Rodriguez taken off death row for abduction, murder of Dru Sjodin

March 15, 2023

FARGO (KFGO) – North Dakota US Attorney Mac Schneider says his office has withdrawn the notice of the death penalty in the case of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. for the kidnapping and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.

Schneider said he acted on a request from US Attorney General Merrick Garland who directed him to drop the death penalty.

Schneider says his thoughts and prayers are with the family of Sjodin, especially her parents.

Schneider, in a written statement, said “what will not change is that Mr. Rodriguez will draw his last breath in federal prison.”

Rodriguez has been on death row in a federal prison in Indiana. He was convicted in 2007 for the 2003 abduction and murder of Sjodin.

She was kidnapped while leaving work from a store in Columbia Mall in Grand Forks.