Mollie Tibbetts Wiki Mollie Tibbetts Biography
An Iowa farmer convicted of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. As previously reported by CrimeOnlineCristhian Bahena Rivera’s lawyers advocated a new trial after two witnesses told authorities they heard another man admit that he killed Tibbetts, 20 and that his death was related to sex trafficking.
Bahena, 24, was convicted in May, but his sentence was delayed as lawyers discussed the motion to retry him in light of new witnesses. Judge Joel Yates’ order denied the motion, paving the way for sentencing on August 30. “Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and only you forever changed the lives of those who loved Mollie Tibbetts.” the judge said.
Tibbetts’ mother, Laura Calderwood, confronted Rivera with an impact statement during sentencing. A court representative read the impact statement letter aloud on Calderwood’s behalf.
“I come here to give a voice to our daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin and friend, Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts,” Calderwood wrote. “Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the night of July 18 (2018) and you chose to end that life in a violent and sadistic way.”
“Because of your act, Mollie’s father Rob will never be able to carry his only daughter down the hall,” she wrote. “Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never see my daughter become a mother.”
Bahera and his lawyers declined to comment.
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Mollie Tibbetts: Disappearance and death
On August 16, 2018, a few days before authorities found Mollie’s body, a Poweshiek sheriff’s deputy spoke to Rivera after he voluntarily stopped his black Chevrolet Malibu after seeing the officer following him.
Through an interpreter, Rivera initially told the officer that he knew nothing about Mollie’s disappearance. Surveillance footage provided by a local Brooklyn resident later showed a car that looked exactly like Rivera’s circling a corridor multiple times on July 18, 2018, the last time Mollie was seen alive.
“During our neighborhood survey, we came across an individual who had security cameras,” Poweshiek County Sheriff Tom Kriegel said in 2018, explaining how Rivera landed on authorities’ radar.
“He [the resident with surveillance footage] he was kind enough to give us the footage. And through that, we were able to identify a vehicle that we believe belonged to Mr. Rivera. It was a black Malibu. And from that we were able to trace his pattern and the routes he took. “
On August 18, 2018, agents arrived at Rivera’s workplace at Ybarra Farms and asked him through a Spanish interpreter if they could search his car. Rivera allegedly agreed. Rivera voluntarily spoke to authorities again, according to court documents. This time, he indicated that he saw Mollie and thought she was “hot.” He also said that Mollie waved him “hello” several times.
Around the same time, investigators found blood inside Rivera’s car. At 11:30 pm that night, federal agents placed an immigration arrest warrant on Rivera, who is originally from Mexico and living in the United States undocumented.
During the remainder of the interview, according to authorities, Rivera made numerous incriminating statements.
“He [Rivera] he gradually went from a denial that he had killed Mollie to a statement that he ‘didn’t remember doing anything to her.’ court documents read.
Mollie, a University of Iowa student and avid runner who ran on the cross country team in high school, disappeared on July 18 in Brooklyn, Iowa.
Authorities ultimately charged Rivera with murder after he led them to Mollie’s body, found in a cornfield about 12 miles southeast of Brooklyn, according to an arrest affidavit.
“The defendant led the police directly to Mollie’s body at the end of the interview, he was seen near Mollie while she was running on the last night of her life, and Mollie’s blood was found in the trunk of the defendant’s car,” he said. he wrote the prosecution. “All of these facts are extrinsic to the interview and independently establish that the accused was the murderer, not a false confessor.”
Rivera allegedly told investigators that she saw Mollie jogging near Middle and Boundary Streets when she slowed down and started following her in her black Chevrolet Malibu.
At some point, Rivera got out of the vehicle and began to follow the University of Iowa student on foot, even jogging alongside her. Seemingly scared, Mollie told the suspect she would call 911 and then pulled out her phone, according to Rivera’s confession.
Rivera said he was upset and “fainted” at the threat, something he said he often did when he got too angry. according to researchers.
Rivera told investigators the next thing he remembered was waking up inside his car, parked at a rural intersection. He immediately made a U-turn and drove to the entrance of a rural field. Then he drove into a cornfield driveway.
Rivera said that at some point she looked down and noticed that Mollie’s earpiece for her earbuds or earphones was on her lap, and “realized that I had put her in the truck.”
While searching the trunk, Rivera said he found Mollie inside, with the side of her head bloody, according to the affidavit. The suspect allegedly said he pulled Mollie out of the trunk and dragged her on foot to an isolated area in the woods.
Then, Rivera threw Mollie on his shoulders and walked about 20 meters into the forest, where he threw her body to the ground and covered her with corn husks.
On Monday, Yates ordered that Rivera be taken immediately to the Iowa Department of Corrections Medical and Classification Center.