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State of Minnesota quietly settles with Sjodin family
According to court papers obtained by KARE11, the state of Minnesota has quietly reached a settlement with the family of Dru Sjodin, the University of North Dakota student who was kidnapped and killed in 2003. The family, who felt the state was at least partially responsible for what happened to Sjodin, planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages worth more than a million dollars. The settlement, worth $300,000, will stop that lawsuit from moving forward. Last year, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping that resulted in Sjodin's death. Rodriguez had been released from prison just seven months before Sjodin disappeared. At the time, he scored high enough on a an exam to qualify for civil commitment as a sexual psychopath. But instead of sending Rodriguez to a treatment center, the Minnesota Department of Corrections let him go. After the kidnapping, Gov. Pawlenty signed a law requiring lifetime sentences for the worst offenders. And the corrections department began referring other high-level offenders to county attorneys, asking the counties to decide who should face civil commitment. In the settlement with the Sjodin family, the state does not admit liability or any wrongdoing. Joan Fabian, the commissioner of the Department of Corrections, gave KARE11 a written statement. The statement said, in part, "Minnesota has made significant changes in sex offender management laws, policies, and practices in response to this tragedy. We hope these changes will make Minnesota safer for all of its children and will bring some consolation to the family." Fabian also said the department hopes the settlement brings some closure to what she called a "sad chapter in Minnesota history." KARE11 was not able to reach Dru's father, Allan Sjodin, or her mother, Linda Walker, Monday night. The lawyer representing the family, Timothy H. Murphy, did not return numerous phone calls.
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