The Shadow
A cemetery worker accused of killing his wife has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge.
An Alleghany County Circuit Court grand jury returned the indictment Tuesday against Adan Quiroz “Manuel” Rodriguez, 29.
Rodriguez was charged with the murder of his wife, Ashley Kimberlin Rodriguez, 24, in May.
Police found Ashley Rodriguez’s partially buried body in a remote section of Alleghany Memorial Park.
Authorities began searching for Rodriguez after she failed to show up for work at The Golden Living Center in Clifton Forge.
Police found her body in a dirt pile near the office at Alleghany Memorial Park.
She had been shot in the head with a 12-guage shotgun.
Adan Rodriguez worked as a caretaker at the cemetery. He was arrested two weeks later in Pineville, N.C., just south of Charlotte.
At an Aug. 21 preliminary hearing, testimony indicated that the couple had been experiencing marital difficulties prior to the shooting. Adan Rodriguez told authorities he had fought with his wife a day before the shooting occurred.
He also acknowledged to police that he purchased shotgun shells at the Covington Walmart the day of the shooting. He told police he intended to use the shells while turkey hunting.
Rodriguez also told police that when the shooting occurred, his four daughters were watching cartoons in the family van, which was parked nearby.
No trial date has been set. Rodriguez is being held without bond.
