Dru Sjodin's Killer gets Death Penalty in...

A jury in North Dakota's first death penalty case in nearly a century decided Friday a convicted sex offender should be executed for kidnapping and killing a college student after she left a shopping mall.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 53, of Crookston, Minn., looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as the sentence was announced in the slaying of Dru Sjodin. He was convicted by the same Federal Jury of murder on Aug. 30.

North Dakota's last execution was in 1905, and the last person sentenced to death was spared in 1915. The state no longer has the death penalty, but it is allowed in federal cases. Rodriguez was charged under federal law because Sjodin was taken across state lines.

"I know it wasn't an easy decision for the jurors," said Sjodin's mother, Linda Walker, her voice shaking. "But Dru's voice was heard today."

Sjodin, 22, disappeared from a Grand Forks shopping mall parking lot 2003. Her body was found nearly five months later in a Minnesota ravine. Authorities said the University of North Dakota student had been beaten, raped and stabbed.

National Guardsman, students and other volunteers searched for her for months. The slaying also led to tougher sex offender laws in the two states.

What is your opinion of the Federal Death Penalty, and your state's Death Penalty or lack thereof?

Comments: 10

MrElf 1961 Sep 23, 2006, 1:22am UTC

In GA we have a death penalty by lethal injection. It is used almost every year to excecute at least 1 to 3 people

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arthur h. Sep 23, 2006, 1:24am UTC

i'm glad that the guy got caught , tried and sentenced to death . i sure hope that the punishment happens soon and i hope that - ALFONSO RODRIGUEZ - as an assumed catholic is scared and apprehensive about his death and his fate !! i remember the pretty young woman when the news broke a few years ago . i remember thinking about the animal that they caught and just shaking my head and thinking --- what a pig this guy is --- he even looks like a pig !!! ------ yeah , look at a picture of the guy !!!

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Taliah "Had it with the drama" H. Sep 23, 2006, 1:34am UTC

Unless he his tortured by the family members in the center of their home town, he is still getting off easy. People need to think about their actions and accept the consequences of them!

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Marilyn is looking for whatever there is. N. Sep 23, 2006, 2:16am UTC

I agree, Devil Woman, and how many appeals do they get to file? A lot, and it's too much..

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June M. Sep 23, 2006, 8:25am UTC

Very nicely done, Mr El F. GA almost always give the death sentence if the convicted is a murderer. I have an interest in the "Jello" killer, Lynn Turner. Glenn was a friend of the family and his mother, Kathy, has suffered immensely after his death. I think everyone who knew Glenn was shocked and suspicious when he died so expectantly. He had been so healthy and full of life. My daughter had been at his home one day and Lynn opened the fridge and told her she was welcome to anything in there EXCEPT the Jello because that was Glenn's favorite.
For those unacquainted with the case, Lynn laced jello with anti-freeze and killed her husband and then her boyfriend. I still think she may have been involved in the death of her former employer, but his autopsy came back clean, if I rightly remember.

I wish all the states had the death penalty or at least the same type rules. The serial killer BTK got life because his state does not have a death penalty. This scumbag you are writing about came close to getting life since North Dakota doesn't have a death penalty either. The "kidnapping across state lines with intent to do bodily harm" is the only thing that brought justice. Now we wait for 25 years before his sentence is carried out. Unless, of course, it gets reversed.

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Angela D. Sep 24, 2006, 8:47am UTC

June, sorry for the loss of your friend, and I am so glad your daughter didn't "sneek" some jello. I think we need to shorten the appeal process.

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June M. Sep 25, 2006, 12:25am UTC

Angela, thanks for your comment. I, too, am glad she didn't try the Jello. Personally, I think Lynn was just setting Glenn up because I don't think they were married at that time. Glenn had a wonderful girl friend that he broke up with when he met Lynn. She was a good friend of my daughter's too. My daughter didn't dislike Lynn but she couldn't understand why Glenn would break up with such a beautiful, sweet and charming girl to go with Lynn. I guess his brain and heart was in his pants as his "then" girlfriend opted for marriage before sex. Ahhh...the male mystique.

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Mary L. Sep 28, 2006, 8:58pm UTC

I am glad that they caught the guy who did the crime, but I cannot believe in the death penalty because what if he wasn't the one that did it, but just did not have a good attorney. In this instance, he probably did do the crime, but there have been many cases where the wrong person was convicted because they did not have adequate representation. When our criminal justice system relies so heavily upon the argumentative skills of opposing attorneys can our souls stand the stain of taking the life of an innocent? Do we satisfy our rage against the perpetrator of such a horrible crime and take God's role?

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Dru Sjodin's Killer gets Death Penalty in North Dakota

Comments: 10

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