Davenport, Iowa — A verdict was rendered Friday afternoon in the high-profile Mollie Tibbets murder case.
Friday afternoon a jury found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the death of the 20-year-old Tibbetts in her hometown of Brooklyn, in southeast Iowa.
The verdict was read in court at 2:45 Friday afternoon. Bahena stood and showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He now faces life in prison and will be sentenced on July 15th.
Tibbetts was reported missing after she went for a run in July of 2018. A month later Bahena led authorities to her body in the middle of a cornfield. Bahena testified Wednesday in his own defense and for the first time told a story that two masked men forced him to follow Tibbetts as she ran and one of them killed her. In closing arguments Thursday, Bahena’s defense attorney Chad Frese suggested investigators failed to follow leads on other suspects and targeted Bahena.
Prosecutor Scott Brown told the jury every lead was followed and the breakthrough was the video showing Bahena’s car following Tibbetts. Brown called the claim that two masked men were involved a figment of Bahena’s imagination.
The trial lasted seven days and was moved to Davenport on a change of venue due to the amount of publicity the case received. Tibbetts’ disappearance and the search for her drew national attention.
Photo of Cristhian Bahena Rivera from CourtTV screenshot
