Man sentenced in killing jobless son, wife he feared got HIV

FILE - This undated file photo provided by Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff's Office shows Eugene Maraventano, who was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife and adult son in 2013. Maraventano was sentenced Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, to 25 years in prison for those killings. Maraventano told authorities that he killed the pair out of a fear that he had given his wife HIV and out of concern about what would become of his jobless son. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

PHOENIX – An Arizona man who stabbed his wife and adult son to death in 2013 because he said he feared giving her HIV after having sex with prostitutes and worried what his jobless son would make of his life was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison.

Eugene Maraventano, 67, pleaded guilty a month ago to second-degree murder in the deaths of Janet and Bryan Adam Maraventano in a plea deal that called for the prison term.

Maraventano told investigators he worried that he infected his wife of 25 years through the prostitutes he used to frequent when he worked for a rail line in New York. It's not clear if he was diagnosed with HIV.

He also wondered what would become of his son, explaining that Bryan Maraventano played video games all day and had no girlfriend or job.

Maraventano tried to kill himself during the attack, authorities say. He then spent four days in the house with their bodies before calling police, documents show.

Earlier in his case, Eugene Maraventano was found to be mentally unfit, though a judge later concluded his psychological competency had been restored.

An earlier attempt at a plea deal fell apart 15 months ago when Maraventano repeatedly quibbled with details of the case and ultimately refused to sign off on the agreement. He also alleged that autopsy photos had been staged.

In a 2013 interview with police, Maraventano acknowledged getting a knife from his kitchen and going into his upstairs master bedroom, where he stabbed his sleeping wife twice.

He then attacked his son, who lived in the house, after Bryan Maraventano answered a knock on his bedroom door.