Hiv-Positive Woman Uses Sex For Revenge

LEWISBURG, Tenn. - Pamela Wiser was so angry with a former boyfriend for infecting her with HIV that she had to get revenge. Not on him - on any man she could sleep with, she said.

Wiser claimed she spent the past year having a series of one-night stands with up to 50 men she met at bars in largely rural Marshall and Bedford counties. Though she's now changed her story to only five such encounters, police are investigating as if the larger number is the truth.

"We don't know who they are," Police Chief Michael Hunter said yesterday. "Some we have first names, some we have no names."

It is the latest high-profile case in which authorities say someone carrying the virus that causes AIDS knowingly had sex with others.

In the St. Louis area, health officials said Darnell "Boss Man" McGee infected at least 18 women and girls, the largest documented case of its kind. McGee, 28, had more than 100 known sex partners before he was slain last year in an apparent robbery attempt.

Earlier this year, authorities in New York said 17 people are believed to have HIV infections linked to Nushawn Williams, who is now charged with rape.

Wiser, 29, said she contracted HIV three years ago from an ex-boyfriend and decided a year ago to act out on her anger by having one-night stands. She said she told her lovers that she had the virus, but they didn't care.

"I was just getting revenge for what he did to me," Wiser said in an interview at the Marshall County Jail. "I feel I've gotten my revenge."

She has been charged with two counts of criminal exposure to HIV and could face more. Hunter said his department received about 80 calls in the first 24 hours after men were urged to get tested.

The announcement by Wiser has stunned residents of Lewisburg, a central Tennessee community of 9,900 about 50 miles south of Nashville.

But some in town knew about Wiser and what she was doing.

Pat Blackmore, manager of the Economy Inn in Lewisburg, said Wiser came in about once a week for months with various men. The men always paid the $25 room charge.

"We knew she had (HIV) and even warned people who were in the hotel, `Don't get a hold of her, she's dangerous,"' Blackmore said.

Hunter said police were tipped to Wiser by a man who had sex with her and was tested for HIV. He would not say whether the man tested positive.

A Marshall County grand jury indicted Wiser on the two charges last week. If convicted, she faces up to 12 years in jail.