By  Seamus McGraw

August 21, 2006

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FARGO, N.D. (Crime Library) —  It may seem an arcane and almost insignificant point given the brutality of her death and slaying, but as the federal trial of Dru Sjodin's accused killer enters its second week, the focus will not be on how she died, but where.

Dru Sjodin

Testimony in the kidnap and murder trial of Alfonzo Rodriguez Jr. is expected to resume this week when Dr. Michael McGee, a forensic scientist from Minneapolis who conducted the autopsy on Dru's remains, takes the stand. McGee, in his report, concluded that in all likelihood, the 22-year-old co-ed was alive for a time after she was abducted at knifepoint from a Grand Forks, N.D., mall on Nov. 22, 2003, and that she died in Minnesota, where, authorities allege, she was raped and then stabbed and strangled.

Alfonzo Rodriguez, Jr.

"Blood patterns and quantities on the victim's clothing and in the defendant's car are inconsistent with these injuries having been inflicted...where her body was found," McGee wrote with characteristic scientific detachment in his autopsy report.

Despite the sparseness of his language, McGee's testimony, which is expected later this week after what is expected to be a brief hearing to verify the scientist's credentials, could prove to be among the most critical elements of Rodriguez' trial.

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