XPost: alt.fan.states.iowa, alt.politics.immigration, alt.journalism.newspapers XPost: sac.politics

Jurors in the murder trial for the farmhand accused of killing
Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts on Friday were shown
graphic images of her partially naked and decomposed body, along
with some of her clothing items, including her underwear.

The photos were taken in the Iowa cornfield where Cristhian
Bahena Rivera — a Mexican national who came to the US illegally
— allegedly dumped Tibbets’ body after abducting her while she
was out for a jog and knifing her to death, the Des Moines
Register reported.

The photos show Tibbetts’ body partially covered by corn stalks
and wearing brightly colored shoes and a pink sports bra,
according to the report.

Black shorts, underwear and fabric they might have been from a
headband were also found nearby in the cornfield, criminalist
Amy Johnson testified at the trial, according to the report.

Tibbetts — who was studying child psychology at the University
of Iowa — was killed in the summer of 2018 in a case that
shocked America’s heartland — and bolstered then-President
Trump’s tough-on-immigration stance.

Bahena Rivera allegedly used a stolen ID to come to the US and
get a job as a farmhand near the University of Iowa, where
Tibbetts was studying.

He’s pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Friday was the third day of the prosecution’s case in the trial
and included testimony from Tara Scott, a DNA specialist who
works at a state crime lab in Iowa.

Scott testified that DNA from Tibbetts was found inside the
trunk of Bahena Rivera’s car by investigators soon after they
discovered her body.

Investigators tested a knife and bloody napkin found in Bahena
Rivera’s trailer, but did not get a positive hit for DNA that
belonged to Tibbetts, according to the Des Moines Register.

Bahena Rivera had worked on a nearby farm for some four years
after getting a job there through his girlfriend, according to
the report. He lived on the property in a mobile home and worked
with cows.

The trial will continue next week.

https://nypost.com/2021/05/21/jurors-shown-graphic-images-of- slain-iowa-student-mollie-tibbetts/

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