Angelina Rodriguez

Background

Angelina Rodriguez was a Latina. She was 32 years old at the time of the crime. Her husband, Frank Rodriguez, was a Latino male and was 41 years old. The case involved the murder of Frank Rodriguez in Montebello (Los Angeles County) on 9-9-2000. Rodriguez was sentenced on 1-12-2004.

The prosecution presented aggravation that Rodriguez had killed her baby in 1993 by breaking a pacifier and ramming part of it down the baby’s throat, and then bringing a tort suit against the manufacturer. Rodriguez was also convicted of threatening a witness to whom she had revealed her plan to kill Frank. The defense presented evidence that Rodriguez had been sexually abused as a child.

Rodriguez insisted to the judge that she had not committed the crime, and that Frank must have drunk the antifreeze on his own. She said her attorney had prevented her from testifying during her trial.

The offence

Rodriguez tried at least three times to kill her husband Frank, finally succeeding, on September 9, 2000, by spiking his Gatorade with antifreeze. Her motive was a $250,000 life insurance policy.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court judge William R. Pounders said during sentencing that Rodriguez killed her husband in an “exceptionally cruel and callous” way and that her guilt had been proved to “an absolute certainty.” Pounders also said, “In the past 20 years, I have never seen a colder heart,” to the defendant.

Rodriguez’s sentence was based on a jury’s findings that she killed her husband for financial gain and used poison as the murder weapon. Those special allegations made her eligible for the death penalty. Jurors were also influenced by her lack of remorse during the penalty phase. Pounders echoed that sentiment.

“In the past 20 years, I have never seen a colder heart”
— Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders

During sentencing, Pounders denied the defense’s motions for a new trial and reduction of sentence.

Rodriguez apologized for lying and pointing the finger at somebody else, but she said, “I don’t have remorse for a murder I didn’t do.”

“I don’t have remorse for a murder I didn’t do.”
— Angelina Rodriguez

Investigation and evidence

Three years after Frank Rodriguez died, Rodriguez was convicted of his murder.

The prosecution and investigators relied on toxicology and related evidence. Prosecutors presented evidence that Rodriguez had complained to a friend about her marital problems and talked of killing her husband instead of divorcing him in order to receive the life insurance money. The prosecution also charged her with soliciting someone to kill that witness scheduled to testify against her. The jurors deadlocked on that count but found her guilty of threatening the witness.

A medical toxicologist testified that oleander root, bark and flower can be converted into a highly toxic liquid through boiling.

Investigators said police had no physical evidence linking Rodriguez to the murder and instead pointed to Rodriguez’s behavior that convinced them and the jury. County toxicologists tested Frank’s blood for PCP, heroin, methamphetamine, arsenic, and cyanide and found none. Toxicologists determined Frank had received a massive dose of antifreeze four to six hours before he died.

Investigators never determined how Angelina got the poisons into Frank. Investigators said Frank had been dead for two days before they searched the house. They found oleander plants within arm’s reach of her back patio but no antifreeze. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Brian Steinwand said:

“Just the way we had to work the case, we had to lie to her. We had no witnesses. Our only witness was her.... She provided us with the poisons. [County toxicologists] check for standard ones, but they don’t check for oleander and antifreeze. We knew she was the only one alive that knew what poisons were used.”
— Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Brian Steinwand

According to investigators, almost immediately after Frank’s death, Rodriguez started referencing oleander and antifreeze. Rodriguez told investigators:

“It could be anything.... It could be the flowers on the road.... What the heck are those? You know, they grow in the middle of the highway?”

She also said:

“All I heard was, um, ‘Ask them about antifreeze,’”
“Does that help, you think? If they test [Frank] and say, ‘Yeah, it’s there, maybe that'll be enough for them to say, ‘This is the cause of death.’”

Investigators said she claimed to have received an anonymous call on her cellphone suggesting that her husband died from antifreeze poisoning, and that cellphone records showed she never received such a call.

The Los Angeles prosecutors said they sent information on the case to investigators in Santa Barbara County, where the death occurred regarding the baby.

The toxicology evidence and other testimony also connected to the 1993 death of Rodriguez’s 13-month-old infant daughter, who died after swallowing part of a pacifier. An expert testified that medical records indicated Rodriguez broke the pacifier herself and pushed part of it into her baby’s throat to suffocate her. Prosecutors said Rodriguez had not been charged in connection with her daughter’s death.

Arrest

Police arrested Rodriguez in Paso Robles in February 2001.

Trial

Rodriguez was tried for murdering her husband, Frank Rodriguez, who was described as a special education teacher. Prosecutors believed Rodriguez put poisonous oleander in her husband’s meals to send him to the hospital and then killed him at home by lacing his Gatorade with antifreeze. Frank Rodriguez died on Sept. 9, 2000, with a lethal amount of antifreeze in his body.

The jurors deliberated for about a day before deciding last December Rodriguez should be executed. The NBC report described the jury as seven men and five women. Jurors convicted Rodriguez of murder in October, along with special allegations that she killed her husband for financial gain and used poison as the murder weapon. Jurors deadlocked on the witness-killing solicitation count but found her guilty of threatening the witness.

During the trial’s penalty phase, jurors said they were influenced by Rodriguez’s lack of remorse. Pounders said she seemed to have no care for the agony of her husband.

Rodriguez maintained her innocence during sentencing and in a lengthy statement, suggesting her husband poisoned himself. She said, “I don't have remorse for a murder I didn't do.”

Rodriguez also challenged aspects of the accusation in court. When Judge Pounders asked incredulously, “Are you suggesting he took it on his own?” Rodriguez replied, “I know he did.” Rodriguez challenged the judge by saying:

“Would your wife be able to hand you a cup of antifreeze?”

Deputy District Attorney Doug Sortino said outside court:

“She's a remorseless, coldblooded killer, and that's why she's in the position she is in today,”

Sortino also said:

“Even to this day, she refuses to accept any responsibility for what she did. It's all about her, and that's why she killed him ... It's all about her, and she wanted the money.”

Defense attorney David Houchin said outside court:

“No one wants to have one on death row,”
— David Houchin

Rodriguez blamed her attorney for preventing her from testifying during her trial and said there was no way she could have made her husband drink antifreeze.

In court proceedings and related testimony, prosecutors said friends testified about Rodriguez talking about killing Frank. One friend said, according to prosecutor Doug Sortino’s opening statement, “I ought to just kill him and get it over with.” Another friend said, according to court transcripts:

“Whatever you do,”
— friend (as quoted in court transcripts)

and “don't use oleander.” The same narrative included Angelina’s question:

“Why would anybody eat something with antifreeze?”
“Don't you know?”
— Angelina Rodriguez (question), and friend (response, as quoted)

Sentencing

On January 12, 2004, Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders sentenced Rodriguez to death.

Pounders told the defendant her guilt had been proved to “an absolute certainty,” and described the murder as “exceptionally cruel and callous.” NBC described Pounders’s remarks that he called the murder “the coldest killing I've ever seen,” and said, “She seemed to have no care for the agony of her husband.” Pounders said:

“Her conduct in administering poison to her husband over a week's time was exceptionally cruel and callous,”
“Her attempt to blame the murder on an innocent third party and to persuade (a witness) not to testify against her and later her attempt to have that witness murdered exposed an abandoned and malignant heart uncaring for anyone but herself.”

Rodriguez begged for leniency at sentencing and said, “I have lived my life with integrity,” and “I broke and made a few terrible, stupid mistakes that I regret very much.... But murder is not on that list.” She later let out a heavy sigh and tapped her foot rapidly as the court pronounced the death sentence.

She was described as 35 during sentencing by one report.

On November 1, 2010, Rodriguez was resentenced to death.

Appeals and automatic review

The case automatically went to the California Supreme Court on appeal. One account described that the California Supreme Court would not consider the automatic appeal until 2009.

Outcome

Rodriguez was sentenced to death on January 12, 2004, and was resentenced to death on November 1, 2010.

Aftermath and related allegations

Rodriguez called her insurance company hours after her husband’s death, and an agent told her she would not receive any money until the coroner determined the cause of death.

She later called an investigator and said she had received an anonymous phone call suggesting that her husband died from antifreeze poisoning, and authorities said cellphone records showed she never received such a call.

The prosecution said outside court that they sent information on the case to investigators in Santa Barbara County regarding the death of her infant daughter.

One account described that Rodriguez was under investigation in Santa Barbara County for the 1993 death of her 13-month-old infant daughter, after the infant daughter died following part of a pacifier being swallowed.

A prosecution expert testified about the infant daughter’s death, and one account said Rodriguez had not been charged in connection with her daughter’s death.

Another narrative described that after her arrest, doctors concluded she also suffered symptoms of manic and borderline personality disorders but was competent to stand trial.

During jailhouse interviews with forensic psychiatrist William Vicary, transcripts included Rodriguez saying:

“I have remorse in my heart.... I'm sorry for what happened to Frank.”

She told Vicary:

“If I admit responsibility, then I'll lose everything. I lose all hope,”

and Vicary said:

“She'd lose hope of ever having a chance for some kind of freedom or life,”
“And she cannot stand she might lose what little affection and support she has from her own family.... That's all she's got left.”

Rodriguez later described her life with integrity and denied killing her husband.

Other details

Frank Rodriguez was described as a teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The narrative also included that Rodriguez had been found guilty of threatening a witness, and that jurors deadlocked on the witness-killing solicitation count.

Rodriguez had taken out a $50,000 life insurance policy for her 13-month-old daughter, and the judge said Rodriguez received 60% of a $710,000 settlement in her daughter’s death after filing a civil suit against the manufacturer. Rodriguez’s motive in the husband case was described as the $250,000 life insurance policy.

A report said that during an attempt to blame the slaying on a former co-worker, Rodriguez fabricated evidence in a failed attempt to get investigators to arrest him.