Woman Says Johnson Knew of Her HIV Before His Physical

The woman who has sued Magic Johnson, claiming he gave her the virus that causes AIDS, says she phoned him, sent him a letter and confronted him with news that she had the disease weeks before he tested positive on a life-insurance physical.

In its Nov. 16 issue, Newsweek magazine says the woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the $2-million suit she has brought, says she spoke with Johnson on the telephone on July 20, 1991.

In the letter she says she wrote on Aug. 29, 1991, she accuses Johnson of infecting her. It ends “Read Deuteronomy 5:17. God bless.” Deuteronomy 5:17 says, “Thou shalt not kill.”

The woman says she confronted Johnson on Sept. 12 in Michigan State’s Jenison Fieldhouse and accused him of infecting her.

“But I can’t be sick,” he said, according to the Newsweek story. “Look at me.”

Two days later, he married his childhood sweetheart, Cookie. A month later, in a physical examination, Johnson was found to have HIV. He announced it on Nov. 7, 1991.

Through lawyers, Johnson has acknowledged having sex with the woman, a longtime acquaintance, in June of 1990. Howard Weitzman, Johnson’s attorney, suggests the woman could have gotten the disease from any of several men. She denies it.

Weitzman also said that Johnson learned in January of this year of the woman’s allegations that he infected her.