FARM LABORER GUILTY IN 2018 STABBING DEATH OF IOWA RUNNER

May 28, 2021
By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury found a farm laborer guilty of murder Friday in the abduction and killing of a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018.

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.

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National

Farm laborer convicted in 2018 stabbing death of Iowa runner

By Ryan J. Foley | AP
May 28, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. EDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A farm laborer was found guilty Friday in the abduction and killing of an Iowa college student who vanished while out for a run in 2018 and will face life behind bars for a crime that shocked the nation. ... A 12-member jury unanimously found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the attack on University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who was described as so kind and friendly that investigators could find no one who spoke badly about her.

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.

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.

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Then-President Donald Trump, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and other Republicans had cited the vicious crime ahead of the 2018 midterm elections to call for harsher policies to deter illegal immigration. But their efforts eventually stopped after Tibbetts’ parents said the slaying should not be used to advance a political agenda that Tibbetts would have opposed. ... In a sign of how the case remains politicized, GOP U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa released a statement on Friday morning praising the guilty verdict as a just outcome, even though jurors were still deliberating at the time. Her staff quickly apologized for the error but re-released the statement after the verdict was announced.