On this date, November 22, 2003, Dru
Sjodin, was murdered by Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr. in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Unit
1012, will post the story about her from Wikipedia and other links before
giving our condolences.
Dru Katrina Sjodin (September 26, 1981 – c.
November 22, 2003) was a murder victim who was abducted from the Columbia Mall
parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota, by Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., on
November 22, 2003. Her disappearance garnered great media coverage throughout
the United States and prompted the creation of the Dru Sjodin National Sex
Offender Public Registry.
Murder
At 4:00 PM on Saturday, November 22,
2003, Sjodin, a 22-year-old college student at the University of North Dakota
and Gamma Phi Beta sorority member, finished her shift at the Victoria's Secret
store located in the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After shopping
for and purchasing a new purse from Marshall Field's, Sjodin left the mall and
began walking to her 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass. During this time, Sjodin was
speaking with boyfriend, Chris Lang, on her cell phone. Ten minutes into their
conversation, Lang reports Sjodin was saying "Okay, okay," before the
call abruptly ended. Lang suspected that the call was just simply dropped, but
since Sjodin didn't give any sense of urgency, Lang thought nothing of it.
About three hours later, Lang received another call from her cell phone, but
only heard static and the sound of buttons being pressed. It was reported by
authorities this second phone call originated somewhere near Fisher, Minnesota,
but that has remained unsubstantiated. With this second call and Sjodin not
showing up at her other job at the El Roco nightclub, there was concern for her
whereabouts.
A week later, on December 1, a
suspect, 50-year-old registered level 3 sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr.,
was arrested in connection with Sjodin's disappearance. According to police
reports, Rodriguez admitted to being near the Columbia Mall the night Sjodin
disappeared, allegedly viewing the film Once Upon a Time in Mexico at
the Columbia Mall Cinema 4. However, that movie was not playing at that theatre
or any other theater in the area. The police also found receipts of purchases
Rodriguez had made at stores near the mall. Rodriguez apparently had two tool
kit knives that could only be purchased at a particular home center store which
was about one mile from the mall, but they were not purchased the day Sjodin
disappeared and a purchase date for the knives was never established. Police
also found a tool kit knife in Rodriguez's car that was soaking in some type of
cleaning solution inside a rear wheel well. 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 raping
another woman.
Sjodin's body was recovered on April
17, 2004, just west of Crookston, Minnesota, when deep snow drifts began to
melt. Crookston is also where Rodriguez lived with his mother. Sjodin's body
was found partially nude and face down in a ravine. Her hands were tied behind
her back and she had been beaten, stabbed, sexually assaulted, and had several
lacerations including a five-and-a-half inch cut on her neck. A rope was also
tied around her neck and remnants of a shopping bag were found under the rope,
suggesting that a bag had been placed on her head. The medical examiner
concluded that she had either died as a result of the major neck wound, from
suffocation, or from exposure to the elements. Thousands of people had helped
search for the young woman and hundreds attended her funeral.
Trial
It was alleged Sjodin was brought
across state lines, and because of the interstate nature of the crime, the
trial was held in federal court. This meant that Rodriguez was eligible to
receive the death penalty if convicted, a possibility not allowed under North
Dakota or Minnesota law, neither of which have the death penalty. It was the
first death penalty case in a century to take place in North Dakota. US
Attorney Drew Wrigley and Assistant US Attorneys Keith Reisenauer and Norman
Anderson prosecuted the case against Rodriguez. 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. On February 8, 2007, Rodriguez was
formally sentenced to death and prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Rodriguez maintains that he is
innocent. Defense attorneys filed a federal habeas corpus motion claiming that
Rodriguez is mentally disabled in October 2011.
Legacy
Legislation dubbed "Dru's Law",
which set up the Dru Sjodin
National Sex Offender Public Registry, was passed in 2006 and signed into
law by President George W. Bush.
A scholarship in Sjodin's name has
been set up at the University of North Dakota. Past winners include: Alyson
Wilhelmi (2006), Meg Towner (2007), Rebecca Bahnmiller (2008), Victoria Mauch
(2009), Seinquis Slater (2010), Grace Torguson (2011), and Sonja Collin (2012).
A memorial garden for Sjodin recently
opened in her hometown of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, and another is planned for
the UND campus.
CONDOLENCES
Unit 1012
offers our heartfelt sympathy to the parents and loved ones of Dru Sjodin. We
pray that the Federal Courts do not delay the death sentence of Rodriguez by
letting him appeal too many times, We wish that they can be like Virginia where
they executed the D.C Sniper seven years after the murders and six years after
he was sentenced to death.
Nevertheless, Unit 1012 encourages
the public to think of how Dru lived and not how she died and we support all victims’
rights and will endorse Dru’s Voice.
OTHER LINKS:
No comments:
Post a Comment