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IOWA CITY, Iowa — A man was sentenced to life in prison without
parole Monday in the abduction and killing of University of Iowa
student Mollie Tibbetts, three years after she disappeared while
out for an evening run.

Judge Joel Yates' sentence for Cristhian Bahena Rivera 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.

Yates pointedly rejected defense claims that others were
responsible for the crime.

"Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and you alone forever changed the lives
of those who loved Mollie Tibbetts," he said.

The sentence caps a case that inflamed anger over illegal
immigration, fueled fears about violence against solo female
runners, and took several noteworthy twists during and after
Bahena Rivera's trial in May.

Tibbetts' mother, Laura Calderwood, addressed Bahena Rivera in a
victim impact statement read to the court.

"Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet
run on the evening of July 18 and you chose to violently and
sadistically end that life," she wrote.

Calderwood recalled being told by tearful investigators that her
20-year-old daughter's body had been found, and racing to inform
relatives before they learned the news from the media. The
hardest conversation was with Mollie's grandmother, who was in
disbelief that someone "could harm such a beautiful, vibrant
young woman so full of promise," she said.

She said the killing caused Hispanic workers to flee the area in
fear, prevented Mollie's boyfriend from being able to give her
the engagement ring he had purchased, and meant her father would
never walk his only daughter down the aisle.

"Because of your actions Mr. Rivera, I will never get to see my
daughter become a mother," Calderwood said.

Tibbetts vanished on a rural road outside her hometown of
Brooklyn, Iowa, population 1,700, while out for a run on July
18, 2018. Family members and co-workers feared something was
wrong when Tibbetts did not show up for her summer job at a
daycare the next morning.

Hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officers searched for
weeks but came up empty. Investigators began focusing on Bahena
Rivera, who worked under an alias at a nearby dairy farm, after
finding a homeowner's surveillance video that appeared to show
his Chevy Malibu repeatedly driving past Tibbetts while she ran.

After a lengthy interrogation, Bahena Rivera led authorities to
a cornfield where he had buried Tibbetts' body under leaves and
stalks. Only her bright running shoes were visible. An autopsy
found she had been stabbed several times.

Bahena Rivera told investigators that he approached Tibbetts
because he found her attractive, and that he fought her after
she threatened to call the police. He said he then blacked out
and came to as he was driving with her body in his trunk.

Prosecutors suggested Bahena Rivera had a sexual motive, noting
Tibbetts was wearing only socks and a sports bra and that her
legs were spread when her body was found. They built their case
around the surveillance video, his partial confession and DNA
evidence of Tibbetts' blood in his trunk.

"Based upon the facts and circumstances of this case, it is very
well deserved," prosecutor Scott Brown said of the life sentence.

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.

The defense sought to cast suspicion on several others,
including Tibbetts' boyfriend and a local deputy who lives next
to where Tibbetts' body was found.

Prosecutors called Bahena Rivera's testimony a work of fiction
and a unanimous 12-member jury found him guilty.

But two people immediately came forward to tell police that a 21-
year-old man with a history of violence had confessed to them
that he had killed Tibbetts. Separately, a woman had told police
she was kidnapped after meeting an alleged sex trafficker at a
Brooklyn gas station weeks before Tibbetts' disappearance.

Yates delayed a July sentencing so the defense had time to
investigate. Earlier this month, he denied Bahena Rivera's
motion for a new trial, saying the new information was
unreliable and he saw no reason to overturn the verdict.

The defense plans to appeal. Bahena Rivera and his defense
lawyers, Chad and Jennifer Frese, declined to speak at
sentencing.

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1032816434/mollie-tibbetts-iowa- college-murder-sentencing

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