On a December day in 2016, a man's return home to Tucson, Arizona, ended in a fatal ambush. Richard Jensen, a 36-year-old male, was shot multiple times and killed on December 11, 2016, outside a home on the south side of the city. He had just flown back to Arizona after a work trip in Alaska, expecting to be greeted by his girlfriend, but was instead met with a violent and meticulously planned demise.
The investigation into the shooting soon unraveled a conspiracy involving those closest
to him. Authorities discovered that Jensen's girlfriend, Jessica Dolores Rodriguez-Cordova, had orchestrated the killing with the help of her brother, Joel Cordova Rodriguez, and her coworker and lover, Aaron Heath. On the day of the murder, Rodriguez-Cordova picked Jensen up from the airport, all the while providing updates on their location to her brother and Heath, who were lying in wait.
As soon as Jensen arrived at the residence, Joel Cordova Rodriguez emerged from his car and shot him seven times before speeding away from the scene. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of all three individuals. In 2018, both Jessica Dolores Rodriguez-Cordova and Aaron Heath pleaded guilty to manslaughter for their roles in the plot.
Joel Cordova Rodriguez, however, maintained his innocence and went to trial, where he attempted to place the blame on Heath as the shooter. Despite his claims, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to two natural life prison sentences. His appeal, which argued that he was denied a fair trial because the judge excluded testimony about Jensen's alleged abusive behavior towards his sister, was ultimately denied by the Arizona Court of Appeals in May 2021.
