Articles Tagged: Mollie Tibbetts

Iowa Court of Appeals denies new trial and upholds conviction of Cristhian Rivera, who fatally stabbed Mollie Tibbetts while she was out jogging in 2018.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera was sentenced Monday for the murder of Mollie Tibbetts.

The lead investigator in the 2018 death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts expressed confidence Tuesday that the right man was convicted, rejecting defense claims that her abduction could be tied to two other local men.

Lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 26, filed a motion earlier this month asking 8th Judicial District Judge Joel Yates to delay the hearing on sentencing and on their motion for a new trial based on evidence involving sex trafficking “trap houses and kidnappings” in or near Poweshiek County.

A recap of the past week’s news from across the state

Two childhood friends named by defense lawyers

A judge said Wednesday he’ll delay sentencing the man convicted of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018 after defense attorneys asserted authorities withheld information about investigations into a nearby sex trafficking ring the lawyers say could have been involved in the fatal stabbing.

The defense lawyers say the accounts support Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s testimony that others were involved.

A jury has ruled in Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s first-degree murder trial in the 2018 slaying of Mollie Tibbetts.

While jury still deliberating, Hinson’s office sent ‘statement on guilty verdict’

Jurors deliberated for three hours Thursday without reaching a verdict in the trial.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera’s murder trial is in the jury’s hands.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera claimed for the first time in dramatic testimony Wednesday that two masked men were responsible for the crime but forced him to take part at gunpoint.

Bahena Rivera blames mystery men for Mollie Tibbetts’ slaying.

“Her family deserves justice but so does Cristhian Bahena Rivera,” Jennifer Frese said, standing next to her client.