Man Sentenced to Life for the Kidnapping, Killing of Mollie Tibbetts

Judge Joel Yates has sentenced Cristhian Bahena Rivera to life in prison without parole in the abduction and killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, three years after she disappeared while out for an evening run, reports the Associated Press. The sentence was mandatory for a first-degree murder conviction in Iowa, which does not have the death penalty.

The 27-year-old former farmhand, who testified that he came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager, has been jailed since his arrest in August 2018. After a lengthy interrogation, Bahena Rivera led authorities to a cornfield where he had buried Tibbetts’ body under leaves and stalks. An autopsy found she had been stabbed several times. Bahena Rivera’s lawyers argued that his confession was false and coerced, and their client gave surprise testimony at trial sharing a different account. Bahena Rivera testified that two masked men kidnapped him from his trailer at gunpoint, made him drive while they attacked Tibbetts, instructed him on where to dispose of her body, and told him to stay quiet or that his young daughter and ex-girlfriend would be killed. Prosecutors called Bahena Rivera’s testimony a work of fiction and a unanimous 12-member jury found him guilty. The defense plans to appeal.