Thread: Man picked up to model held in death

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Man picked up to model held in death

Frisco: Police say worker strangled Dallas victim, hid body in closet


12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, August 24, 2006

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

Enrique Rodriguez regularly picked up men at day labor camps in Frisco, but police say he had unusual work in mind for them.

Mr. Rodriguez, 62, paid them an hourly rate to allow him to sketch or paint them in the nude, police said. Now authorities say one of his workers killed him and took his car.

"He ended up picking up an individual that didn't like the advances that the complainant made," said Sgt. Richard Wilson, a homicide supervisor. "He ended up strangling him and stuffing him in the closet."

Police discovered Mr. Rodriguez's unclothed body in his closet on Saturday night in his Far North Dallas apartment.

Police arrested Mario Alegria, 17. He was in Collin County Jail on Wednesday, held on a capital murder charge. Bail was set at $100,000. Immigration officials have also placed a hold on him because he is an illegal immigrant.

Witnesses have told police that Mr. Rodriguez regularly picked up men from day labor camps in Frisco.

"Most of them knew his intentions," Sgt. Wilson said. "I'm not sure if this particular suspect knew that was the reason he was being picked up."

Neighbors also told police that Mr. Rodriguez, who was from Puerto Rico, often paraded around his apartment in the nude.

"He had a little bit of an off-the-beaten-path lifestyle," Sgt. Wilson said. "I think he kind of viewed himself as an artist."

Police believe that Mr. Rodriguez picked up Mr. Alegria several days before officers found Mr. Rodriguez's body.

"Either he [Mr. Alegria] was surprised by the activity or at some point he decided to draw the line," Sgt. Wilson said. "Apparently, the complainant didn't get the message."

Neighbors contacted police after not seeing Mr. Rodriguez for a few days, which led to the discovery of his body.

Plano police stopped Mr. Rodriguez's vehicle shortly before midnight Monday and found several people in it. Those people helped police identify Mr. Alegria as a suspect and track him to an apartment in Frisco where he was living with several other people. He was arrested Tuesday.

Police also say they found electronics belonging to Mr. Rodriguez in the Frisco apartment.

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Police: Man Killed After Asking Day Laborer To Pose Nude

POSTED: 8:53 am CDT August 25, 2006
UPDATED: 1:27 pm CDT August 25, 2006

FRISCO, Texas -- A Frisco day laborer is behind bars, charged in the murder of a man who wanted to paint him nude.

Police said the victim, Enrique Rodriguez, 62, solicited the suspect, Mario Alegria, 17, to pose nude for him while he painted or sketched the worker at his far North Dallas apartment.

Homicide detectives said Rodriguez's body was found naked and stuffed in a bedroom closet at his North Dallas apartment, where they said he would pay young males to model nude.

Investigators said Alegria is in the Collin County jail charged with capital murder.

"You ain't going to be no Calvin Klein model around here, especially no young guys like us out here are going to be models you got to ... think something's not going on right there," day laborer Enrique Lopez said.

Investigators said Rodriguez picked up the Alegria at a day-labor camp on Main Street in Frisco.

"We found out that he had a history of going to the day labor camps and picking up different young Hispanic males and bringing them in as models," Dallas police Lt. Mike Scoggins said. "Apparently something went awry, and so when this happened there became a short struggle, and our suspect strangled our complainant."

Residents at the Idlewyld Village apartment complex contacted police when they hadn't seen Rodriguez for a few days.

"The little old man at the pool with the Speedos on -- that's how we knew him but he was just quiet," neighbor Ben Huerta said.

Police said the alleged victim viewed himself as an artist.

"There was some indication with some of the artwork and other calendars that he had there that the type of artwork he was doing was in reference to nude men," Scoggins said.

Police said the suspect also stole the alleged victim's new car and was pulled over by Plano police.