Aug 18, 2006 - 08:10:49 CDT
FARGO - Jurors in the case of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. watched a video of Dru Sjodin shopping in a department store shortly before she disappeared from the parking lot of a Grand Forks mall.Rodriguez, 53, a convicted sex offender from Crookston, Minn., is charged with kidnapping resulting in the death of Sjodin. He has pleaded not guilty. The government plans to seek the death penalty if he's convicted.
Prosecutors say Rodriguez abducted Sjodin from the Columbia Mall parking lot in November 2003, and raped and stabbed her before dumping her in a ravine near Crookston. U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley tried to link Rodriguez with Sjodin with a video Thursday.
Craig Thane, a forensic video analyst for Target Corp., showed a 7-minute composite tape.
In it, Rodriguez was in a SuperTarget store a few blocks from the mall, and Sjodin was in a Marshall Field's store in the mall.
Both videos were dated Nov. 22, 2003.
Defense attorney Robert Hoy asked Thrane if Sjodin appeared in the video of Rodriguez. After Thrane said no, Hoy asked if Rodriguez appeared in the video of Sjodin.
"I can't identify him in the video footage from Marshall Field's," Thrane said.
Rodriguez is shown entering SuperTarget about 3:23 p.m. that day.
Another camera captures him in the video aisle at about 3:40, one minute before he sits down on a bench near the exit.
After sitting for 11 minutes, Rodriguez leaves the store about 3:52.
He can be seen wearing blue jeans, dark shoes, a dark coat, baseball cap and gloves.
The Marshall Field's video shows Sjodin entering the store from the mall at about 4:21 p.m. She can be seen wearing a pink shirt and dark pants and appears to have a dark coat draped over her left arm.
Video taken at 4:28 pictures her browsing in the "New Attitudes" section of the store. The clip shows her wearing dark shoes.
At 4:55 p.m., Marshall Field's employee Jane Amundson is shown at a cash register handling the purchase of a purse. Sjodin's hands are shown in the video exchanging a Marshall Field's card and gift card with Amundson, Thrane said.
Amundson is shown putting the purse in a bag and handing it to Sjodin.
The last video is marked 5 p.m., when Sjodin is shown leaving the store wearing a dark coat and carrying a shopping bag. She exits into the mall.
"It appears that she disappeared into the darkness of that portion of the video screen," Thrane said, noting the end of the tape.
Other testimony Thursday involved a knife found in Rodriguez's car. Grand Forks police Detective Mike Iwan testified that he bought a knife identical to it, and a sheath like the one found near Sjodin's car.
A manager of a Menard Inc., store, Michael Emmons, testified that the brand is exclusive to one of Menard's stores. Hoy asked him if there was a way to determine whether the knife and sheath go together.
"There is no serial number on it that would match the two, that I can see," Emmons replied.
Rodriguez said he drove to Grand Forks on Nov. 22, 2003, and went shopping in several stores, including Marshall Field's.
He said he attended a movie, ate at a McDonald's in East Grand Forks, Minn., and returned home to Crookston.
Sjodin was reported missing later that night.
Rodriguez told agents the movie he saw was "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," which he said was about shooting and drugs.
Prosecutors called Grand Forks theater managers as witnesses Thursday. They said "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" was not playing that day, though it had been in theaters earlier.
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