Mollie Tibbetts’ killer DENIED request for retrial after claim he was threatened to take part in Iowa student’s murder
MOLLIE Tibbetts’ killer has been denied a request for a retrial over the brutal 2018 murder of the Iowa student, a judge ruled on Monday.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted in May of first-degree murder in Tibbetts’ death, though at his trial he claimed he was forced to help kill her.
Tibbetts, a 20-year-old psychology student, disappeared while out on a run near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, in 2018.
Her body was found in a cornfield weeks later, and authorities said she had been stabbed to death.
During police questioning, Rivera, 27, reportedly acknowledged that he had seen Tibbetts running and led investigators to her body.
DEFENDANT CHANGED HIS STORY
However, during his trial, he alleged that two masked men kidnapped him and forced him to take part in her murder.
He claimed he was held at gunpoint and forced to drive to where Tibbetts was running and then dispose of her body after the two men killed her.
When asked why he didn’t tell investigators about the alleged kidnapping, he said he feared for his ex-girlfriend and young daughter’s lives, according to KCCI.
Judge Joel Yates denied Rivera’s request for another trial on Monday, clearing the way for sentencing to go ahead on August 30.
SENTENCING CAN MOVE FORWARD
Rivera was initially supposed to be sentenced last month, but two new witnesses came forward and told police about a new suspect that had allegedly confessed to killing Tibbetts.
The informants – who are not known to each other – independently identified the same suspect to authorities.
They each said the man bragged about his role in Tibbetts’ death and say the man boasted about blaming the crime on a Hispanic man.
Defense lawyers requested a new trial based on that and other new information, and Yates agreed to postpone sentencing for a time.
However, this week Yates ultimately made the decision to move forward.
PROSECUTION CONFIDENT IN RIVERA’S GUILT
State attorney general’s office spokesman Lynn Hicks said prosecutors remain confident in Rivera’s guilt because the new information did not align with Rivera’s account.
Defense lawyers say they did not get the detailed information of the so-called confessions until after the verdict.
During the trial, the defense went after Tibbetts’ three-year boyfriend Dalton Jack, questioning him about phone records that showed he had only called her once after her disappearance.
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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.
Rivera, who was a farmhand and had immigrated illegally to the US from Mexico, could get life in prison.