Cristhian Bahena Rivera is found GUILTY of 2018 murder of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts  

An undocumented Mexican immigrant has been convicted of the first-degree murder of Mollie Tibbetts.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 26, was unanimously convicted by jurors on Friday afternoon. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in the State of Iowa, with Bahena Rivera set to be formally sentenced on July 15.

Bahena Rivera sat expressionless as the verdict was read out at a courtroom in Scott County, Iowa, on Friday afternoon. It came after around eight hours deliberation, with the jury comprised of five women and seven men.  

Bahena Rivera’s attorneys will appeal the verdict – an automatic formality for anyone convicted of murder in Iowa. 

Bahena Rivera is led out of court in handcuffs after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts on Friday

Bahena Rivera is led out of court in handcuffs after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts on Friday

Cristhian Bahena Rivera (pictured) sat expressionless as the guilty verdict was read out at a courtroom in Scott County, Iowa on Friday afternoon

Cristhian Bahena Rivera (pictured) sat expressionless as the guilty verdict was read out at a courtroom in Scott County, Iowa on Friday afternoon

Speaking after the verdict, prosecutor Scott Brown told of the Tibbetts’ family’s relief at the verdict.

Brown said: ‘We just spoke to the family, they’re relieved they’re pleased with the verdict.’

Prosecutor Brown also rubbished rumors Tibbetts’ boyfriend Dalton Jack was involved in the murder, after he was called to give evidence by Bahena Rivera’s defense team, who claimed Jack was a suspect. 

Brown said: ‘Dalton Jack did not do this, did not commit this murder. He was raked across the coals at trial. I thought he actually handled himself pretty well. He didn’t do it, he didn’t behave anything like a person that did it. He was distraught the next day, his boss ended up letting him go home.’

Bahena Rivera, 26, stabbed Tibbetts to death in Powesheik County, Iowa, in July 2018. She vanished while out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. 

He was convicted after surveillance photo captured his Chevy near Tibbetts during her final jog. Bahena Rivera was further implicated in the killing after the student’s blood was found in his car – and he later agreed to lead cops to Tibbetts’ body in a corn field, around a month after she vanished. 

Jurors were shown gruesome images of that grim discovery during the week-and-a-half long murder trial.  Tibbetts was found naked with her legs apart, but prosecutors said her remains were too badly-decomposed for them to deduce whether she had been sexually assaulted. 

The undocumented Mexican immigrant is accused of following Tibbetts and claims he got out of his car to talk to her.

Tibbetts is said to have threatened to call the police with Rivera claiming he then got angry at her and ‘blacked out.’ Rivera said he later woke to find Tibbetts bleeding in the trunk of his car, and buried her in a corn field. 

Tibbetts, pictured in 2016, was abducted and murdered while out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, in July 2018

Tibbetts, pictured in 2016, was abducted and murdered while out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, in July 2018

A huge hunt for Tibbetts’ body was launched afterwards, with Rivera leading investigators to her remains in a cornfield several weeks later. 

How Bahena Rivera’s conflicting accounts of what happened on the night of Mollie’s disappearance ended with his conviction for her murder

During his testimony earlier this week, Bahena Rivera stunned jurors by claiming two masked men had forced him to abduct Tibbetts’ at knifepoint, after ordering him to follow the student, before they put her in the trunk of his car.

He had earlier claimed to have ‘blacked out’ after approaching Tibbets and getting angry when she ignored him, then later woke up to find her bloodied in his trunk, and buried her copse.  

But case prosecutor Brown rubbished that excuse after Friday’s verdict, saying it was convenient that Bahena Rivera’s alleged aggressors were masked, and that he had been unable to pick out any identifying features.

Bahena Rivera’s own defense attorney Chad Fresne himself admitted his client’s version of events had been difficult to stand up.

He said: ‘It’s like trying to prove there’s not a Santa Claus. We don’t know who those persons could be. Remember our client was out in the middle of a very rural location. We tried to link it up as best we could with people who could have some kind of motive, but that’s very difficult to establish.’ 

Testifying through a translator on Wednesday, Rivera sought to shift blame for Tibbetts’ murder onto two unidentified men he said confronted him on the day she died, then killed her and left him in possession of the body.

He claimed he never reported the ordeal to police and dumped Tibbetts’ body in a cornfield instead because he was afraid they would learn he was in the US illegally and deport him.  

Rivera, 26, said he got out of his shower on July 18, 2018 and saw the two men standing in his living room wearing dark-colored sweaters with their faces covered. 

One was larger and holding a gun, he said, and the smaller one was holding a knife.

He said they told him ‘I shouldn’t do anything stupid and everything was going to be okay.’  

He said they never threatened him, but directed him into his car and told him to drive straight into Brooklyn, Iowa, where they came across a jogger he said he now knows was Tibbetts. 

The men in the car with him, he said, crouched down as low as they could, and directed Rivera to drive past Tibbetts three or four times.

The last time they approached her, Rivera testified, she was on her way back into town. 

At that point, he said, the man with the knife, sitting next to him in the passenger seat told him to stop and got out of the car, walking towards town.

Rivera said he was gone for 10 to 12 minutes while he and the larger man waited. As the minutes past by, he said, the man in the back started whispering, and he heard him say: ‘Come on Jack,’ an apparent reference to Dalton Jack, Tibbetts’ boyfriend.

When the smaller man got back into the car, Rivera said, he told him to keep driving, ultimately telling him to stop and hand him the keys, as both men got out.

At that point, he said, he heard and felt them put something in the truck.

The men then got back inside the car, Rivera said, and ordered him to drive quickly down a gravel road for five to eight minutes until they arrived at a white house and approached a corn field.

They allegedly told Rivera they knew about his ex-girlfriend and their daughter, and said that if he told someone they would ‘take care of them.’

The men then took his keys and cellphone, he said, and he decided to get out of the car because he did not have the keys, but decided to see what the men put in his trunk.

‘Obviously I knew there was something in the trunk,’ he said.

When he opened it, Rivera testified, he found Tibbett’s body along with his cellphone and keys.

After a few minutes debating what to do, he said, he decided to take the body out of the trunk and cover her body with corn ‘because I didn’t want her to be exposed to the sun.’ 

She was still in clothes at the time, save for one shoe. 

Rivera then used his phone to get home, he said, and did not call the police ‘because I was scared.’ 

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the illegal Mexican immigrant convicted of murdering Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts, is seen testifying at his trial on Wednesday. He told the court he was ordered to follow Tibbetts by two armed, masked men who held him at knifepoint and then placed her body in the trunk of his car

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the illegal Mexican immigrant convicted of murdering Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts, is seen testifying at his trial on Wednesday. He told the court he was ordered to follow Tibbetts by two armed, masked men who held him at knifepoint and then placed her body in the trunk of his car

Tibbets’ boyfriend Dalton Jack was smeared over her death – but prosecutors say Bahena Rivera’s conviction finally proves Jack’s innocence

Dalton Jack, Tibbetts’ longtime boyfriend and key prosecution witness, testified that he had nothing to do with her death, saying he had been out of town for work and was heartbroken by her slaying.

Defense lawyers, however, worked to try to cast suspicion on Jack, painting him as an angry young man who had a tumultuous relationship with Tibbetts and had cheated on her with at least one other woman.

Jack, who is 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 would would go for a run 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 asked to watch Blake Jack’s dogs while the brothers were out of town that week for work.

The brothers testified that they became concerned after learning on July 19 that Tibbetts had not shown up for work at a daycare, and she was not answering her phone. Both returned to Brooklyn to help search for her before calling police.

Tibbetts' boyfriend Dalton Jack, pictured in court in May 25, was smeared over his girlfriend's murder - with prosecutors saying that Bahena Rivera's conviction totally clears his name

Tibbetts’ boyfriend Dalton Jack, pictured in court in May 25, was smeared over his girlfriend’s murder – with prosecutors saying that Bahena Rivera’s conviction totally clears his name 

Her boyfriend testified that he had been part of a crew building a bridge in Dubuque, about 140 miles from Brooklyn. He worked 12 hours on July 18 then drank beer and played yard games with the crew before going to sleep at a hotel, adding that he never returned to Brooklyn that night.

On cross-examination, Jack acknowledged he used to have a ‘short fuse’ and would get into fights. He said that he had ‘screwed up’ and cheated on Tibbetts once and that she discovered the relationship after looking through his phone.

Jack said the two worked through the problem and never broke up but acknowledged Tibbetts told him three days before she disappeared that she remained sad and upset about his infidelity.

On the day before she went missing, she had discussed one of his previous relationships with a second woman, Jack said.

With friends and police searching for Tibbetts, a woman with whom Jack has previously had a relationship sent him a text message asking, ‘Dalton, is Mollie alive?’ defense lawyer Chad Frese said, calling the question ‘odd.’

Jack admitted that he initially told police that he was watching a movie in his hotel room on the night she disappeared and that he withheld information about his infidelity, calling it irrelevant.

He also acknowledged that he told police his last communication with Tibbetts was a Snapchat he received at 10.30pm that night, but phone records show it was after 1am.

He also said he did not agree to voluntarily testify and required a subpoena because he didn’t want to be in ‘the same room’ as Bahena Rivera.

‘I am obviously not his biggest fan,’ he said. ‘I wholeheartedly believe he’s guilty.’

Jack said he joined the Army three months after Tibbetts’ body was found because he was heartbroken and ‘wanted to pretty much leave’ their hometown.  

Police said they cleared Jack as a suspect after establishing he was out of town for work when Tibbetts went missing. 

Photos of Mollie Tibbetts' partially naked and decomposing body that was dumped in an Iowa cornfield were shown to jurors on Friday as Cristhian Bahena Rivera stand trial. Pictured above is the crime scene tape around the cornstalks where her body was found in 2018

Photos of Mollie Tibbetts’ partially naked and decomposing body that was dumped in an Iowa cornfield were shown to jurors on Friday as Cristhian Bahena Rivera stand trial. Pictured above is the crime scene tape around the cornstalks where her body was found in 2018

How Donald Trump used Mollie Tibbetts’ murder case to push his hardline immigration agenda

Former president Donald Trump weighed in immediately on Mollie Tibbetts’ murder case following Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s arrest. Trump publicly called the undocumented Mexican immigrant a killer who exploited lax immigration laws.

At a rally in West Virginia that year Trump told a crowd at Charleston Civic Center that immigration laws at the time were a ‘disgrace,’ and that Tibbetts’ death ‘should’ve never happened.’ 

At an August 2018 rally in Ohio, Trump told the crowd: ‘Democrat immigration policies are destroying innocent lives and spilling very innocent blood,’ he said. ‘We believe that any party that puts criminal aliens before American citizens should be out of office, not into office.’

Trump also released a video of himself standing outside the White House where he argued that Tibbetts’ death highlighted the need for tougher immigration enforcement along the US-Mexican border. ‘Mollie Tibbetts, an incredible young woman, is now permanently separated from her family,’ the former president said in the clip posted to Twitter. ‘A person came in from Mexico illegally and killed her. We need the wall. We need our immigration laws changed. We need our border laws changed. We need Republicans to do it because the Democrats aren’t going to do it.’

The defense worked hard to paint Rivera as a hard-working, family-oriented immigrant who used a coyote to get to the United States by way of Texas to earn money for his family.

They also highlighted his inability to speak English, claiming he had been framed in order to secure an easy conviction.  

In an opening statement for the defense on Tuesday, Bahena Rivera’s lawyer claimed cops ‘coerced a confession out of him’ after he’d spent 12 hours scooping poop at a farm before being interrogated.  

The lawyer, Jennifer Frese, said that authorities conducted an incomplete investigation into the 20-year-old’s death in July 2018 and that they were too quick to close the case. 

The defense had declined to give an opening statement when the trial began last week, opting to do so after prosecutors rested their case on Monday. 

‘Her family deserves justice but so does Cristhian Bahena Rivera,’ Frese said Tuesday, standing next to her client. 

The defense began by questioning the confession and DNA evidence. Frese told jurors: ‘He wasn’t in an interview; he was in an interrogation.

‘There’s no dispute on the facts that my client worked twelve hours at a dairy farm scooping poop, cleaning grounds, and then, at the end of his day, he was brought to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office. 

‘You will hear about this interrogation, and that it went on and on and on.’ 

The jury last week was shown photos of Tibbetts’ partially naked and decomposing body after it was dumped in an Iowa cornfield, as well as images of her discarded black shorts and underwear.   

The first image showed Tibbetts’ body covered by cornstalks with only her running shoes sticking out and visible.

Photographs also showed her body after the stalks had been removed: Her legs were spread apart and she was wearing only socks and a sports bra.

Crime scene photos of a pair of black shorts, underwear and what appeared to be a headband, which were found farther into the cornfield, were also shown to the court.

The images were shown as Amy Johnson, a criminalist with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation who examined the scene, testified as a prosecution witness.

An autopsy found that Tibbetts had been stabbed seven to ten times in the chest, ribs, neck and skull. 

Frese said of Bahena Rivera’s questioning: ‘And then they started to confront him with the evidence. They confronted him with this videotape. They confronted him with these pictures. 

‘And they said, ‘you know, we don’t believe you. We don’t believe that you weren’t there.’ 

‘And the confrontation continues until it was put in my client’s head — ‘perhaps you blacked out.’ The state — in this case — they got what they wanted. And they closed the case. They got what they needed. 

Former Iowa City police officer Pamela Romero testified last Thursday that she noticed he had fallen asleep when she went to get him food. Romero recalled Bahena Rivera saying that he was sleepy but she said he remained alert and engaged during the questioning

Former Iowa City police officer Pamela Romero testified last Thursday that she noticed he had fallen asleep when she went to get him food. Romero recalled Bahena Rivera saying that he was sleepy but she said he remained alert and engaged during the questioning

‘There was an intense amount of pressure, that’s what the evidence has shown you, to close this case, to arrest someone for this vicious crime. 

‘And instead of continuing to work the case — instead of continuing to work the evidence — they just submitted it to you.’   

Former Iowa City police officer Pamela Romero testified last Thursday that she noticed he had fallen asleep when she went to get him food. Romero recalled Bahena Rivera saying that he was sleepy but she said he remained alert and engaged during the questioning.

Defense attorney Jennifer Frese gives an opening statement while presenting Cristhian Bahena Rivera's case Tuesday

Defense attorney Jennifer Frese gives an opening statement while presenting Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s case Tuesday

Bahena Rivera, who has pleaded not guilty, may have entered the US from Mexico illegally a decade ago

Bahena Rivera, who has pleaded not guilty, may have entered the US from Mexico illegally a decade ago 

Tibbetts disappearance triggered a search involving local, state and federal agencies and hundreds of volunteers. 

Investigators say they began focusing on Bahena Rivera a month later after finding surveillance video showing his black Chevy Malibu driving back and forth near where Tibbetts had been seen.

They said he confessed during an 11-hour interrogation to approaching Tibbetts, fighting with her after she threatened to call the police, putting her body in his trunk and hiding it in a cornfield. 

Investigators say he led them to the body, which was badly decomposed and hidden underneath cornstalks. Tibbetts´ DNA was found on blood spots on the rubber trunk seal and trunk liner of the Malibu.

Rivera claimed in court on Wednesday that he brought the police to the body because he was tired and wanted the interrogation to end. 

Prosecutors told jurors that an autopsy found that she had been stabbed seven to 12 times in the chest, ribs, neck, and skull, and that she died from sharp force injuries

Prosecutors told jurors that an autopsy found that she had been stabbed seven to 12 times in the chest, ribs, neck, and skull, and that she died from sharp force injuries

Prosecutors told jurors that an autopsy found that she had been stabbed seven to 12 times in the chest, ribs, neck, and skull, and that she died from sharp force injuries

Mollie pictured with her father Rob. Tibbetts disappearance triggered a search involving local, state and federal agencies and hundreds of volunteers

Mollie pictured with her father Rob. Tibbetts disappearance triggered a search involving local, state and federal agencies and hundreds of volunteers

Frese told jurors that the case was about a Mexican immigrant who came to the U.S. to earn better wages. 

She said Bahena Rivera ‘is a yes man’ who did anything he was asked on the dairy farm where he worked, and cooperated when law enforcement showed up there and asked to question him.

Investigators say Bahena Rivera told them he ‘blacked out’ and couldn’t remember how he killed Tibbetts.

The first defense witness called Tuesday was forensic consultant Michael Spence, who agreed that Tibbetts´ DNA was found on blood stains in the trunk, but said there was also unaccounted for DNA in the trunk, including at least one unknown male and female.

Spence conceded that it would not be surprising to find other DNA sources in a trunk of a vehicle that had been used, and that there are many ways they could have ended up there.

Iris Gamboa, the mother of Bahena Rivera’s daughter, testified Tuesday that she lived with him for four years before they broke up in 2017. She said he worked 12-hour days and only got two days off every two weeks.

She said he was a good father who paid $500 per month to support their daughter, was not violent toward them and never showed excessive anger. Bahena Rivera was also sending money back to his parents in Mexico and paying to build them a house, she said.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens to court proceedings during his trial, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa. Bahena Rivera is on trial for the 2018 stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens to court proceedings during his trial, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa. Bahena Rivera is on trial for the 2018 stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP, Pool)

The defense showed jurors a photograph of a smiling Bahena Rivera and Gamboa with their young daughter at a family party in 2017. 

‘He was happy that his daughter was happy,’ Gamboa said. ‘It was a good day.’

Bahena Rivera’s aunt, Alejandra Cervantes, said he was known as playful around the family and that children love him. She recalled going to the sheriff’s office where Bahena Rivera was being interrogated but being unable to see him or get in touch with him by phone.    

source: dailymail.co.uk