Death sentence reduced to life in prison for man who killed North Dakota student

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The death sentence for a Minnesota man who killed a North Dakota student in 2003 has been changed to life in prison. A federal appeals court judge officially reduced the sentence for 70-year-old Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. last week. Rodriguez had been sentenced to death in 2007 for killing Dru Sjodin. U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider in North Dakota withdrew his effort to seek the death penalty for Rodriguez at the direction of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Rodriguez kidnapped Sjodin from a mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota, sexually assaulted her and then slashed her throat and left her for dead in a ravine near Crookston, Minnesota.