Alfonso Rodriguez Jr Sentenced to Death for Murder of Dru Sjodin

Habitual rapist, kidnapper and now murderer, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was sentenced to death today by US Distric Judge Ralph Erickson for the murder of 22 year old University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.

Before Sjodin’s slaying, Rodriguez had served more than 20 years for offences that included rape and attempted kidnapping. He got out of prison about six months before the killing.

North Dakota and Minnesota have since toughened their laws against sex offenders, including life without parole for the most serious offences and stricter supervision of offenders after they leave prison. (AP)

U.S District Judge Ralph Erickson also rejected a motion for a new trial and gave a tearful summation as he pronounced the sentence. Rodriguez will die by injection at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indians. Frankly, it can’t happen soon enough.

“I would gladly lay down my own life to have had this whole ordeal avoided, to have Dru Sjodin back with her family, to have never heard of you, Mr. Rodriguez,” Erickson said. “The life of one federal judge more or less pales in comparison to the pain that this crime has inflicted on so many people.”