Posted on 12/05/2003 5:56:44 AM PST by Alissa
Bloodstains matching Dru Sjodin's blood type were found in the car that police say was used by Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. to abduct her, the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting today.
The Pioneer Press reported that "sources close to the investigation," said the blood was found in the maroon 2002 Mercury Sable Rodriguez bought at a Grand Forks dealership in June.
Sources in Grand Forks, including Police Chief John Packett and State's Attorney Peter Welte, would not comment on the report when told of it Thursday night.
The reported blood stains are the first major piece of physical evidence revealed by sources close to the investigation that would link Rodriguez to Sjodin.
Otherwise, detectives have remained tight-lipped about their investigation, even having many of the facts in court records sealed from public view.
According to the sources in the Pioneer Press story, an arrest warrant was issued Monday after a preliminary DNA analysis determined that the blood in Rodriguez's car could well be that of Sjodin. A more extensive analysis was then ordered.
Investigators who interviewed Rodriguez also found some of his responses to be "inconsistent," the sources said. Rodriguez did acknowledge that he was at the Grand Forks mall but denied having any contact with Sjodin.
The sources said authorities also have either eyewitnesses or surveillance tapes that place a man fitting Rodriguez's description at Columbia Mall the day Sjodin disappeared, the Pioneer Press reported.
Sjodin, a 22-year-old UND student, was abducted about 5 p.m. Nov. 22, police say, an hour after leaving her job at Victoria's Secret in the mall. Rodriguez's car remains in the custody of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Bemidji, since it was impounded last week, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told the Herald.
Police have distributed photos of the car from several angles, asking the public for any information they might have about seeing the car the weekend Sjodin disappeared.
Police also have said for days that they have evidence that Rodriguez used the car in kidnapping Sjodin but have not revealed the nature of the evidence.
Rodriguez bought the car in June, paying cash with a check from his sister, said the salesman who sold it. On a document filed in Grand Forks District Court, where he asked for a court-appointed attorney as an "indigent," Rodriguez said the car was worth $10,000 and was his only asset listed.
Rodriguez drove the car to his job hanging drywall at a construction site in McIntosh, Minn., on Nov. 24, said Jose DeLeon, the Crookston man who hired him to work on a four-man crew.
Law enforcement officers searched the car at the job site last week, said Mark Bodunov, the drywall contractor who hired DeLeon's crew. Rodriguez told him the search was because he had been at JC Penny store at Columbia Mall the day "something happened," Bodunov said.
Bodunov's son, Philip, told the Herald that Rodriguez did not come to work Nov. 22, although two others on his crew did work.
Rodriguez's car was impounded shortly after it was searched last week.
DeLeon said Rodriguez last worked for him Nov. 26 and that the job in McIntosh was completed by then.
Rodriguez was arrested Monday night at the Crookston home owned by his mother, where he has lived since May 1 when he was released after 23 years in prison.
But he served his sentence, didn't he?
The People of Minnesota, acting through their elected representatives, have determined that life in prison or execution is not appropriate for offenders of this type.
They are wrong-very badly wrong-but there are no grounds for a lawsuit.
The People of Minnesota, acting through their elected representatives, have determined that life in prison or execution is not appropriate for offenders of this type.
They are wrong-very badly wrong-but there are no grounds for a lawsuit.
I went back and reread the perps info. I did see where he completed his term. I was mistaken in the supervision part. However, I believe there are certain crimes that are committed that should be supervised longer than 6 months after release. Level 3 sex offenders with a history of kidnapping should be one. I hope the parents and citizens push for a change in the laws.
Grrr ... I'm not reading what I post. S/B "was to drive up to someone, get out of the car ..."
Nice idea.
I believe that if you need "supervision" because your brain is constantly vibrating at the thought of raping or murdering young girls, you should be dead.
Prison for life is a (much less desirable) alternative.
The supervision of which you speak is a utopian fantasy that does not exist in the real world.
What exists in the real world is the rope, the electric chair, the needle, and steel bars. The People of Minnesota chose not to place those things between Rodriguez and this young girl, and she is dead as a result.
Shame on them.
What exists in the real world is the rope, the electric chair, the needle, and steel bars. The People of Minnesota chose not to place those things between Rodriguez and this young girl, and she is dead as a result.
Shame on them.
I agree 100% I live in Louisiana and we have a history of frying them when they need it. However, this liberal anti death penalty british attorney has moved to New Orleans and is systematically challenging all death sentences and the #@#%^^& Louisiana Supreme court is overturning them at a pace that the DA's are being swamped in the number of capital cases being retried. We aren't talking about innocent little criminals. Several are child rapist murderers where there is physical evidence. That's just in my parish alone. Anyway, sorry for the rant...
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