Rosendo Rodriguez III - The Lubbock Serial Suitcase Murderer is Executed

[Up All Night]

Charming, respectful, good-lookingâ€"potentially the first Hispanic President of the United States, was the picture of Rosendo Rodriguez III painted by his family, friends, and victims.

On November 8, 2017 Lubbock Judge JB Darnell issued a Death Warrant for Rosendo Rodriguez III, who was convicted and sentenced to die for the 2005 slaying of a pregnant woman whose body was stuffed inside a new suitcase, found at the Lubbock city landfill.

Judge Darnell’s order comes two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Rosendo Rodriguez’s appeal, and set a March 27 date for his execution by lethal injection.

Rosendo Rodriguez (38) of Lubbock was put to death Tuesday evening, March 27, 2018 by the State of Texas. The injection began at 6:24 p.m. at the Huntsville Unit. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. 

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Here's the detailed story of how the Lubbock DA's office prosecutors methodically uncovered this defendant’s dark side and secured a death sentence.

We had been called to the Lubbock landfill where a worker had discovered a suitcase containing the naked body of a young woman. At first, the worker had thought it was a practical joke. Apparently, it is common to find mannequins in the landfill. The worker initially chalked it up to another college prank but quickly learned this discovery was not funny in the slightest.

Investigators were left with an unclothed body, few clues, no identification except an ankle tattoo, and a crime scene that didn’t lend itself to finding any physical or biological evidence. After the body was removed, detectives started running down what few clues they had. They were able to identify the victim through the tattoo and fingerprints. Her name was Summer Baldwin. She was a local drug addict who had turned to prostitution to fund her habit.

Several things were learned at the autopsy. Summer had been severely beaten, had signs of asphyxiation, and had been anally and vaginally raped. She was also approximately 10 weeks pregnant.

The rest of the story is here: https://www.tdcaa.com/node/2868