Janice Trahan was a victim of a crime perpetrated by her former lover, Dr. Richard Schmidt, in 1994. Schmidt, a gastroenterologist, injected her with HIV and hepatitis C infected blood.
In more detail, Janice Trahan had an affair with Dr. Richard Schmidt, who was married at the time. When Trahan ended the relationship and started seeing someone else, Schmidt became enraged. In a twisted act of revenge, he told Trahan she needed a vitamin injection but instead used a syringe filled with the blood of a patient known to be infected with HIV and hepatitis C. Trahan became ill and was eventually diagnosed with both diseases.
The case took a complex turn as it was one of the first instances where someone was prosecuted for intentionally infecting another person with HIV. In 1998, Schmidt was convicted of attempted second-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. The case highlighted the severity of such crimes and the legal implications of intentionally infecting someone with a life-threatening virus. Janice Trahan’s experience brought attention to the potential dangers of abusive relationships and the extreme forms of violence that can occur.