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Note: this article has been updated to correct the spelling of
Craig Lang's name.

Mollie Tibbetts' mother had more than three years to decide what
to say to the man who killed her daughter.

Tibbetts went missing while she was out for a jog in July 2018,
and her body was found more than a month later in a rural
Poweshiek County cornfield. Cristhian Bahena Rivera was charged
with first-degree murder in her death that year, but it would be
several years of courtroom wrangling and pandemic-related delays
before he was convicted in May.

In her statement, read in court before Bahena was sentenced to
life in prison Monday, Calderwood described in detail the
painful moments after learning her daughter was dead, and asked
Bahena to imagine the same happening to his family.

'Forever changed':Cristhian Bahena Rivera sentenced to life in
prison for 2018 murder of Mollie Tibbetts

Read Laura Calderwood's letter to Cristhian Bahena Rivera
Mr. Rivera, I come here today not because I feel the need to
address you. However, I come here to give a voice to our
daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin and
friend, Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts.

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

I want to address the chain of events you set off on the morning
of Aug. 18th, after you led authorities to Mollie's remains in a
cornfield.

Do you know what it's like, Mr. Rivera, to be woken up by your
youngest son, Scott, telling you the sheriff needs to talk to us?

Scott and I stood in the entrance of our home, where sheriffs
Tom Kriegel and Matt Maschmann stood with tears in their eyes.
It took them a minute to find the words to say, "We hoped for a
different result, however we found Molly's remains today."

I thanked them for their service and they left, because there
was still a lot of work to be done.

I led Scott, whose eyes were burning with tears, to the living
room and sat him down on the couch.

"Scott," I said, "I am so sorry. I'm gonna call Aunt Billie over
to the house to be with you, because mom has a lot of work to
do."

Next, I needed to tell my son Jake.

Jake was in his apartment in Iowa City, and I did not want him
to hear that his sister was not coming home on the news.

Knowing my sister Kim was headed to Iowa City for work, I called
her and said, "Kim, they found Mollie's remains this morning,
and I need you to pick Jake up and bring him home."

It was a race against the clock to notify all the people who
cared so deeply for Mollie that she was not coming home — it was
very important to notify the people who care deeply about Mollie
so they did not hear this on the news.

Imagine what it's like to call Mollie's father, Rob, who resides
in Fresno, California, and say, "Rob, I am so sorry to have to
tell you this, but they found Mollie's remains this morning, and
I need you to come back to Iowa."

Can you imagine, Mr. Rivera, as a father, having Paulina's
mother taken away from you, and to have to tell your daughter
that she will never come home?

However, the most difficult person to tell was Mollie's
grandmother and my mother, Judy Calderwood. Judy truly believed
her granddaughter would be found alive, because who could harm
such a beautiful, vibrant young woman so full of life and
promise? Who could harm Judy's precious granddaughter, let alone
brutally murder her and dump her body in a cornfield.

This was heartbreaking news that needed to be delivered in
person.

I entered my mother's home and she greeted me with a big smile
and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. There certainly was no
easy way to tell her the news, however it had to be done before
her phone started ringing with loved ones, sending their
condolences.

I very quietly and softly said, "Mom, I have some bad news: They
found Mollie's body this morning.

"But we know where she is now."

Judy Calderwood's unwavering faith had been brutally shattered
by your senseless act of violence. Can you imagine, Mr. Rivera,
sitting across the table from your madre and telling her Paulina
is never coming home?

I am aware that you know Ulises Felix-Zandoval and his family.
"Uli," as I call him, was a classmate and a friend of my son
Scott. Do you know Uli was at the press conference where
authorities announced that you, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, had
been charged with the murder of Mollie Tibbetts? Uli immediately
started crying, but knew that he needed to call his madre before
she heard it on the news.

The Felix-Zandoval family was devastated: How could this young
man they fed and foster be responsible for such a heinous crime?
Do you know, Mr. Rivera, that Uli's parents had to leave
Brooklyn because they were receiving death threats? Do you know
Uli lived in our home for his last year of high school so he
could finish his senior year and play sports?

However, Uli's parents did not get to experience his senior year
with him because of your sensless act. Because of your act, your
then-employer, Craig Lang, lost all his employees because those
workers were afraid of what would happen to them. Because of
your act, Dalton Jack will never get to give Mollie the
engagement ring he had purchased for her. Because of your act,
Mollie's father, Rob, will never get to walk his only daughter
down the aisle. Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never
get to see my daughter become a mother.

I do hope, one day, Paulina has an opportunity to become a
mother. But how will she ever explain to her children who their
grandfather is?

This is the legacy you left behind for your only child, Mr.
Rivera.

I don't know whose situation is worse.

Police say Bahena, a local farmhand, admitted during questioning
that he had seen Tibbetts jogging, followed her, and fought with
her when she threatened to call police. During his trial, he
claimed that two masked men had accosted him at gunpoint and
forced him to drive them to the road where Tibbetts was abducted.

His attorneys sought a new trial, claiming new evidence had
appeared pointing to other possible suspects, but the judge
denied their request. He is expected to appeal.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and- courts/2021/08/30/mollie-tibbetts-mother-letter-court-sentencing- cristhian-bahena-rivera-after-trial-verdict/5653926001/

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