Wife killed over HIV fear

A Phoenix man has been charged with fatally stabbing his wife and adult son. In a bizarre twist, police say that he admitted to the killings. He explained that he committed murder because he feared that he had given HIV to his wife.

Eugene Maraventano, 64, told a detective that he stabbed his wife, Janet, with a 14-inch kitchen knife while she slept, according to court documents  obtained by the Phoenix New Times.

"I killed my wife and I killed my son; I can't kill myself," Maraventano told a 911 dispatcher, according to the court documents.

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Maraventano said he stabbed them both to death and added that his wife had cancer, the Phoenix New Times reported. 

Maraventano said he tried to kill himself but failed, police  told the Associated Press. The documents don't indicate whether there's actually proof that he or his wife had HIV, according to the AP.  Maraventano's HIV fears were based on his visits to prostitutes while working in New York.