Angelina Rodriguez Killed Her Husband For Life Insurance Policy

Angelina Rodriguez is a California woman who was sentenced to death for the murder of her fourth husband, Jose Francisco "Frank" Rodriguez, in September 2000. She was also accused of suffocating her infant daughter with a pacifier in 1993.

The Beginning

Rodriguez met her husband, Frank, a special education teacher, at a camp in San Luis Obispo, California. In April of 2000, the couple married. It was her fourth marriage.

Prosecutors claim that within months of their marriage, Rodriguez purchased a $250,000 life insurance policy on Frank and began plotting his murder. She was accused of poisoning Frank's tea with oleander leaves, tampering with the gas cap on their clothes dryer, and ultimately putting antifreeze in her husband's Gatorade.

On September 9, 2000, Frank Rodriguez died suddenly. His death was initially pronounced undetermined, but because there was no cause of death, Rodriguez was unable to obtain a death certificate or Frank's life insurance.

She insisted on additional testing, and the results revealed that he had been poisoned on purpose. In February 2001, Rodriguez was arrested for murder in Paso Robles, California.

Arrest, trial and Sentencing

Rodriguez's murder trial began in the fall of 2003, three years after Frank's death. Prosecutors discovered that her 13-month-old daughter Alicia died strangely in 1993 during the years following her arrest.

Rodriguez claimed that her daughter choked on a dislodged pacifier, but detectives believe she removed the pacifier's nipple and used it to suffocate Alicia. Rodriguez then sued the pacifier maker and was given a $700,000 settlement. Alicia earned a $50,000 life insurance policy when her death was ruled accidental.

Although she was never accused of her daughter's death, this evidence was used during her trial to prove that Rodriguez's motivation for the murder was money.

Rodriguez called her insurance company a few hours after her husband passed away, but the agent informed her that she wouldn't get any money until the coroner determined the cause of death.

Prosecutors claim that she later called an investigator and claimed to have received an anonymous call claiming that her husband had been poisoned with antifreeze. According to phone records, she never received a call like that, according to the investigators.

Rodriguez was convicted in October 2003 of first-degree murder for financial gain and attempting to persuade a witness. The jury returned a death sentence the next month.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Rodriguez had discussed killing her husband rather than divorcing him in order to get the life insurance money with a friend. Prosecutors also charged her with soliciting the murder of a witness who was supposed to testify against her. The jury was deadlocked on that count, but she was convicted of harassing the witness.

Jurors said Rodriguez's lack of remorse influenced their decision to sentence her to death in November, during the trial's penalty phase. 

Rodriguez apologized for lying and blaming others, but said flatly, "I don't have guilt for a crime I didn't commit."

On January 12, 2004, Rodriguez was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders noted in her sentencing that she murdered her husband in an "exceptionally brutal and heartless" manner and that her guilt had been proven to be "an absolute certainty... in the previous 20 years, I have never seen a colder heart."

Motions for a new trial and a sentence reduction were denied by Pounders. She heaved a sigh and tapped her foot quickly as she delivered the death sentence, making Rodriguez the 15th woman on California's execution list.

Despite her conviction and death sentence, Rodriguez maintained her innocence and claimed that her husband died of antifreeze poisoning.