Dru Sjodin’s Killer Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.: Trial and Life Sentence

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was tried in federal court for the November 2003 kidnapping and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin, convicted in August 2006 of kidnapping resulting in death, and sentenced to die in February 2007. A federal judge vacated that death sentence in 2021, and Rodriguez was resentenced in 2023 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is now held at USP Coleman II, a high-security federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida.¹

Why the Case Was Tried in Federal Court

Rodriguez abducted Sjodin from the Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on November 22, 2003, and transported her across the state line into Minnesota, where her body was later found in a ravine outside Crookston. Because the kidnapping crossed state lines, federal jurisdiction attached, and prosecutors charged Rodriguez under 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1) with kidnapping resulting in death. That charge carried eligibility for the federal death penalty. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictment in May 2004.²

The Trial in Fargo

The case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota before Judge Ralph R. Erickson. To offset pretrial publicity in Grand Forks, the trial was moved to Fargo, local residents were excluded from the jury pool, and voir dire ran 21 days through a pool of 590 prospective jurors.³ U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley led the prosecution. Richard Ney represented Rodriguez.⁴

Prosecutors built the case on physical evidence. A knife sheath found near Sjodin’s car in the mall parking lot matched a knife recovered from Rodriguez’s trunk. Blood in the back seat and rear window of his car matched Sjodin’s DNA. Hair and fiber samples on her body matched Rodriguez and his possessions. Rodriguez had told investigators he went to the mall that day to see a movie, but the film he named was not playing.⁵⁶

The court also admitted testimony from two of Rodriguez’s prior sexual assault victims under Federal Rule of Evidence 413, which permits evidence of prior sexual offenses in cases involving sexual assault charges. Rodriguez had convictions for two 1974 aggravated rapes and a 1980 stabbing.⁵ On August 30, 2006, the jury convicted him of kidnapping resulting in death.⁴

The Original Death Sentence

The penalty phase ran in two stages. In the eligibility phase, the jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that three of four proposed aggravating factors were proved: that Rodriguez caused death during another crime, that he had at least two prior felony convictions for inflicting or attempting to inflict serious bodily injury, and that the offense was especially heinous, cruel, or depraved. The jury did not find substantial planning and premeditation.³

In the selection phase, the defense submitted 30 mitigating factors. The jury found 25 of them, 19 unanimously. Psychologist Marilyn Hutchinson testified that Rodriguez suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and functioned at the mental development level of a 10- to 13-year-old. His sister, Sylvia D’Angelo, testified about the family’s childhood poverty, racism they faced as migrant workers in the Red River Valley, exposure to DDT and other farm chemicals, and Rodriguez’s sexual molestation beginning at age four.⁷

The jury unanimously found the government’s non-statutory aggravator: the loss, injury, and harm to Sjodin and her family. After weighing both sides, jurors recommended death. Judge Erickson formally imposed the death sentence on February 8, 2007, making Rodriguez the first person sentenced to death in North Dakota under federal law in modern times.⁸ He was sent to death row at the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Why the Death Sentence Was Overturned

On direct appeal, an Eighth Circuit panel of Chief Judge Loken and Circuit Judges Melloy and Benton affirmed both the conviction and the death sentence on September 22, 2009. The court found no abuse of discretion in denying a change of venue beyond Fargo, upheld the jury selection process, and ruled that the forensic expert testimony had been properly admitted.³

Rodriguez then filed for post-conviction relief, raising 21 claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. On September 3, 2021, Judge Erickson, the same judge who had imposed the sentence, vacated it. He rejected 19 of the 21 claims but sustained two that he found had fundamentally undermined the penalty phase.⁹

The first involved Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee, who had testified that he found evidence of semen on Sjodin’s body and that a sexual assault had occurred within 24 to 36 hours of her death. Erickson found the testimony “unreliable, misleading and inaccurate” and concluded McGee had been “guessing” on the stand. The purported semen finding had never been documented in the autopsy reports or photographed, and no other witnesses supported the conclusion during post-conviction proceedings.¹⁰

The second involved Rodriguez’s own defense team, which had instructed its mental health experts not to discuss the circumstances of the crime with him. Erickson found this a deficient investigation that failed to develop a potential insanity defense and evidence that Rodriguez suffered from PTSD severe enough to produce dissociative episodes. The court also noted an IQ score of 74 and significant adaptive deficits.¹¹ Erickson concluded there was “a reasonable probability at least one juror” would have chosen life had that evidence been presented.

The Life Sentence He Is Serving Now

On March 14, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Dakota to withdraw its notice of intent to seek the death penalty on resentencing. U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider announced the decision, stating that Rodriguez “will draw his last breath in a federal prison.” Garland had earlier placed a hold on federal executions pending review of the process.¹²

Rodriguez waived his right to a sentencing hearing. In May 2023, both sides filed a joint motion asking the court to resentence him to life without parole by written order.¹³ After the resentencing, Rodriguez was transferred off death row in Terre Haute to USP Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his life.¹

1
Inforum. Alfonso Rodriguez Moved From Death Row to Florida Prison
2
U.S. Department of Justice. Attorney General Statement on Rodriguez Indictment
3
FindLaw. United States v. Rodriguez, No. 07-1316
4
MPR News. Rodriguez Penalty Phase
5
Justia. United States v. Rodriguez, No. 07-1316
6
ABC News. Missing From Mall: Investigators Nabbed Serial Rapist for Death of College Student
7
MPR News. Rodriguez’s Sister Testifies
8
MPR News. Rodriguez Sentenced to Death
9
FindLaw. Feds Ask 8th Circuit to Reinstate Death Sentence for Dru Sjodin’s Killer
10
Death Penalty Information Center. Federal Government Announces Withdrawal of Intent to Seek Death in North Dakota Case
11
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. USA v. Rodriguez, Amended Habeas Opinion
12
MPR News. Feds Drop Pursuit of Death Penalty for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.
13
Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. Will Be Resentenced Without a Court Hearing