FARGO, N.D. — Prosecutors in North Dakota’s first and only death penalty case say defense attorneys are wrong by claiming the judge didn’t go far enough in explaining why he threw out the sentence for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. He was convicted of killing UND student Dru Sjodin. Judge Ralph Erickson in September ordered a new sentencing phase be conducted, saying…
FARGO (KVRR) – A jury member who handed down Alfonso Rodriguez’s death penalty sentence says he disagrees with the judge who overturned the death penalty. Luke Lillehaugen was one of 12 jurors who unanimously found Rodriguez guilty and recommended he be sentenced to death in 2006. Lillehaugen says he was shocked when he found out that Eighth Circuit Court of…
FARGO, N.D. — President Donald Trump has nominated former Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley to serve as the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota. It’s a role Wrigley served in from 2001 to 2009 before serving as lieutenant governor with Gov. Jack Dalrymple. Wrigley’s highest profile case was the 2003 murder of UND student Dru Sjodin of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The 2006…
