Angelina Rodriguez

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Angelina Rodriguez
Rodriguez in 2011
Born (1968-05-31) May 31, 1968 (age 55)
Rockaway, Queens, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationLaborer
Criminal statusIn prison
Spouses
  • Hector Gonzales (divorced)
  • Tom Fuller (divorced)
  • Don Combs (divorced)
  • Jose Francisco "Frank" Rodriguez (deceased)
Children
  • Autumn Fuller
  • Alicia Fuller (deceased)
MotiveFinancial gain
Criminal charge
  • Special circumstances of murder by administering poison
  • Murder for financial gain
  • Attempting to dissuade a witness
  • Soliciting murder
PenaltyDeath
CommentsAccused of killing her infant daughter, Alicia, in 1993 by suffocation
Details
VictimsJose Francisco "Frank" Rodriguez
DateSeptember 9, 2000
3:19 am
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
WeaponsEthylene glycol poisoning
Date apprehended
February 7, 2001
Imprisoned atCentral California Women's Facility, Chowchilla, California
Notes
On death row awaiting execution

Angelina Rodriguez (born May 31, 1968) is an American woman from Montebello, California who was sentenced to death for the September 2000 murder of Jose Francisco "Frank" Rodriguez, her fourth husband. She also was accused of killing her infant daughter in 1993 by suffocating her with a pacifier. Rodriguez is incarcerated at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California, where she is on death row awaiting execution.[1]

Background[edit]

Rodriguez met her husband Frank, a special education teacher, while they were employed at a camp in San Luis Obispo, California. The couple married in April 2000.[2] It was her fourth marriage.[1] Prosecutors argue that within months of the marriage, Rodriguez took out a $250,000 (2018 value of $366,000) life insurance policy on Frank and began plotting to kill him. She was suspected of poisoning Frank's tea with oleander leaves, loosening the gas cap on their clothes dryer, and finally adding antifreeze to her husband's Gatorade. Frank Rodriguez died on September 9, 2000. His death was initially ruled undetermined, but the lack of a cause of death meant that Rodriguez could not get a death certificate or Frank's life insurance. She pushed for more testing, and these results showed that he intentionally had been poisoned. Rodriguez was arrested for murder in Paso Robles, California in February 2001.[3]

Trial[edit]

Three years after Frank's death, Rodriguez's murder trial began in the fall of 2003. During the years since her arrest, prosecutors discovered that her 13-month-old daughter Alicia died suspiciously in 1993. Rodriguez claimed that her daughter choked on a pacifier that became dislodged, but investigators believe that Rodriguez removed the pacifier's nipple and used it to suffocate Alicia. Rodriguez then sued the pacifier manufacturer and was awarded a settlement of $700,000. After Alicia's death was ruled accidental, she also received a $50,000 life insurance policy. Although she never was charged with her daughter's death, this evidence was presented at her trial to show that Rodriguez's motive for the murder was financial.[4]

In October 2003, Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances, murder for financial gain, and attempt to dissuade a witness. She was not convicted of the charge of soliciting murder. The following month, the jury rendered a verdict of death.[2][5]

Rodriguez was sentenced to death by lethal injection on January 12, 2004. In her sentencing, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders stated that she killed her husband in an "exceptionally cruel and callous" way and that her guilt had been proved to be "an absolute certainty...In the past 20 years, I have never seen a colder heart." Despite her conviction and death sentence, Rodriguez argued her innocence and maintained that her husband's death was a suicide by antifreeze poisoning.[4]

Aftermath[edit]

Rodriguez was awarded a new sentencing hearing in 2010 but was re-sentenced to death in November 2010. Her most recent appeal was denied by the Supreme Court of California in February 2014.[6][7] Rodriguez remains on death row at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California. However, she is planning to appeal her case to the United States Supreme Court.[8]

Media[edit]

The murder of Frank Rodriguez has been profiled on several television shows, including North Mission Road on truTV, Deadly Women[9] and Happily Never After on Investigation Discovery, Snapped[10] on the Oxygen Network, and It Takes a Killer[11] on Escape TV. The crime was featured on an episode of NBC's Dateline, titled "The Devil in Disguise".[12]

Published in February 2016, the book A Taste for Murder, written by Burl Barer and Frank C. Girardot, covers the details of the crimes committed by Rodriguez.[13]

See also[edit]

The articles listed are based on women who committed murders for financial gain, the noted years are the span of the killing(s).

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Gina Piccalo (2005-03-09). "Fatal Lies". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ a b Anna Gorman (2003-11-13). "Jury Calls for Poisoner's Death". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Frank C. Girardot (2015-01-23). "How greed kept one woman from getting away with her husband's murder". Pasadena Star-News.
  4. ^ a b Anna Gorman (2004-01-13). "Wife Gets Death for Killing Husband". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ "People v. Rodriguez - S122123 - Thu, 02/20/2014 | California Supreme Court Resources". scocal.stanford.edu. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  6. ^ Maura Dolan (2014-02-20). "Death sentence upheld for Montebello woman who murdered her husband". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ From staff and wire reports (20 February 2014). "She killed 4th husband with 'oleander tea,' antifreeze-laced Gatorade, and she's still sentenced to death". The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  8. ^ Sami K. Martin (2014-02-21). "Angelina Rodriguez Death Sentence Upheld by State of California, Lawyer Appeals to US Supreme Court". Christian Post.
  9. ^ "Deadly Women: Self-Made Widows". TVGuide.com. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Snapped: Angelina Rodriguez". Oxygen Official Site. Oxygen Media LLC. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  11. ^ "It Takes a Killer: A Preference for Poison". Escape Media LLC. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Full Episode: The Devil in Disguise". NBC News: DATELINE. June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  13. ^ Barer, Burl; Girardot, Frank C. Jr. (2016). A Taste For Murder. WildBlue Press. ISBN 9781942266358.

External links[edit]

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