• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Lost Prairie Press

Lost Prairie Press

Trending News from the Midwest - IA, IL, KS, MO, NE

  • Home
  • MIDWEST
  • ILLINOIS
  • IOWA
  • KANSAS
  • MISSOURI
  • NEBRASKA
  • About Us
    • Contact Us

Judge denies new trial request in Mollie Tibbetts case | Iowa news



FILE – In this July 15, 2021, file photo, Cristhian Bahena Rivera appears during a hearing at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa. Bahena Rivera was convicted of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018. The lead investigator in the death, Division of Criminal Investigation agent Trent Vileta expressed confidence Tuesday, July 27, 2021, that the right man was convicted, rejecting defense claims that her abduction could be tied to other local criminal suspects.



Jim Slosiarek


By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge on Monday rejected a convicted man’s request for a new trial in the 2018 killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, whose body was found in a cornfield weeks after she disappeared while out for a run near her small hometown.

Judge Joel Yates’ ruling cleared the way for sentencing to proceed Aug. 30 in the trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, who was convicted in May of first-degree murder in Tibbetts’ death. The former farmhand, who came to the U.S. illegally as a teenager, faces a sentence of life in prison.

During questioning by police, Bahena Rivera acknowledged that he encountered Tibbetts as she was running near her small eastern Iowa hometown of Brooklyn and he led investigators to the field where her body lay hidden under cornstalks.

But during his trial, he claimed publicly for the first time that two masked men kidnapped him at gunpoint from his trailer, forced him to drive to where Tibbetts was running on a rural road, killed her, put her body in his trunk and made him dispose of it. He said he didn’t tell investigators about the two men earlier because they had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and young daughter.

Bahena Rivera was to be sentenced last month. But toward the end of the testimony portion of his trial, two new witnesses came forward independently of one another and told police that a local 21-year-old man told them he had killed Tibbetts. Defense lawyers requested a new trial based on that and other newly discovered information, and Yates agreed to postpone sentencing while he considered their request.

###[ad_2]
Originally Appeared Here

Filed Under: IOWA, iowa - google news

Primary Sidebar

More to See

july-4-star-spangled-spectacular-returns-with-fireworks-show

July 4 Star Spangled Spectacular returns with fireworks show

The Overland Park Star Spangled Spectacular returns to Corporate Woods Founders’ Park, 9711 W. 109th Street., on Monday, July 4. This year’s event includes concerts, food trucks and a fireworks … [Read More...] about July 4 Star Spangled Spectacular returns with fireworks show

6-things-to-do-this-weekend-in-kc:-june-23-26-2022

6 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: June 23-26 2022

PARKED Festival This weekend marks the fourth annual PARKED food truck festival in Shawnee. This Friday evening, the city of Shawnee will host several food trucks, local vendors, a beer garden, a live … [Read More...] about 6 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: June 23-26 2022

how-therapy-focused-on-eye-movement-can-help-faster-than-‘talk-therapy’

How therapy focused on eye movement can help faster than ‘talk therapy’

Not all therapy is talk therapy. In 1987, Francine Shapiro began developing a new therapy called EMD, or Eye Movement Desensitization, using bilateral eye stimulation to lessen the effects of negative … [Read More...] about How therapy focused on eye movement can help faster than ‘talk therapy’

why-the-landmark-imperial-brewery-downtown-will-soon-face-the-wrecking-ball

Why the landmark Imperial Brewery downtown will soon face the wrecking ball

Kansas City has long loved local lager. The vacant Imperial Brewery Co. building looming ominously over I-35, just south of downtown Kansas City, is proof. Built in 1902, at its zenith the six-story … [Read More...] about Why the landmark Imperial Brewery downtown will soon face the wrecking ball

what’s-fresh-at-the-overland-park-farmers’-market-this-week

What’s Fresh at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market this week

The Overland Park Farmers Market has a huge variety of vendors/Courtesy photo The Overland Park Farmers’ Market connects small farmers from the area with food lovers in a vibrant … [Read More...] about What’s Fresh at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market this week

Footer

WELCOME!

Thanks for visiting Lost Prairie Press!

We hope you’ll enjoy news and perspective from the Midwest – specifically, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri.

About/Contact

Privacy Policy

Recent

  • July 4 Star Spangled Spectacular returns with fireworks show
  • How therapy focused on eye movement can help faster than ‘talk therapy’
  • 6 Things To Do This Weekend In KC: June 23-26 2022

Search

Copyright © 2022 · Lost Prairie Press