Posted at: 11/23/2009 6:30 PM | KSAX.com
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UND Student's Killer Wants New Hearing

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - A man sentenced to death for the killing of a University of North Dakota student is asking for a new hearing in front of a federal appeals court.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., of Crookston, Minn., a convicted sex offender, was found guilty in 2006 of killing 22-year-old Dru Sjodin of Pequot Lakes, Minn. She was kidnapped from a Grand Forks shopping mall on Nov. 22, 2003, and her body was found the following April. Authorities said she had been raped, beaten and stabbed.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September affirmed the death sentence against Rodriguez. He filed a motion Monday asking for a rehearing in front of the entire circuit court.

Rodriguez said the September ruling conflicts with other circuit court and Supreme Court rulings.

Federal prosecutors could not be reached for comment.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)