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The U.S. Attorney for North Dakota announced Tuesday the federal government will not pursue the death penalty for convicted killer Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.

 in 2006 for the 2003 abduction and murder of college student Dru Sjodin. 

Sjodin was from Pequot Lakes, Minn., but attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, ND, where she was abducted from a mall parking lot. 

Her body was found near Crookston, Minn., after a 

Rodriguez was a registered sex offender and his arrest in the Sjodin case prompted 

 and changes in Minnesota sex offender laws.

 in 2021 saying Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee's testimony in the case was “unreliable, misleading and inaccurate.”

He also said defense attorneys in the case did not adequately explore mental health issues as a defense, including evidence of severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Erickson ordered a new sentencing phase of the trial.

U.S. Attorney for North Dakota Mac Schneider said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed him to withdraw the notice of intent to seek a death penalty in the case. 

“The directive to withdraw the death notice has changed how the United States Attorney’s Office will proceed with this case. What will not change is that Mr. Rodriguez will draw his last breath in a federal prison,” said Schneider.

Minnesota News

Crime, Law and Justice

Greater Minnesota

NewsPartners

Dan Gunderson

Author

The federal government will no longer pursue the death penalty for a Minnesota man convicted of killing a college student in 2003.

Feds drop pursuit of death penalty for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.

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