complications, Harson said.