One year after it began, the BCA investigation into a possible “killer job” in Minnesota is nearing completion

MONTEVIDEO, Minnesota – One year after beginning its investigation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is preparing to conclude its review of the Montevideo Police Department’s investigation into the suspicious death of 36-year-old Refugio Rodriguez, who was found dead along a popular hiking trail in Montevideo, Minnesota, on September 20, 2020.

A BCA representative confirmed the impending completion of the review in an email on Wednesday, May 29.

The BCA opened an investigation into Rodriguez’s death in February 2023 after an investigation by Forum News Service revealed errors in the initial investigation by the Montevideo police, which had promptly closed the case after classifying it as a suicide without following up on potentially promising leads and processing seemingly crucial evidence.

Rodriguez’s family told Forum News Service this week they remain frustrated by the serious mistakes made during the initial investigation and continue to believe his death was the result of foul play.

Investigative documents obtained by Forum News Service show that four people told the Montevideo police the same story in the days following his death: that Rodriguez had received multiple death threats from one person because he allegedly acted as a confidential informant for law enforcement.

The person in question is said to have planned a contract killing of Rodriguez.

The Montevideo police made no attempt to contact the person who allegedly threatened Rodriguez’s death, nor were any suspected accomplices questioned.

Discrepancies regarding the location of death were also discovered in the medical examiner’s final report and the official police report, raising doubts about the accuracy of the information provided to the medical examiner’s office by officers on the scene.

Expert insights provided to Forum News Service in 2022 also raised questions about errors in police procedural procedures that compromised evidence collected at the death scene and failed to document key details related to the tube found around Rodriguez’s neck.

As the Forum News Service’s investigative series continued, the Montevideo police issued a brief statement.

“The Montevideo Police have asked the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) to review the investigation into the death of Refugio Rodriguez to determine if the cause of death was indeed suicide,” Montevideo Police Chief Ken Schule said in a statement emailed to Forum News Service on February 27, 2023.. “The BCA has agreed to review this investigation.”

According to initial reports from Montevideo police, Rodriguez was found hanging from a tree in Chinhinta Park next to a paved walkway by a walker in the early hours of September 20, 2020.

Trisha Taurinskas/Forum News Service

In a 2022 interview conducted by Forum News Service with Schule, the police chief of Montevideo, he revealed that Rodriguez was found kneeling on the ground with a garden hose around his neck, connected to a tree next to the sidewalk.

Officers at the scene cut the hose with a pocket knife, destroying any potential evidence of Rodriguez’s death. It is unclear if officers were wearing gloves to avoid contaminating the crime scene.

Sal Rastrelli, a retired crime scene investigator with over 30 years of experience specializing in suicide and homicide cases, spoke to Forum News Service in 2022 after reviewing the police report, the coroner’s report and available crime scene photos.

“In this particular case, they don’t seem to have a forensic team. So they should have a protocol in place, especially in a case as serious as this, a very suspicious death, that you call the local major agency that has a forensic team and ask for assistance,” Rastrelli said.

Although the suspect’s death was initially considered suspicious, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was not assigned to investigate the crime scene – a common practice in Minnesota when homicide could be a possible cause of death.

Rastrelli also noted that officials investigating the incident failed to document key details about where the hose was wrapped around the tree. Since no ladder was found near Rodriguez’s body, that detail could be crucial in determining how he was able to maneuver himself to that height — if his death was suicide.

Trisha Taurinskas/Forum News Service

According to information from the police report, officers who conducted the operation did not find any hair or fibers from Rodriguez’s clothing and did not document any footprints on his body. There was no information about the origin of the hose.

In the police report, officers stated that they reached into Rodriguez’s pockets – an action that could also have endangered the crime scene.

“There’s no reason to remove anything at this point,” Rastrelli said. “Don’t look for identification. Don’t do anything. Leave the scene alone. Just secure it. That’s the job of the first police officer that arrives. Of course, once that’s done, they can take some photos that show, ‘This is how I found it and left it alone.'”

Instead, Rodriguez’s body was immediately sent to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.

Montevideo police began investigating the case for possible foul play the day Rodriguez was discovered after receiving a call from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.

The coroner relayed the family’s fears that the death may have been a homicide, citing the attack on Rodriguez.

Hours after his body was removed and the crime scene was opened to the public, officers collected cigarette butts near the crime scene and placed them as evidence, the police report said.

Four people who were interviewed independently told police the same story: Rodriguez had told them in the days before his death that an assassination attempt was being planned against him – and he believed he was going to be killed, the police report said.

Three people gave authorities the name of the person who allegedly attacked him. Another person told the same story but did not give his name.

Several people gave police the names of two other people whom Refugio believed to be possible accomplices.

According to the police report, Montevideo police made no attempt to contact the people Refugio claimed threatened his life.

In an interview with Forum News Service in 2022, Schule said he could not say why his department made that decision because he was not the lead investigator.

“I can’t answer that,” he said.

Schule said Montevideo police decided to close the case a month later after receiving the final summary from the coroner.

The coroner’s final report takes into account the examination of the body as well as details provided by the police regarding the scene of death and the associated investigation.

Discrepancies discovered in the police report and the coroner’s report raised doubts about the accuracy of the information provided by the police to the coroner.

The police report from the first officer to arrive at the scene states that he took Rodriguez’s wallet and a bag containing the crystalline substance from his pants.

The coroner’s final report states that Rodriguez’s wallet, a “bag of meth,” a cell phone and cigarettes were found near his body. This information was provided to the coroner by the Montevideo police.

Image courtesy of Montevideo Police

The coroner’s final report also states that Refugio was found “partially hanging from a tree next to a hiking trail with a garden hose around his neck.”

There is no indication that Rodriguez was found on his knees.

Based on this statement in the medical examiner’s final report, Rodriguez’s family believed he was found hanging from a tree. During the Forum News Service investigation in 2022, they learned he was found on his knees.

No time of death was given in the autopsy report.

“Taking into account the known circumstances of death and the examination of the body, the death is classified as a suicide and attributed to hanging,” the coroner’s final report states.

The BCA’s investigation focuses on whether the known circumstances were fully investigated by the Montevideo police and properly communicated to the forensic medicine department.