Richard J. Schmidt was an American former physician who was convicted by a Louisiana court in 1998 of attempted second degree murder for injecting his mistress, Janice Trahan, with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The case marked the first time in forensic history that viral RNA was used to prove a link between two people with HIV or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in a criminal trial.
Convinced that Schmidt had infected her after a suspiciously fleeting late-night visit to give her a "vitamin B" injection,[2] Trahan had her ex-husband and former sexual partners tested.
Scientists concluded that of all the samples they tested, the two viruses' RNA from the victim and the patient matched almost exactly, even with HIV's potential to mutate very rapidly.
[7] In 2015, after 17 years served of his 50-year sentence, Schmidt was unanimously denied parole by the three-member State Board at a June hearing in Baton Rouge.