Going West: True Crime - Dru Sjodin // 267

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

In November of 2003, a 22-year-old woman was abducted from the Columbia Mall parking lot in North Dakota. As her case garnered media attention from all over the country, police meticulously examined security footage to find her killer. And when he was apprehended, they found that he had been menacing women for decades. This is the story of Dru Sjodin. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. National Sex Offender Public Website: https://www.nsopw.gov/en/About/DruSjodin 2. KIRO 7: https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/death-penalty-tossed-2003-abduction-murder-north-dakota-college-student-dru-sjodin/AU3554TNTJAIXKBLRSCBOZXX2A/ 3. Star Tribune: https://www.newspapers.com/image/250357799/?terms=alfonso%20rodriguez%20jr 4. US vs. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.: https://www.scribd.com/document/524152891/Alonso-Rodriguez-Death-Sentence-Overturned# 5. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=128168&page=1 6. Star Tribune: https://www.newspapers.com/image/250312329/?terms=alfonso%20rodriguez%20jr7. 7. Cinemaholic: https://thecinemaholic.com/dru-sjodin-murder-where-is-alfonso-rodriguez-jr-now/ 8. MPR News: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2007/10/16/sjodinsettle 9. Investigation Discovery: https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/video/see-no-evil-investigation-discovery/watching-dru 10. ABC: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=127893&page=1 11. Valley News Live: https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/06/09/alfonso-rodriguez-jr-death-penalty-still-uncertain-us-attorney-general-may-withdraw-authorization-capital-punishment/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Happy new year everybody. Hope you had a great weekend. Thank you so much for tuning in to going west. And thank you so much to the seven people that recommended today's episode. We have Nicole Jody Kate, Samantha Emily Taylor and Erin. Thank you all so much. Wow. So many people recommending this case. Yeah, it's been on our list for a while. We almost covered it like a year ago. So it's been on there. So thank you guys so much for your patience. And that also just goes to show you that we are getting through that super long list

of recommendation. There's probably like over 500 cases on it. It's so fun. It's so long. But yeah, and we actually just did a really fun episode over the weekend for our four year anniversary episode on Patreon. That was like a spooky listener stories episode and a lot of people commented and they said, oh I didn't think I was

gonna like this but I loved it and I don't know if you saw that but no I didn't get to see that. That was nice to see. It's on Patreon, it's a bonus episode we have over 80 ad free bonus episodes on there. P-A-T-R-E-O-N dot com slash going west podcast and yeah We just told a bunch of like your guys scary real life stories. Yeah, some of them were like true crime some of them were paranormal Yeah, that was fun. I'd love to do that on going west if people would be down But I don't know you guys gotta let us know yeah Absolutely let us know and also if you have a recommendation for a case Please head over to our email and give us a shoot

as over. Head over to our email. Head over to our email. Yeah. Head over to our email. To the audience. Yes. Send us an email to goingwestpodcast.gmail.com.

And like we said, we'll try to get to your suggestions as quick as we can. All right, guys. This is episode 267 of Going West, so let's get into it! Music Music Music Music In November of 2003, a 22-year-old woman was abducted after work in the Columbia Mall parking lot in North Dakota. After her case garnered media attention from all over the country, police meticulously examined security footage to find her killer.

And when he was apprehended, they found that he had been menacing women for decades. This is the story of Drew Shadine. Drew Katrina Shadine was born on September 26, 1981 to parents Linda and Alan Shadine, and she had an older brother named Sven. The family resided in Piquat Lakes, Minnesota, which is a small community with less than 1,000 people living there. Piquat Lakes is situated near the middle of the state, about three hours south of the Canadian border, and two and a half hours northwest of the largest city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Drew's parents divorced eventually and her mother remarried a man named Sid Walker, but the family remained very close, especially Drew and her older brother Sven. He was very protective of his sister and they even shared many of the same friends, which is always fun. Drew is remembered as a light in the lives of all those who knew her and an asset in her community.

The introduction in her court case read that Drew was described by family and friends as spontaneous and kind, and that she made everyone around her feel comfortable. She's remembered as a gifted artist, especially loving to paint, draw, and take photographs. She relished making homemade gifts and hand-painted cards for her family and friends. Her nickname as a child was Doodles, and Drew was also passionate about helping others and love to volunteer.

She actually raised money for the American Diabetes Association and tutored kindergarteners and first graders graders helping them learn to read, which is awesome. One friend remembers transferring to Drew's high school, Pequat Lake's high school, when the girls were freshmen. Drew, knowing that the transfer student was new and didn't know anybody, took her under her wing and the two became lifelong friends. Drew was also a gifted athlete and loved to play basketball, volleyball, and golf. In addition to her art, studies, and athletics, and volunteer efforts, she was a really popular girl with a big circle

of friends, I'm sure you can see why, and was even voted homecoming queen her senior year of high school. Now after graduating from high school in the spring of 2000, Drew decided to pursue her art seriously and began to attend the University of North Dakota as a visual art major. She left her small hometown for the comparably larger city of Grand Forks, North Dakota,

home to close to 50,000 people. Grand Forks was about a three and a half hour drive from Pequot Lakes, but Drew saw her family as frequently as she could. Unsurprisingly, Drew thrived in college, staying active in her volunteer efforts and making friends quickly. She pledged the Gamify Beta sorority, and along with some of her other sorority sisters, she volunteered with at-risk

teens. Ironically, Drew also participated in campus events, raising awareness for violence against women and children. Along with her full academic course load, she also interned with her school's aviation program, and she was also preparing a trip to Australia with them in the spring of 2004. On top of everything else in her full schedule, Drew also held two jobs, one as a retail associate at the Victoria Secret store inside the Columbia Mall in downtown Grand Forks, and the other as a cocktail waitress at the El Rocco Nightclub.

She also managed to maintain a full social calendar as well, and even started dating a boyfriend that she was crazy about named Chris Lang. Chris remembered being drawn to her and her electric smile, and the warmth that she brought with her everywhere she went. Shortly before her disappearance, Chris told Drew that he loved her, and she actually introduced him to her parents. She told a friend that she thought that he might be the man that she would one day marry. Saturday, November 22, 2003 was a busy one for this 22 year old senior. She worked a day shift at Victoria's Secret inside the Columbia Mall, and was planning on heading straight to her night shift at El Rocco from there.

Now her shift at Victoria's Secret ended at 4pm and drew left the store to do some shopping before she went to her other job. So she stopped at the Marshall Fields inside the mall and bought a new purse. She also called Chris, her boyfriend around 5pm to say hi as she was leaving the mall and walking to her 1994 old mobile cutlass. But four minutes into their conversation, Chris remembers something odd happening. He heard Drew say something along the lines of,

oh my god, and okay, okay, before the line went dead. Now assuming they just lost their connection or that her phone had died, Chris didn't think much into it because even though now, like hindsight, you know, we can look at this and say, oh my god, and okay, okay, sounds bad. It sounds like something's happening. But in the moment, he didn't think that. He's just thinking, oh, maybe her phone's dying and that's what she was reacting to and like, nothing happened and it's fine. Yeah, it would be really hard to like ascertain that anything bad had actually happened in that

moment because like you said, I mean it's just like... It's not like she said, help! Yeah, she wasn't saying help, like someone come save me or anything like that, so it was just kind of like, okay, okay, and then she got off the phone. Yeah, and I want to mention two, so this happened about 5pm and this on this day in this area, the sunset at 4.44pm. So it would have been like sunset and almost dark when this happened. So it's not completely dark, but it is getting there and the sun is no longer in the sky. So take that into account as well.

So about three hours later, Chris actually received another call from Drew. He answered by saying her name, but this time he didn't hear her voice, like only static, there was also some wind, and the sound of someone pressing the phone's buttons. So this really alarmed Chris, and when he still wasn't able to reach her by around 9pm, like after getting off this call and trying to call her back and she didn't answer, he decided to call Drew's roommate Meg to ask if she had spoken with Drew. Meg tried to originally assuage his fears and just kind of guess that Drew had been busy at work and that she would contact him soon.

But then Meg received a call from Drew's manager at the night club who claimed she had never shown up for her shift, which was entirely unlike someone as responsible as Drew was. After calling the local hospital to see if maybe Drew had been in some kind of accident and reaching a dead end, Meg contacted police. So now at this point it's like they are assuming that something is wrong simply because she didn't show up to that shift. Well now they're putting the pieces together of wait we the phone got caught off and she said oh my god okay okay then I got a call from her and it's a wind in pressing buttons that's suspicious right and now she's not at work like obviously

something is wrong. So while police were not initially concerned, Meg was adamant that Drew did not go off the grid like this. And the University of North Dakota police agreed to help Meg retrace Drew's steps. Now the police reported to the Columbia Mall to search for any sign of her and they quickly found one. Her old mobile cutlass was still where she had parked it before her shift on the north-east side of the parking lot near JC Penny.

Yeah, so now they know she didn't even leave the mall in her own vehicle. Yeah, not looking good. So while nothing about the car's initial appearance indicated foul play, the doors had been left unlocked. The responding officer poked around the typical detritus of the car of a woman in her early 20s, discarded clothing, you know, food wrappers and shopping bags, but then he stumbled upon one thing that was out of place.

A case for what looked like a pocket knife or a multi-tool discarded on the ground near the door of her car. The small discovery was enough to raise the alarms of law enforcement and the officer called for backup. But unfortunately, there was no security camera in the parking lot that pointed toward her car. However, there were cameras within the mall and plenty of them. Now please, obtained footage from inside the, hoping that they could retrace Drew's

most recent whereabouts. With an investigation underway, Chris contacted her parents, Linda and Alan, to alert them that no one had seen or heard from Drew, and that he feared that something had happened to her. Linda said, quote, I just remember crying into the night and praying and hoping that I would hear from her. While Drew's friends and family reeled from the news that something may have happened to her, police poured over hundreds of hours of video footage

from inside the mall on the day that Drew disappeared. Meanwhile, news of Drew's disappearance spread and Drew's college community rallied to support her. Despite the frigid cold and snow of a North Dakota November, search parties formed and canvas the area just looking for Drew, including many of her peers and members of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. Drew's school announced that she was missing and urged anyone with information to come forward. Volunteers searched along the banks of rivers, in ditches, in wooded areas, and alongside

roads, and back in Piquat Lakes, Drew's parents did what they could to spread awareness, and Linda took phone calls from anyone who felt that they had pertinent information. Then police decided that they would pull both Chris' and Drew's phone records just to see if what Chris was saying was true, and they confirmed his accounts of events. But something pretty alarming was that Drew's phone had last panged near Fisher, Minnesota, which is 30 minutes away from where she was last seen at Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota. And then remember, she doesn't have her car, so this doesn't look good. A few days after Drew disappeared,

detectives discovered a black leather shoe discarded on the banks of a river under a bridge near Crookston, Minnesota, which was 30 miles or 48 kilometers from Grand Forks. And her roommate Meg confirmed that she recognized this black leather shoe to be Drew's. That's kind of amazing that, you know, there's such a large area. And so to be able to find this shoe

and to be able to match it to one of Drew's, it's pretty amazing. Oh yeah, totally free. And the fact that Meg knew like fact that Meg knew, like, hey, yeah, this is my roommate's shoe. So Drew had a few hours in between when she left Victoria's secret and when she was due to report at Alaraco Nightclub. And it seemed as if she was filling the time

with Christmas shopping. Because remember, this is late November. So a lot of people are Christmas shopping at this time. So investigators finally spotted her on surveillance footage at Marshall Fields, dressed in a hot pink long-sleeved top in dark jeans, and carrying a black coat and a purse and began tracing her every move from there, hoping to spot someone following or talking to her. Now FBI profilers recommended that the detectives focus on sexual predators in the area, so as they scrutinize the footage for appearances from Drew, they also kept a lookout for any suspicious men lurking in her vicinity.

And they found one. A short, middle-aged man dressed in all black, wearing a baseball cap and walking with a slight limp. He was seen wandering the target attached to them all aimlessly and didn't seem to be shopping but surveying those around him who were. Before Drew disappeared, detectives observed him seated on a bench near an exit and even seemed to follow another young woman who was similar in appearance to Drew. Just after 5pm, Drew can be seen exiting Marshall Fields back into the halls of the mall, shopping back in hand and now sporting her jacket.

The camera at the exit of the store caught the exact moment that she dialed Chris, meaning that they were just 4 minutes away from her abduction. Detectives zeroed in on the man lurking in the mall, seeming to follow women around. Now, there were 60 registered sex offenders in the area, so police cross-reference the list with surveillance footage that they were able to glean. And they narrowed down the list to just four men

who lived near Crookston, Minnesota, where Drew's shoe was recovered. And one man's picture matched the camera footage to AT. A man named Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. for a moment. Who is the man that Heath just told us? Match the security footage, found at the mall, but also was a registered sex offender in Crookston or near Crookston, Minnesota. 50-year-old Alfonso was the son of two immigrants employed as migrant workers.

His parents worked long hours in the fields and were sometimes forced to bring their young children with them. His parents had humble beginnings, neither of them had gotten past a fourth grade education. One of five children, Alfonso, was plagued by health issues from the time that he was born. At just four months old, rejecting breast milk and formula, his pediatrician informed his mother that he was on the brink of starvation. He was described in court as a small, fussy, sickly baby, which he never seemed to outgrow. He was dying-

I've been at the age of 50. Right. Still a fussy baby. Oh my god. Still a small little man. A small little fussy baby man. Okay. So he was diagnosed with diabetes,

clinical depression, constant hand tremors, and chemical dependency, and began using hard drugs as a teenager. He walked with a limp as a result of one of his legs being shorter than the other. The Rodriguez family spent half their year in Texas working on farms, and the other half in Rodriguez family spent half their year in Texas working on farms, and the other half in Minnesota before moving to Minnesota permanently when Alfonso was a teenager.

Alfonso's sister remembers being molested alongside her brother from a young age, and by multiple adults in their lives, including co-workers of their parents on the farm. That's really messed up. Yeah, it's horrible. So Alfonso, small for his age, was an easy target for predators. The siblings remember their father being angry and physically abusive, occasionally beating them with a belt? Alfonso was also bullied and struggled in school and with girls. He came to hate and resent women as a result of this and used his upbringing

as an excuse to start treating them badly. And it's sad because, you know, yeah, he was a victim himself. And now he's turning his trauma on other people and trying to traumatize other people just like he had been. Yeah. And that's what's so messed up is that a lot of killers or serial killers have a really dark past and they were mistreated as kids, whether it was being sexually abused, physically abused, emotionally abused. Right. And none of that is okay.

Yeah, it's none of this is excusable and we're not trying to say that, you know, it's acceptable to murder somebody because you've had trauma. No, no, but I just mean like, I feel sad for him as a child. Sure. But, like you're saying, that doesn just mean like I feel sad for him as a child. Sure. But like you're saying, that doesn't mean that you can do that to other people. And that's what's so sad is how often that happens. So Alfonso committed his first assault

when he was just 21 years old and attempted to rape a woman at knife point after she had offered to drive him home. In 1974, he raped two different women in October and November, and he was sent to prison for this. But instead, a judge sent him to a sex offender rehabilitation program, and he was released in 1979. That same year, he was arrested again for suspected rape, but was acquitted in a trial in 1980. Also that year, he attempted to kidnap a woman at knife point, and when she resisted,

he stabbed her in the abdomen. Thankfully, she was able to escape and live to identify her attacker. Alfonso. Exactly. In June of 1980, a jury found him guilty of the attack and also demanded that he serve the rest of the sentence lifted by the judge back in 1975. So they were like, yeah, we're gonna take this back now. Yeah, like, you're a piece of shit.

Yeah, you do want me in prison. Exactly, yeah. So Alfonso was released back to the custody of his family in May of 2003. By then, he had been labeled a level three sex offender the most dangerous kind and one who was likely to commit again. It's just so scary because I understand you served your time, but it's like, I don't

know, I guess that's a conversation of rehabilitation and if it can actually happen, but it's disappointing looking at this and knowing that this was his background and that he didn't stop. Right. And he was a level three and he spent his time in prison, but he kept going. And the fact that they say, you know, a level three sex offender is likely to commit again is just like, it's a very sad sentence

to have to say anyway. Yeah, because like, what do you do about that? Right. So Alfonso himself expressed fear at being released back into society. And his family even voiced their concern to the Minnesota Department of Corrections that they felt that he was not ready to be integrated. But he was released anyway.

He lived with his mother in Crookston, Minnesota, which again is about 30 minutes from Grand Forks, you know, when he wasn't doing stints in jail. On November 26, 2003, four days after Drew disappeared. Police brought Al Fanzo in for questioning. Al Fanzo actually admitted to being in the area of Columbia Mall on the evening of November 22, but explained that he was seeing a movie once upon a time in Mexico by himself at the mall's movie theater. However, the movie wasn't playing there that night,

nor was it playing at any movie theater in the area. What an idiot. Like he thinks that they didn't pull security footage? Well, and like maybe make sure that movie is actually playing at the theater you're claiming you saw that. Right, if you're gonna lie, like you... That's an easy find. Yeah, figure it out.

From his car Which he allowed detectives to search actually? Investigators were covered a receipt from a nearby Minards which is a Midwestern home improvement like home goods and grocery store now the receipt was for a switchblade knife Which matched the case found on the asphalt in front of Drew's car the night she disappeared. Further inspection of Alfonso's red 2002 Mercury sable yielded another grim discovery, the knife itself, which was soaking in a bottle of cleaning fluid. A forensics team was called in to further examine the car, and inside they found traces of blood,

and they were proven to match Drew's DNA based on DNA taken from her toothbrush. It's kinda weird is that he didn't even try to like discard the murder weapon. He just like put it in some cleaning fluid in his car. I mean this man isn't very thorough, he didn't even check to see if the movie was playing for his alibi. He's not doing things right. Dumbass and piece of shit. Which is great. You know, obviously we don't want him to be smart.

And on December 1st, 2003, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was arrested for the abduction and possible murder of 22-year-old Drew Shadin. But Drew at this point was still missing. They had not found a body all they had were these traces of blood and the knife, right? So Drew's family and the Grand Forks police clung to hope that she would be found, and they held a press conference to update the public the following day. The Grand Forks Police Chief announced, quote, �Drew, we will find you.

With the arrest of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last night, this investigation has only reached the 50-yard line. We will not be comforted or satisfied until we find Drew� Drew�s family echoed the sentiments, her father saying, �Honey, we will find you, we're still looking for you. We know that you're there. Her brother Sven agreed saying, quote, I know we're just around the corner from you right now. We love you, keep strong. Aganizing months passed with no news, good, bad or otherwise. But Alfonso refused to explain what had happened to Drew or tell where she was, proclaiming his

innocence. I know, her DNA is in your car, man. So on March 5th, 2004, he entered a plea of not guilty, but everything changed on April 17th of that year. Five long months after Drew's abduction, Springtime came to the Midwest and brought answers with it. As the frozen ground began to thaw, and the ice and snow began to melt, a bank of the Red Lake River revealed itself to be Drew's final resting place. A search and rescue team recovered her partially naked body, northwest of Crookston, along the

Red Lake River, which ran directly through the city. She had been beaten, stabbed, and sexually assaulted. Her throat had been cut, and the remnants of a rope and a plastic grocery bag were found around her neck, leading investigators to believe that she had been strangled. She was found laying face down with her hands tied behind her back. The autopsy ruled that she had died as a result of either the strangulation, the cut on her neck, or the exposure to the harsh cold. And what really haunted Drew's family, her friends and her boyfriend, Chris, the most were the hours that she must have endured torture at the hands of Alfonso.

Her final phone call to Chris placed at 7.42pm, you know the one where there was wind and buttons being pushed. This call was believed to be made from a gas station in Fisher, which is about 11 miles or 17 kilometers from Crookston. Both Chris and investigators believe that phone call was likely made around the time that she died. So she was alone with Alfonso for over two and a half hours. So it kinda makes you wonder,

was she able to make this call and not say anything? Did he accidentally make it? Was it like a butt dial situation? Yeah, I don't know, but either of those scenarios are terrifying. Yeah, absolutely. So while thankful for answers, her loved ones, of course, were just destroyed by this news. And Drew's dad, Alan, described the moment

that his daughter was found by saying, quote, there's a stillness, a quiet, a black hollow spot. We stopped living for a while. Chris attempted to look at the bright side by saying quote, it was actually probably the best way I could find out the news. I was there with her family and mine, and bittersweetly it was, I couldn't have written a better way to find out the horrible news. I believe it is a good world, and you find that out when you see all these wonderful people come together, the community at Grand Forks and all the way around the world. You have to take something good out of all this tragedy, and that is that the human spirit can transcend all.

This case promised to be a historic one because Drew was taken across state lines, and the crime was eligible for the death penalty because of this. This had the community gripped in a debate about what was morally right and wrong, and what Alfonso deserved for the horror that he had inflicted upon Drew. The governor of Minnesota himself said he would push for the death penalty, saying, quote, as a minisodian, as the governor, as the parent of two young daughters, I have had it with sexual predators and individuals who are repeat offenders.

I'm fed up. I know this is strong language, particularly for Minnesota. It will be an uphill battle, but I am going to push for it." On February 8, 2007, after an incredibly dramatic and emotional trial, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was sentenced to death for the abduction, assault, and murder of Drushadine. Jurors agonized over assigning the death penalty. One juror who wished to remain anonymous said quote, it was the most gut-wrenching feeling I've ever had. I've never made a decision that's been so emotional for me. We all realize the severity of it.

Rodriguez is who he is, and he's done what he's done, but he's still somebody's son and brother. I know his mother took it tough, but I keep reminding myself that the Shedens lost a daughter. To the dismay of Drew's mother and stepfather Sid, the pastor of their church initially did not support them seeking the death penalty. In an interview with the local newspaper, he said, quote, loving God, loving your enemy, and loving one another. You don't love your enemy if you kill him. Okay, no offense, but like, you didn't lose a daughter. Yeah, true.

But interestingly enough, he later announced to Drew's family and his congregation that he had changed his mind, saying, quote, sometimes we're given the choice between evil and evil. And you have to decide which is the lesser of the two. When asked what changed his mind, he said that he had spoken to an FBI agent working on Drew's case. He said quote, he told me about sex offenders that he'd interviewed who didn't commit their crimes in their home states because they were afraid of the death sentence.

In general, I'm not for the death penalty, but there are exceptions for every rule, and I think that this might be one of those exceptions. I mean, it's cool that he thought about it, you know? I mean, I don't know if he was the final word, you know what I mean? But I wonder if this, it meant a lot to Drew's family, or at least to her mom and her stepdad, that he approved it. So at least he kind of thought about it. I feel like it probably did mean something to Drew's family.

Drew's boyfriend Chris wore a pink shirt, Drew's favorite to the trial and honor of his beloved girlfriend. He addressed the court and Alfonso by saying, quote, everyone out there, do not forget her. She was beautiful, she was wonderful, keep her in your hearts forever. Drew's family vowed to help their loss impact the world for good. On July 27, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into effect a Child Protection and Safety Act, which included Drew's Law. This law provided readily available resources in a database of all sex offenders.

Anyone can search a name or location and be provided with a wealth of information on the area in which they reside, or the person they're looking for. And I've actually used this many times with a show. Yeah, we have. And so this is like such a helpful database, so amazing that this was made in Drew's honor. And the database was even named the Drew Shadine National Sex Offender Public website. Her death also prompted discussions of how to navigate having convicted sex offenders reintegrate into the community.

And many, including Drew's family, feel that her tragic death was an entirely avoidable fate if Alfonso had been handled properly by the state of Minnesota. I agree. Dr. Michael Farnsworth, who is the former head of the same hospital that Alfonso had attended after a judge sentenced him to a sex offender rehabilitation program in 1975, disagrees with the choice to set Alfonso free, you know, back in the day. Dr. Farnsworth believes the best and safest solution is prison," saying quote, taking these men into these sex offender treatment programs after years, or in some cases decades, and then thinking, we can turn them around with talk therapy, is as unlikely a positive

outcome as taking people in terminal stages of cancer and the making the decision to start treating them when they're just about to die. He also remarked that it costs 140,000 dollars per person per year to place the offenders in the rehabilitation programs which often do not work. So I mean, I think that's really interesting because especially looking back when Drew or not Drew sorry, when Alfonso was released from prison and he kind of felt unsure about that and his family felt unsure about it. Yeah, about being back in society, you mean? Yeah, like it just sorry, yes, about being released and being back into society. It's just interesting that they didn't even think it was a good choice but they're

like well he's free so you know what are we gonna do tell them to put them back like that's not works yeah it's sad that this is the system if things like this happen where more people just get hurt yeah i think the thing that they're trying to note here is that you know obviously they're saying that prison would have been better for Alfonso than just trying to put him into a rehabilitation program that just isn't

working and hasn't worked. Yes, but what I mean is like, so what do we do from here? Like does that mean if you, if he is a reoffender that eventually they just spend life in prison? No, I mean, the thing is, is... But it seems like that's what he's saying because they think prison makes more sense than just letting them out yeah or or star i'm so sorry or the uh... the sex fender program the rehabilitation program which costs a hundred forty k a year and doesn't even seem to really do anything

well yeah and i think again this is what they're trying to say they're trying to say that this rehabilitation program uh... it wasn't working in the first place this is what they're trying to say they're trying to say that this rehabilitation program it wasn't working in the first place and so rather than sending these people to that program they just need to go to prison instead and they need to serve their time and if they get out in the reoffend then they have to go back to prison like giving these sex offenders chances by letting them off and saying, oh, well, instead of sending you to prison, let's just put you in this program that we think is going to help you and turn your life around, they're saying, no, fuck that, we're not going to do that anymore.

You're going to go to prison. But that's what's so sad though, is because if he didn't enter that program and he just served his time in prison, he would have gotten out anyway and he would have still killed Drew. Well, yeah, and I'm not debating that at all. Yeah, I just think like I wish there was some kind of solution, but it's just like we talked about, actually I think we talked about this in our bonus episode

over the weekend on the spooky listener stories, about stalkers and how one of our listeners had a story about how she was being stalked and she tried to contact the police and the police were like, well, we can't do anything because he hasn't like physically touched you or done anything. Yeah, he hasn't done anything to you. It's like, so what do you do about the somebody who's on the cusp of offending and people are at risk?

Like, just the fact that Alfonso got released even though he was level three sex offender and they're like, he's probably going to gonna offend again and he did and somebody had to die Like it just sucks that yeah, just sucks. I don't know I know the solution is you know and sadly you know There are victims of cases like this But you know as Chris was saying that there is some positive out of this that laws are enacted that help protect women and other people From having scenarios like this. Just so sad that it didn't save Drew. I totally agree, and you know, Drew's parents, of course, agreed

that Alfonso never should have been released, and they wound up suing the state of Minnesota, and they won. Linda said afterwards, quote, We never talked about the money. What we really wanted was something in writing from the state. I'm sorry. We were wrong. That's an important part of the healing on our part.

Unfortunately, that was something that they would never receive, because in 2004, Drew's parents established a scholarship and Drew's name at the University of North Dakota. And in her hometown of Pequot, Lake Smenisota, a beautiful memorial garden was planted in her honor, with another on the University of North Dakota campus. Unfortunately for her family, they were forced to relive the horror of the loss and the trial when Alfonso's lawyers vied for the removal of the death penalty. In 2021, almost 20 years after Drew's abduction in murder, a judge ruled to overturn the death penalty of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. This was partially due to Alfonso's childhood and struggles

with both mental and physical health. According to the court affidavit, it said, quote, �It is undeniable that Rodriguez is of low intellectual functioning and demonstrates significant adaptive deficits. But there is insufficient evidence in the record demonstrating Rodriguez was intellectually disabled, as set forth in the guidance for diagnostic criteria for intellectual disabilities prior to the age of 18. The court makes this finding recognizing that intellectual disability is a lifetime condition and does not usually

develop over time. The court cannot rule out other factors that may be contributing to Rodriguez's low-average cognitive functioning that is evident today. To name a few, Rodriguez's history of alcoholism, his family history of dementia, and his brain trauma. Alfonso's defense lawyers also accused the medical examiner of misleading the judge and the jury in the initial court case and embellishing Drew's injuries. The affidavit mentions that both Alfonso and his family expressed fear over his release

and that he also was not ordered to check in with an officer on a weekly basis upon his release, which is something that may have prevented him from offending again, maybe. While his defense did not dispute his involvement in the murder of Drusha Dean, they did say that it was not premeditated or even well executed because Alfonso was not capable of such a thing and that the death penalty should therefore be taken off the table. And they almost regarded alfonso in like a sympathetic light because they said, quote, since age 18, Rodriguez has been incarcerated for all but approximately three and a half years of his life.

Like sorry, that's your fault. Yeah, that's your own doing. US district judge Ralph Erickson who overturned the sentence a doose that Alfonso's legal team did not properly explore how his mental health affected his behavior toward women stating quote an adequate investigation would have exposed a possible insanity defense and at a minimum information indicating that Rodriguez suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder so severe that he sometimes has disassociative experiences.

The case has now been handed up to the U.S. Attorney General, who will have to decide Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s fate. He is now 69 years old. Drew's lawyer, whose name is ironically also Drew, said after the ruling that her parents' reaction quote, was exactly what you would imagine. I'll leave it at that. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an

all new case for you guys to dive into. Just such a sad turn of events for Drew's family who had already endured so much and then so many years had passed, they feel like they're on the right path, they've kind of put this behind them and they're using Drew's name for good purposes and then this fucking happens. And it's just incredibly unfair to Drew's family and our hearts really go out to them because I can't imagine having to deal with this for so much time and then now Alfonso fighting for getting off of the death penalty.

Yeah, so sad, but thank you guys so much for tuning in. Thank you to all the 7 plus people that recommended this case. I've been thinking I know a lot of you guys recommend cases on social media So I'm sure maybe other people have recommended this case and if I didn't say her name It's because we only look at requests that come in through email So send us an email like we said in the beginning going west podcast at gmail.com We love getting recommendations and your emails. We love you guys so much. Thanks for tuning in and Yeah, do you have something to say? Yeah, also, if you guys want to check out

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