FARGO, N.D.—The death sentence for a Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota college student 20 years ago has been officially changed to life in prison.
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ralph Erickson signed the sentence amendment for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last week, according to court records.
Rodriguez, a sex offender, was convicted in 2007 of kidnapping 22-year-old Dru Sjodin on Nov. 22, 2003, from a Grand Forks shopping mall. He then sexually assaulted her, cut her throat and left her to die in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota.
The body of Sjodin, who was a University of North Dakota student, was found five months later….