Mollie Tibbetts trial live Crime scene photos show joggers body dumped as Cristhian Rivera fo
CRISTHIAN Bahena Rivera was described as a “cold-blooded killer” after he was found guilty of the frenzied stabbing murder of Mollie Tibbetts in 2018.
Former homicide detective Ted Williams reportedly told Fox News that he was “overjoyed” with the verdict after a jury found Rivera guilty of killing the 20-year-old jogger on Friday.
On Thursday, prosecutors said Tibbetts had been “brutally attacked” by Rivera and noted that for “five weeks, her body lay in that cornfield” during closing arguments.
“And you know who knew about that? One man. One man knew. And he is here. His name is Cristhian Bahena Rivera,” said attorney Scott Brown.
An autopsy carried out on Mollie revealed she had been killed with a “sharp object” believed to be a knife up to 12 times – but Special Agent Trent Vileta said the weapon has not been discovered.
A decision was reached just after 1pm local time on Friday morning, after one day of deliberation. The jury was actively discussing the verdict for 7 hours, 16 minutes and 15 seconds.
Rivera stayed silent and showed little emotion as he was given the verdict, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
While questioned in a cornfield, Rivera allegedly told Iowa officer Pamela Romero that he followed Tibbetts in his car, got out and started running behind her.
The 26-year-old told cops that Mollie Tibbetts “tried to slap him and was screaming at him,” a cop has testified.
Rivera said that Tibbetts noticed him and tried to use her cell phone to call police.
“He said that Mollie tried to slap him and was screaming at him,” Romero testified. “Mr Rivera said this is when he became angry.”
Blood found in the suspect’s Chevy Malibu trunk “was a first match” for the slain student a forensics expert testified last week.
Tara Scott, a criminalist in the DNA section of Iowa’s crime lab, said she analyzed a swab taken from a blood stain found on the trunk seal after investigators recovered Tibbetts’ body.
“The profile I had from Mollie Tibbetts and the profile from that blood matched,” Scott testified. “They were exactly the same.”
Rivera, 26, has been charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts’ stabbing death. He has pleaded not guilty.
Tibbetts, 20, vanished while out running on July 18, 2018, in Brooklyn, Iowa.
Investigators recovered her partially naked, decomposing body from a cornfield a month later.
During the interrogation, Rivera led police to the cornfield where her body was found, telling them, “I brought you here, didn’t I? So that means that I did it.”
The defense, who presented the interrogation video as evidence, argued that Rivera appeared to be asleep during part of the questioning.
Pamela Romero, who interrogated Rivera, said on the witness stand that she was not aware Rivera was asleep, but a look at the interrogation transcript showed she had told the accused man, “You fell asleep.”
WHAT EVIDENCE LED TO RIVERA’S CONVICTION?
Surveillance video showed a Chevy Malibu appearing to circle Tibbetts as she ran, and a deputy later spotted Rivera driving the vehicle.
Rivera would confess to approaching Tibbetts and killing her in a panic after she threatened to call the police, according to detectives.
He allegedly led police to her body.
While questioned in a cornfield, Rivera allegedly told Iowa officer Pamela Romero that he followed Tibbetts in his car, got out and started running behind her.
The 26-year-old told cops that Tibbetts “tried to slap him and was screaming at him,” a cop has testified.
WILL CRISTHIAN RIVERA RECEIVE THE DEATH PENALTY?
Cristhian Bahena Rivera – the man accused of murdering Tibbetts – was found guilty of first-degree murder by a grand jury.
Capital punishment in the state of Iowa has been abolished since 1965.
However, some Iowa lawmakers are trying to reinstitute the death penalty in The Hawkeye State.
The proposal would bring it back under a very limited scope, only applying to people convicted of the crime of murdering a child, sexually assaulting a child and kidnapping a child.
WHAT DID DALTON JACK SAY?
Mollie Tibbetts’ long-time boyfriend Dalton Jack was questioned by the defense about phone records that showed he had only called her once after her disappearance.
In questions about Snapchat messages between the couple arguing over Jack’s alleged affair, the defense attempted to paint Jack as unfaithful and angry.
Police maintained that he had an alibi, since he was out of town for work when the crime occurred.
MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST ‘NOT SURPRISED’ BY VERDICT
Cynthia Alksne, a former federal prosecutor, and a MSNBC Legal Analyst was not surprised that Rivera was found guilty.
“He led them to the body and he confessed that he blacked out down the critical time and he was on the video stalking her, circling her in his car. All those things together” made for a strong case, Alksne said.
WHAT WAS RIVERA’S DEFENCE?
Rivera told the court that on the day of Mollie’s disappearance, he stepped out of the shower in the afternoon to find two masked intruders in his home.
He claims the two men, armed with a gun and a knife, ordered him into his car and to drive to Brooklyn.
They then saw a women, supposedly Tibbets, jogging – and the men instructed him to drive past her several times, before one of them got out of the car.
The man then allegedly killed Tibbets – even though Rivera did not see – and dumped her body in his boot, before they ordered him to drive to a cornfield.
RIVERA COVERED MOLLIE’S BODY IN CORN STALKS AS ‘ACT OF KINDNESS’
Rivera claimed the two mystery men put something in his trunk, and then again entered the car and told him to drive to a remote spot.
Once they were in a barren enough location, he said they told him to kill the engine and wait for a few minutes before leaving, the AP reported.
If he were to ever squeal about what happened, Rivera testified that they told him they would harm his ex-girlfriend and young daughter.
When the men disappeared on foot, he said he popped the trunk and found Mollie’s body.
The young man then allegedly lugged her body to a cornfield, according to the AP.
That’s where he decided to blanket her body with corn stalks in what he described as being a gesture of kindness.
“I didn’t want her to be too exposed to the sun,” according to the AP.
DEFENSE CLAIMS RIVERA TOLD THE SAME STORY SINCE 2018
During his trial, Rivera claimed that two men had forced him into their car and forced him to kill Mollie.
Rivera’s Defense Attorney Chad Frese supported this story, saying this was the same story he told police from the beginning.
“From the very first day we met Mr. Bahena the story he put forth on the stand was exactly the version of events that he told us going back to August 2018,” Frese said.
“He had never varied from that version of events, not one detail.”
HOW LONG DID THE JURY DELIBERATE FOR?
The jury deliberated for over seven hours across two days at a courthouse in Davenport, Iowa.
A verdict was eventually reached and Rivera was found guilty of Mollie’s murder.
VERDICT CAME AFTER TWO WEEKS OF TRIAL
The verdict came after a two-week trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, in a case that fueled public anger against illegal immigration and concerns about random violence against women.
The jury, which included nine white members and three of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish descent, deliberated for seven hours on Thursday and Friday.
‘IT’S LIKE TRYING TO PROVE THERE’S NOT A SANTA CLAUSE’
When asked whether or not Rivera’s defense attorney was able to locate the “two masked men” that he claimed killed Mollie Tibbetts, a lawyer said: “it’s like trying to prove there’s not a Santa Clause.”
“Remember our client was really out in the middle of a very rural location,” Chad Frese said.
“We tried to link it up the best we could with people we thought would have a motive… but that’s very difficult to establish.”
RIVERA SAID COPS FORCED CONFESSION
After a lengthy interview in August 2018, Rivera allegedly admitted to cops that he had saw Tibbetts jogging, deemed her attractive, and decided to follow her by car and on foot.
He said she threatened to call police on him which made him angry and caused a struggle to ensue – before he allegedly told interviewers he “blacked out” and didn’t remember killing Tibbetts.
But he instead told the court this week two masked men were behind the attack, and said cops took advantage of his exhaustion after he had worked a 12-hour shift at Yarrabee Farms.
He said they offered him the “blackout” theory and told him something along the lines of: “People can be sick and they can forget things.”
Rivera said he only agreed to take them to Tibbetts’ body because, “For one, I was already very tired and I wanted it to stop.
“And, most importantly, they told me to put myself in the family’s position and to think, ‘If she was my daughter, what would I have done?’”
‘WEIGHT OFF EVERYONE’S SHOULDERS’
Bart Klaver, one of the Poweshiek County Attorneys in the case against Cristhian Bahena Rivera, said the guilty verdict served justice to Mollie Tibbetts’ family.
The outcome was a “weight off of everyone’s shoulders,” he said.
Tibbetts’ relatives, including her mom, watching proceedings in a room across the street from the courtroom, which was closed to the public due to Covid-19 protocols.
WHERE WAS MOLLIE’S BODY FOUND?
Crime scene investigator Amy Johnson testified during the trial of Cristhian Rivera for Mollie Tibbetts’ murder.
She described how Tibbetts’ remains were found about 400 feet from the road in the field near the town Guernsey and almost at the Iowa County line, with her bright running shoes visible.
The body was covered with bent corn stalks, wearing those sneakers, black socks, and a pink sports bra but not the Fitbit she had been carrying.
Nearby, black shorts, a possible headband, and “striped” underwear some 34feet away from Tibbetts were found by investigators, Johnson said.
UNANIMOUS VOTE FOUND RIVERA GUILTY
The 12-member jury unanimously found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, who is remembered as a friendly 20-year-old who was studying to become a child psychologist.
Bahena Rivera, who came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge Joel Yates ordered Bahena Rivera, who has been in custody since his August 2018 arrest, to be held without bond pending a July 15 sentencing hearing.
SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE IS ‘REALLY IRREFUTABLE’
Prosecutor Scott Brown said that Rivera’s story of two men forcing him into their car was a “figment of imagination.”
The biggest piece of evidence in the case, according to Brown is footage of Rivera’s Malibu near the scene of the crime.
The video is “really irrefutable,” he said.
“It is the thing, the piece of evidence that the police followed that broke this case, and led them to more evidence and more evidence that the defendant was the one who committed Mollie Tibbetts’ murder.”
Brown argues that once he saw his car on the footage, he had to invent the story of the two men.
HOW DID RIVERA REACT TO THE VERDICT?
ABC News reported that Rivera nodded his head slightly when the verdict was read.
Rivera was wearing headphones throughout the trial to translate what was being said into Spanish.
‘ARMED MEN WHO HAD FACES COVERED WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME’
Bahena Rivera said two armed men who were wearing black and had their faces covered by stocking caps showed up at his trailer after he finished showering that evening.
The men directed him to get in his car and drive, and they passed Tibbetts as she ran several times before directing him to stop, he said.
Bahena Rivera, 26, said a man with a knife got out of the car and walked down the rural road.
VERDICT CAME AFTER TWO WEEKS OF TRIAL
The verdict came after a two-week trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, in a case that fueled public anger against illegal immigration and concerns about random violence against women.
The jury, which included nine white members and three of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish descent, deliberated for seven hours on Thursday and Friday.
DEFENSE ARGUED RIVERA CANNOT BE CHARGED WITHOUT A MURDER WEAPON
Rivera’s Defense Attorney Chad Frese criticized the fact that River was being charged without evidence of a murder weapon.
Investigators did find two knives, but neither had any blood on them
“No evidence came off the stand as to where she was killed. None. No forensic evidence at all,” Frese said.
MOLLIE ‘HAPPY, BUBBLY AND GOOFY’ SAYS BOYFRIEND
Mollie’s boyfriend, Dalton Jack, 23 and now an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, testified that he met Tibbetts at high school and had been dating her for three years.
He described her as “happy, bubbly, goofy,” saying she liked to have fun and that she went running most days.
On the day she disappeared, Tibbetts was staying at the Brooklyn home where Jack and his older brother Blake Jack lived.
She had been watching Blake Jack’s dogs while the brothers were out of town that week for work.
Brooklyn hairdresser Kristina Steward testified that she drove past Tibbetts while she was running on a road outside Brooklyn at about 7.45 p.m. on July 18. She said she had known Tibbetts for years and her “heart sank” when she learned she was missing the next day.
WHO ARE MOLLIE TIBBETTS’ PARENTS?
Mollie Tibbetts’ parents are Rob Tibbetts and Laura Calderwood.
In addition to Mollie, her parents have two sons, Scott and Jake Tibbetts.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY REACTS TO VERDICT
“Miss Tibbetts was someone that did not deserve to be a victim, the fact that this woman went out on a run and ended up in a cornfield is just bizarre on its own.
“She’s not the type of peorson who would be hurtful, I think her choice, even if she thought something bad, would be to be kind,” Jennifer Frese said.
DON’T TURN MOLLIE’S MOVEMENT INTO SOMETHING UGLY, SAYS AUNT
Mollie Tibbetts’ aunt has pleaded with the public not to turn her murder and “movement” into “something ugly”.
Billie Jo Calderwood wrote on Facebook: “Please remember, Evil comes in EVERY color.
“Our family has been blessed to be surrounded by love, friendship and support throughout this entire ordeal by friends from all different nations and races.”
She later shared another user’s post which stated, in part: “Please do not compound the atrocity of what happened to her by adding racism and hate to the equation. …
“Do not turn #molliesmovement into something ugly.”
FISHING POLE AND FOOTBALL IN TRUNK
Pictures presented at Cristhian Rivera’s trial also appear to show bloodstains on the inside of his car’s trunk and back bumper.
According to the testimony of a crime scene investigator, a fishing pole and football in the trunk also tested “presumptive positive” for blood.
RIVERA PREVIOUSLY SAID HE ‘FOUGHT’ WITH TIBBETTS
During a lengthy interrogation that began August 20, 2018, Bahena Rivera said that he drove past Tibbetts while she was running and turned around to get another look because he found her attractive.
He eventually said that he approached Tibbetts and fought with her after she tried to get away and threatened to call police.
He claimed that he then “blacked out” but remembered driving with her body in the trunk of his car.
He led investigators in the early morning hours of August 21 to a remote cornfield where they found her badly decomposed body hidden under corn stalks.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
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