Rosendo Rodriguez III (March 26, 1980 – March 27, 2018) was an American murderer

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and executed in Texas for the September 2005 rape and murder of 29-year-old Summer Baldwin in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

. Rodriguez, a Marine reservist with no prior criminal convictions, was in Lubbock for training at the time of the murder, and was also found to be responsible for the murder of 16-year-old Joanna Rogers in the same city the preceding May (the killings were linked by Rodriguez's

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

, as both victims were found stuffed into suitcases which ended up in the same Lubbock landfill). Rodriguez was executed at the

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...

on March 27, 2018, the day after his 38th birthday.

Background

Rodriguez was born on March 26, 1980, in

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to ...

, northern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He allegedly faced abuse from his alcoholic and domineering father, Rosendo Rodriguez Jr. He attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

in Lubbock, and had worked as an office clerk and as a fast food worker, as well as serving as a Marine reservist.

Murders

On September 13, 2005, the body of Summer Lee Baldwin was found in a suitcase in a Lubbock landfill. She had been raped and suffered numerous beatings, but had died from

positional asphyxia Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents the person from breathing adequately. People may die from positional asphyxia accidentally, when the mouth and nose are ...

after being stuffed in the suitcase. Summer, a 29-year-old native of

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, was working as a sex worker in Lubbock when she disappeared two days earlier, and had also been serving as a witness in a federal

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

ing case, bringing her murder to the attention of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. Summer was also around 10 weeks pregnant when she was killed, which served as an aggravating factor at Rodriguez's 2008 trial. Rodriguez was linked to the killing via a UPC on the suitcase, and he had been arrested by September 15. He was also identified on CCTV footage as having bought the suitcase from a nearby

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

in the early hours of September 12. In addition, in Rodriguez's hotel room were found a tag from the suitcase, a used condom, blood spatter from Summer Baldwin and latex gloves with DNA from Rodriguez and Summer Baldwin on them. In October 2006, the remains of Joanna Kathryn Rogers were found in the same landfill as that of Summer Baldwin after an extensive search. Joanna had been missing since May 2004. During his interrogation, Rodriguez claimed that he and Summer entered a hotel room on the night of September 11, had consensual sex through the early hours of September 12, and that Rodriguez strangled her after she pulled a knife on him. He told a similar story regarding Rogers, who he claimed became violent after he refused to pay her for having sex with him.

Trial, appeals, and execution

Rodriguez was initially offered a plea deal that involved him pleading guilty to the murders of both women, but he refused at the last minute. He was convicted of the

capital murder Capital murder refers to a category of murder in some parts of the US for which the perpetrator is eligible for the death penalty. In its original sense, capital murder was a statutory offence of aggravated murder in Great Britain, Northern Irela ...

of Summer, and he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. During his incarceration, he contributed to inmate blog ''Minutes before Six'' on matters of

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

and politics. Rodriguez's lawyer appealed the sentence based on a potential

Brady disclosure In the legal system of the United States, a ''Brady'' disclosure consists of exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant. The term comes from the 1963 U.S. S ...

violation by District Attorney Matt Powell for failing to disclose information regarding activities of the medical examiner who performed one of the autopsies. On October 30, 2017, an appeal by Rodriguez to the US Supreme Court was denied. He was executed as scheduled on March 27, 2018. In his final statement he called for investigation of Powell and medical examiner Sridhar Natarajan, saying they had been involved in multiple wrongful convictions. He also called for a boycott of Texas businesses until

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

is ended there.

References

External links

Faces of Death Row: The Texas Tribune

Executions in the United States
! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in Texas , - ! colspan="3" , Executions carried out in the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rosendo 1980 births 2018 deaths 2005 murders in the United States American people executed for murder People convicted of murder by Texas 21st-century American criminals 21st-century executions by Texas 21st-century executions of American people American murderers of children American people convicted of sexual assault American people convicted of rape Executed people from Texas Military personnel from Texas People executed by Texas by lethal injection People from Wichita Falls, Texas United States Marine Corps reservists Texas Tech University alumni American male criminals Violence against women in Texas

Background

Murders

Trial, appeals, and execution

See also

References

External links