GUILTY ND - Dru Sjodin, 22, abducted and murdered, Grand Forks, 22 Nov 2003 *arrest* #4

[0101ABA]

Hearing in North Dakota death penalty case could last 7 days

Linda Walker and Allan Sjodin have attended a handful of mostly procedural court hearings in the more than five years since the man who kidnapped and killed their daughter filed an appeal to spare his life. The next one will delve into painful details.

Attorneys for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., who has been on death row at a federal prison in Indiana since 2003, are disputing whether Rodriguez raped University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin and whether she died from having her throat cut. The defense says both points were used to unduly influence the jury in the death penalty phase. Prosecutors say the arguments have no merit.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

The Dru Sjodin Case Archive:
http://s296.photobucket.com/user/crankycrankerson/library/Aliayah Lunsford -WV-?sort=6&page=1

I'm updating it daily while this hearing happens.
Unfortunately, since photobucket ruined the way albums are organized, the files go "towards" the end, but end up helter-skelter out of order.... but the hearing info is still on the last 2 pages.

It frustrates me to no end, because I like "perfect" order in my archives.

 

[Laughing]

What I remember most about this case is -- Rodriguez' sister going to the police to ask that they talk to her brother.

 

[0101ABA]

Feds rejected Rodriguez offer to plead guilty to avoid death penalty

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., the man on death row for the 2003 kidnapping and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, told federal prosecutors that he wanted to plead guilty to avoid the possibility of being sentenced to death.

The information is in a letter obtained by KFGO News through an open records request to U.S. District Court. The March 8, 2006 letter was sent by Rodriguez's trial attorney, Richard Ney, to former U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley.

 

[iulia]

15 years after abduction and murder, Dru Sjodin’s memory is not forgotten – Twin Cities

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Rodriguez latest appeal is wrapping up and may be done today in Federal Court in Fargo ND.

The basis of this appeal is that he is mentally retarded, incapable of what he has done. EXCEPT... that this planned it out, hid her, etc.

I just want him dead and gone, but I guess I'm not the only one and on the anti-DP side there are others who want him alive.

I am adding daily to the Dru Sjodin Case Archive.

Hers was one of my first Case Archives and at that time, I wasn't very good at the task. So... the last 2 weeks I have spent fixing that. I added over 60 articles and pictures to make the album complete. A whole history.

Please go and take a look. Scroll through some of the pics and articles. It was truly a heartbreaking case.
He kidnapped, raped and murdered her right before Thanksgiving. She laid under a blanket of snow in the frozen ravine in MN near where he lived after almost 6 months free from prison for another rape.

Dru Sjodin Case Archive:
Dru Sjodin -ND- by amanda reckonwith

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

A chance he will actually die for what he did... maybe...
Wrigley says new death penalty directive is 'important development'

 

[Apollo]

A chance he will actually die for what he did... maybe...
Wrigley says new death penalty directive is 'important development'

Maybe is right. A judge overturned his sentence.
Judge tosses death sentence in Dru Sjodin's death | kare11.com

He was 50 yrs old when he killed Dru Sjodin, shortly after getting out of prison for raping and stabbing another woman. He raped yet another woman prior to that. He's now 68 yrs old. The judge overturned his sentence because he thinks his rights may have been violated. How many rights is he entitled to as compared to the rights of his victims and their families?

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

This just makes me sick. I hope someone kills him in prison now that he is off death row.

 

[Laughing]

Came to post this, cannot believe it!

IIRC, this murderer has a very brave sister. After reading details of the crime, she went to local LE and told them to "talk to my brother about this."

Rights violated??? Dru Sjodin's rights don't matter to this judge, apparently. Or the rights of her parents, or the rights of anyone who ever goes to a mall....

Just sick for her family!

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[LizzyE]

Federal prosecutors plan to appeal a ruling that overturned the death sentence for a Minnesota man convicted of kidnapping and killing a University of North Dakota student.
Feds to appeal reversal in North Dakota death penalty case

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

They have dropped the appeal.

Feds drop appeal in Sjodin killing, still seek death penalty

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Dru Sjodin was kidnapped and brutally murdered 19 years ago very close to this day (September 22nd).

Sjodin was a 22-year-old student at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. She worked two jobs while going to school full-time. It was in the evening of September 22nd 2003 when she was abducted from the Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She had just finished her shift, working at Victoria's Secret.

The Suspect

The investigation took them to a man named Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.; he was arrested on December 1st in 2003.

Rodriguez had been released from prison only 6 months prior to Sjodin's disappearance and was a level 3 registered sex offender, according to nsopw.gov.

Revisiting One Of North Dakota's Most Tragic Kidnapping Cases

While North Dakota feels like one of the safest places to live, crime and tragedy does often strike.

hot975fm.com

 

[sds71]

Death penalty dropped in Dru Sjodin abduction, murder case

Federal prosecutors will no longer seek the death penalty for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., the man convicted in the 2003 kidnapping and murder of college student Dru Sjodin. “What will not change is that Mr. Rodriguez will draw his last breath in a federal prison," the U.S. Attorney said.

www.fox9.com

 

[JerseyGirl]

https://kfgo.com/2023/05/23/death-sentence-reduced-to-life-in-prison-for-man-who-killed-north-dakota-student/

The death sentence for a Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota college student 20 years ago has been officially changed to life in prison.

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson signed the sentence amendment for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last week, according to court records.

 

[ttcRider]

Watching 20/20 tonight on this case. I remember following this one.