Glenn Mills, the New Zealand man charged with knowingly exposing 14 others to HIV by having unprotected sex, was found dead in his jail cell. The 40-year-old, arrested in May, allegedly infected five men and two women, all under age 28. The Press: “Police have said Mills was diagnosed HIV-positive in May 2007 but allegedly carried on with an active sex life. He profiled himself as a 32-year-old on various website and telephone dating services, attempting to solicit partners throughout the country and possibly overseas.” But just hours before he was due to appear in court, he was found dead in his Auckland cell — a suicide we’re guessing, since there’s no investigation into any suspects. A not-so-just end for someone who is, arguably, an alleged serial killer.
legacies
He Stood Accused of Infecting 7 With HIV. And Now He’s Dead
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MR
The editor in me goes nuts here sometimes: “…who is arguably a serial killer,” or, “…who is an alleged serial killer.” No need for both, boys, although if you had to pick one over the other, the lawyers would prefer you leave the, “alleged,” where it is.
Or maybe, “…who might be, arguably, an alleged maybe serial killer (perhaps).”
Qjersey
Sadly there are a few mentally deranged HIV positive men out there who have unprotected sex without disclosing or lying about their HIV status.
Lesson to be learned: never take anyone’s word about their HIV status, the “I’m neg, me too, let’s bareback” will get you infected.
BobP
This is absolutely not unusual. People are out there barebacking like crazy. People must be responsible for what they do. Why didn’t any of these people use protection?
rhino79
Hmmm… Something about labeling this man a “serial killer” rubs me the wrong way. Yes, ethically he has a duty to tell his partners about his status, and he was obviously intentionally trying to pass on the virus, but this isn’t akin to murder. HIV treatment has come a long way, and while it’s obviously better for one’s health not to be positive, people can now live for decades after becoming infected with current medication. It seems to me that vilifying this man just perpetuates the idea that HIV+-persons are diseased, dangerous people.
MR
“but this isn’t akin to murder. HIV treatment has come a long way, and while it’s obviously better for one’s health not to be positive, people can now live for decades after becoming infected with current medication.”
@rhino79…
People survive being stabbed sometimes, too, but if they don’t, it’s murder.
There was intent here. That’s all that matters.
chelesley
Same thing happened when Jerry Falwell was found dead in his office bloated and pale from a heart attack. After infecting millions with his charm, he gets a holy pardon. His brainwashed ilk are still out there disrupting democracy. Do we wait for them to die off to, like we expect from HIV positive individuals?
scott ny'er
Attempted serial murder, then? And if any of his victims perishes due to HIV, at that time he’s a murderer, no?
He’s still a douche, all the same. Don’t want to talk ill of the dead but he was.
michael
anyone who has sex with someone unprotected is doing there own will & must pay there own dues it is as simple as that todaY
Bad Boy
How horrid. Why do people like this even exist.
GrrrlRomeo
@rhino79 Okay, it’s not akin to murder…it’s just akin to cutting someone’s legs off, or perhaps shooting someone in a vital organ that doesn’t actually cause death but a life altering disability which requires medical treatment for the rest of their life.
Jaroslaw
#4 Rhino79 why is he “intentionally passing on the virus”? I’m not excusing his ethical lapse of course, but he probably just wanted to have sex like most other people on the planet.
And I agree with others on here who say BOTH parties are responsible for their behavior. Any guy I date goes with me to the Gay community center and we both get tested BEFORE sex.
Not romantic, but so be it.
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
This guy wasn’t gay…
He seems straight, he did sleep with ladies too..
JR
Some are guilty… all are responsible. I troubles me that society creates it’s monsters but will not own them. Now it’s 7 lives changed forever and 1 life lost… because ignorance, intolerance, fear and outright hatred are breeding and creating something more dangerous than all diseases combined…
Attmay
@10 GrrrlRomeo:
“it’s not akin to murder…it’s just akin to cutting someone’s legs off, or perhaps shooting someone in a vital organ that doesn’t actually cause death but a life altering disability which requires medical treatment for the rest of their life.”
A life-altering “disability” that will eventually cause your death.
Seriously though, I hope there’s a Hell so that this guy gets first-class tickets to the Ninth Circle.
AL
“Alleged” does not equal “guilty”. Committing suicide doesn’t necessarily imply guilt either…he could have been feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. The burden of proof is to show willful intent to harm. Also to show that his alleged hiv+ victims contracted the disease from him and not from a different sex partner.
Anyway, the news article reeks of malice and contempt. For example, it says, “he carried on with an active sex life” after his diagnosis. So what? Most of the millions of hiv+ people do, and that doesn’t mean they intend to infect anyone, or that they ever will.
I notice that the defense seems to have had difficulty getting the “victims” on the stand for questioning. Why? Might they then admit their own lack of personal responsibility for insisting on condom use? I know there are many young people, like the “under age 28″s allegedly affected, who think they’re invulnerable and often act irresponsibly. Note, there’s no accusation of rape listed here.
Did he lie about his status? It doesn’t clarify here, but I assume at minimum his positive status wasn’t mentioned prior to sex. In my experience, not talking about it in online dating seems to be the norm out there. The most people might say in a profile is “ddf, ub2” or similar, and everything thereafter is based on trust. Some courts say now the onus is on the hiv+ person to disclose prior to sex, and that sounds right and proper. But people often do dishonest things often without any intent to harm, and anyone thinking otherwise lives in la-la land.
If he did intend to spread the disease then good riddance.
Too bad courts don’t intend to put the same effort into stopping those who spread war, which is much more devastating. Most of the world’s economy is based on international arms sales and manufacture – I think something like 70% or more of America’s economy is involved – and I read that the Obama administration, like its criminal predecessor, still refuses to ban landmines…
IMHO, this world is completely f***ed. Why even bother to justify anything?
Matt @ GayNZ.com
Thanks for all your comments.
For those who want to learn more about this case, today we featured an interview with the young man who was the first to go to the police to make a formal complaint against Glenn Mills:
http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/36/article_8256.php
“I asked him straight up, ‘Did we have protected sex?’ And he pretty much just said ‘No’. I don’t remember his exact words but he said that he had ripped the condom.”
Donna McCabe
As a female who was in bed sleeping on her own after a drunken night out and have a man who knows he is HIV pos come into her room and spread his disease, I have to have a certain amount of lack of pity. To go around and knowingly destroy peoples lives is a crime. To think of what I went through and hrs and hrs of councilling and psychological instability makes me cringe. I just wish he took some sort of accountability for his actions. I dont want my perpetrator go to jail. I just want him to show some remorse or accountability for his actions.
Jaroslaw
Donna – please re-read what you posted. It makes no sense. How did the man get in your room? Are you implying only he is responsible when you plainly say “after a drunken night out….?” Was your judgement impaired due to drinking? Why don’t you want your perpetrator to go to jail? Even if he shows remorse, how will you know it is genuine?