The investigation into the murder of a professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology who had AIDS took a macabre twist this week when police said that the victim had solicited sex with dozens of men during the past year in an apparent effort to spread the virus.
Police subsequently called on all those individuals who had sexual relations with the victim to undergo AIDS testing.
Yeshayahu Demner, a 46-year-old Technion professor for the past 11 years, was found dead in his Haifa apartment last week.
During a search of his home, police found medical documents indicating that Demner had known he was HIV positive since August 1993, but that he had continued to have unprotected sexual relations without informing his partners he had AIDS.
Police also found Demner’s diary and written lists, in which he wrote out names of those with whom he had sex.
Based on the findings, police believed Demner, enraged by his own illness, was trying to infect as many people as he could.
“We have no other explanation for his behavior,” police sources said. “It is clear that he did not use condoms or other protective devices, and at the same time continued to have sexual relations with dozens of men.”
They believed that the murderer was someone who knew Demner, and had acted out of revenge after finding out that he had contracted AIDS. Police believed Demner had apparently let the suspect into his home.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
