SHIAWASSEE COUNTY Her body was found two weeks after she was reported missing.
Rodriguez, already in prison for a drug-related conviction, was just charged
last month, nearly 11 years later. He was bound over to circuit court Tuesday
and will stand trial.
Two key witnesses were among six that testified. The two key witnesses, the
first and last put on the stand by prosecutors, provided new information.
"I heard a knock on the door and it was Rachel," said witness Jeremy Seger.
Seger says Rachel was looking for his girlfriend that day back in July of 2000.
She wasn't there and Rachel went to leave, but ended up in his apartment when
Laurencio, or Larry, stopped by to buy some marijuana.
The trio got high, Seger says, and then he went to the bathroom. When he
returned to his living room, he saw "Larry Rodriguez on top Rachel,
unconscious," Seger said.
Both were clothed.
"I asked what was going on, basically freaked out," Seger said.
Seger says he distanced himself by going into the kitchen. "I was afraid I could
be next," he said.
But, Seger kept an eye on what was happening.
"He wraps her up in a blanket and puts her on his shoulder," Seger said.
Seger says he watched Rodriguez put Rachel in the trunk of a black car, but
admits he didn't tell anyone about any of this until 2010 when federal
investigators interviewed him.
Rodriguez's attorney questioned Seger's credibility, alluding to a videotaped
interview of Rodriguez implicating him in Rachel's murder.
However, there's also another key witness.
"He said they had just taken a parole from him and if I knew anything about
statue of limitations," said a prison inmate we've been asked to not identify.
"He said they had him on a murder that happened 11 years ago."
Rodriguez sat quietly showing no emotion even when two witnesses pointed the
finger at him.
This prison inmate says Rodriguez told him she denied his advances. "She ended
up being a tease, so he put her to sleep," the inmate said.
Rachel's family was in the courtroom listening to the testimony.
Rachel's father Ken Scott testified, talking about the last time he saw her
alive. "She was dancing around in her PJs with her sister, having a good time,"
Ken said.
Rodriguez was bound over to circuit court for trial.
"That's really what we wanted to accomplish today, to get it bound over," Ken
said.
For Rachel's family, it was a big step forward following the nearly 11 years it
took to get to this point.
Rodriguez has another court hearing scheduled next week.
His attorney entered a not guilty plea for him Tuesday.
