Robert Neal Rodriguez

Overview

Robert Neal Rodriguez was a 42-year-old former Oregon police officer. He confessed by telephone to having killed three young women in the Tallahassee area and then committed suicide by cyanide to avoid arrest on May 15, 1992. His body was found Saturday at a highway rest stop in New Mexico, and a note found with the body said he had mailed a letter to Florida authorities explaining why he fatally shot two 16-year-old girls from nearby Thomasville, Georgia, at a beach south of Tallahassee in March. A handwritten letter dated Friday was later received by The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, Arizona; the letter said he expected to be dead by suicide (cyanide poisoning and/or gunshot).

Timeline

• May 15, 1992 — Robert Neal Rodriguez committed suicide by cyanide to avoid arrest.
• Saturday — His body was found at a highway rest stop in New Mexico.
• May 5 — Rodriguez left the city after investigators had interviewed him in the beach slayings because his car matched one spotted near the scene.
• Friday — Rodriguez called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to confess to two murders and the slaying of a 22-year-old Florida woman; a handwritten letter dated Friday was received by The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, Arizona.
• Tuesday — Florida Department of Law Enforcement received a copy of the letter; authorities said he confessed late last week.
• Monday — The Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff, Arizona, received Rodriguez’s handwritten letter.

Background

Rodriguez spent two years with the Police Department of Portland, Oregon, before leaving in 1977 on good terms with his superiors. He later moved to Tallahassee to be with his mother, who died several weeks before he committed suicide.

The offence

Authorities described Rodriguez’s confessions as involving three killings. A note found with the body said he had mailed a letter to Florida authorities explaining why he fatally shot two 16-year-old girls from nearby Thomasville, Georgia, at a beach south of Tallahassee in March. Florida authorities also said he confessed to the slaying of a 22-year-old Florida woman whose body was found in a pond three months after she disappeared from a Tallahassee shopping center in 1984.

Rodriguez’s motive and modus operandi were described as follows: “Shot females age 16-22, when rape plans went awry.”

Investigation

John Joyce, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said Rodriguez called the department on Friday to confess to those two murders and to the slaying of a 22-year-old Florida woman whose body was found in a pond three months after she disappeared from a Tallahassee shopping center in 1984. Florida authorities declined to discuss Rodriguez’s motive for the killings.

Investigators had interviewed Rodriguez in the beach slayings because his car matched one spotted near the scene.

Arrest

Rodriguez committed suicide by cyanide to avoid arrest, on May 15, 1992.

Outcome

Rodriguez confessed by telephone late last week to having killed three young women in the Tallahassee area, and then committed suicide. His body was found Saturday at a highway rest stop in New Mexico. A note found with the body said he had mailed a letter to the Florida authorities explaining why he fatally shot two 16-year-old girls from nearby Thomasville, Georgia, at a beach south of Tallahassee in March.

Aftermath

A note and letter were used by authorities to describe Rodriguez’s actions and communications.

“By the time you receive this,”
“I expect to be dead by suicide (cyanide poisoning and/or gunshot).”

John Joyce, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said today that Rodriguez called the department on Friday to confess to those two murders and to the slaying of a 22-year-old Florida woman whose body was found in a pond three months after she disappeared from a Tallahassee shopping center in 1984. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement received a copy of the letter on Tuesday and declined to discuss Rodriguez’s motive for the killings.