Man Dies Of Aids After Conviction For Attempted Murder

Alberto Gonzalez, the first man in the United States convicted of attempted murder for having unprotected sex while carrying the AIDS virus, died Friday of complications from the disease.

A jury convicted Gonzalez, 33, of attempted murder in 1992 after deciding he tried to use AIDS as a weapon against a 17-year-old girl. She has not tested positive for the virus.

Prosecutors said Gonzalez knew he was infected as early as 1988 and deliberately tried to infect the girl because he was angry and wanted to make others suffer.

The 1992 conviction came about a year after Gonzalez pleaded no contest to endangering two other former girlfriends by having unprotected sex.

One of the former girlfriends, Shawn Hop, died of AIDS in 1992. The other, Bridgett Pederson, has tested positive for the virus.