A man who failed to tell his wife he was HIV-positive and continued to hide it from her as she died in pain of AIDS has been jailed for 22 years.

Luigi De Domenico was found guilty of voluntary homicide by the Court of Assizes of the Italian city of Messina on the island of Sicily on 10th January.

The victim, who worked as a lawyer and has not been named, did not know about her husband’s infection, and she passed away with AIDS in July 2017, leaving behind a young son.

When she first suffered symptoms, she was unaware of what was causing her condition, and her husband continued to hide the truth from her.

She reportedly died after doctors lost too much time misdiagnosing her illness.

According to local reports, a case against the doctors who failed to correctly diagnose the victim’s illness is ongoing.

The case against De Domenico was initiated by the victim’s family, who demanded justice for her painful and untimely death.

The Messina Public Prosecutor’s Office launched proceedings against the victim’s husband for intentionally hiding his HIV status from his wife after other women testified against him in 2019.

Last year, prosecutor Roberto Conte called for a 25-year sentence for the defendant.

During the trial, the judge said: “The defendant, with particular ruthlessness, hid his condition from all his partners, and with alarming danger, he insisted on unprotected sexual relations, putting others’ health at risk for his own sexual satisfaction.

“Despite knowing he was HIV-positive, he hid the disease, and by refusing to have safe sex, he infected at least four women, one of whom died.”