CRISTHIAN BEHENA RIVERA GUILTY OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER OF MOLLIE TIBBETTS
" After 7 Hours Of Deliberations, Jury Returns Guilty Verdict To Charges Of First-Degree Murder."
May 30, 2021 By Art Fletcher & Leonard Madison, Reporting For : Englebrook Independent News,
DAVENPORT, IOWA.- Prosecutors on Friday said they hope they brought " A Sense Of Justice " to the family of Mollie Tibbetts after a jury convicted Cristhian Bahena Rivera, of First-Degree Murder, nearly three years after the 20-year-old college student from Brooklyn, Iowa disappeared.
Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, went out for a run on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, and never returned. The search for her drew national attention. After a month long manhunt, Bahena Rivera, a Mexican National led investigators to a rural cornfield, where they found her remains.
During the two-week trial, jurors heard that investigators had identified Bahena Rivera's car circling the area where Tibbetts was last seen. During a lengthy interview with police, Bahena Rivera, admitted to following Tibbetts, who he found " hot." He later investigators that he had fought with her, and said, he blacked-out, later realizing that Tibbets' bloodied body was in the trunk of his car. He further said, he carried her body to the cornfield, and covered her body with cornstalks. Forensic experts blood smears with Tibbetts' DNA in the trunk of his car.
The jury consisting of five women and seven men deliberated for just a little over seven hours Thursday and Friday before returning their verdict shortly after 1:00 p.m. Bahena Rivera showed little reaction as the verdict was read, he was then led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
The mandatory sentence in Iowa for First-Degree Murder, carries a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on July 15th at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa.
Prosecutors Scott Brown and Bart Klaver told reporters they had spoken with the Tibbetts' family, who watched the verdict from a room across the hall, from the courtroom, and Brown said they were "relieved" and " Pleased with the verdict." family members did not address reporters after the verdict.
Bahena Rivera's attorneys, however promised an appeal.
Attorneys for Rivera argued throughout the trial, there were other suspects, including Mollie's boyfriend, Dalton Jack. On Wednesday Bahena Rivera took the stand in his own defense and admitted leaving Mollie's body in the cornfield, but denied killing her. Instead, he said, two armed mask men came to his home and forced him to drive them to a rural road, where one of them killed her, then ordered him to take her body to the cornfield. The men then threatened Rivera's young daughter and his ex-girlfriend in order to secure his silence, Rivera said.
Bahena Rivera's testimony on Wednesday was the first time Prosecutors or the public heard Rivera's version of events.
Prosecutors stated that the verdict should clear any suspicion of other possible suspects, named by defense attorneys. Prosecutors made clear that Bahena Rivera was the only person they considered to be a suspect in the case.
In the end, Prosecutors believe Bahena Rivera's testimony on Wednesday, helped more than hurt the Prosecution.
FILED UNDER MAY 30, 2021: NATIONAL, LAW, IOWA: