Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr.
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Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr (born February 18, 1953) is a registered level 3 sex offender in Minnesota who was found guilty of the rape and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.
On December 1, 2003, Rodriguez was arrested in connection with Sjodin's disappearance. According to police reports, Rodriguez admitted being near the Columbia Mall the day Sjodin disappeared, allegedly watching Once Upon a Time in Mexico. That movie was not playing at any theater in the area. The police also found receipts of purchases that Rodriguez had made at several stores near the mall including one receipt for a knife which he had purchased at a nearby Menards store. Police also found a woman's shoe and a knife in Rodriguez's car that had blood on it that matched Sjodin's DNA.
Sjodin's body was recovered April 17, 2004, just west of Crookston, Minnesota when deep snow drifts began to melt. Crookston is where Rodriguez lived with his mother. Thousands of people had helped search for the young woman and hundreds attended her funeral.
Rodriguez had been released from jail in May 2003 after completing a 23-year prison term for stabbing and trying to kidnap a woman. Rodriguez had also previously pleaded guilty to rape.
On August 30, 2006, Rodriguez was convicted in federal court of the murder of Dru Sjodin, and on September 22, 2006, he was sentenced to death. It was the first death penalty case in a century to take place in North Dakota. Neither North Dakota nor neighboring Minnesota have the death penalty, but Rodriguez was eligible under federal law due to the interstate nature of the crime. Rodriguez maintains that he is innocent. On February 8, 2007, Rodriguez was formally sentenced to death.[1]
