A Minnesota man serving a death sentence for sexually assaulting and killing a North Dakota student received a sentence reduction to life in prison.
Minnesota Man Kidnapped, Sexually Assaulted and Murdered 22-Year-Old Student in North Dakota
A Minnesota man named Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was convicted of kidnapping a 22-year-old North Dakota student Dru Sjodin before sexually assaulting and murdering her.
The Minnesota man left the victim’s lifeless body with her throat cut in a ravine, where authorities discovered the missing North Dakota student five months later.
In 2007, the Minnesota man received a death sentence for the crimes he did, but it was officially overturned in 2021 after several failures during his previous trial resurfaced, including misleading testimony and not considering his insanity defense during that time.
Minnesota Man Receives Sentence Reduction from Death Sentence to Life in Prison
The Court of Appeals officially approved the sentence amendment for the Minnesota man after his attorney presented sufficient information to prove his defense following several criticisms they got for pursuing the death sentence against him.
Before the approval of the sentence amendment, the death penalty filed against the Minnesota man was already withdrawn, leaving only life imprisonment without parole for him, AP News reported.
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