IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 *Arrest* #37

[gliving]

None of which makes it any more likely that he would have used a rope as part of his daily routine.

My question was would he have access to rope, but thanks for your nice reply.

 

[geevee]

Yea I guess they don't want to reveal too much so the defense can't look up/find more evidence to disprove certain things at the trial. You want something like this to go through smoothly and not have the defense find some loophole. I am sure at the trial the whole story will come out to prove their case.

Given the rules of discovery, the prosecution must turn over all evidence to the defense well before trial, blindsiding is not condoned by the court.

 

[Kaylo0Ren]

I think you can, in this sort of situation. He's worked for them for four years. He knows what needs to be done. He's a responsible worker. (Give the devil his due.) When the work's finished--I think you do 'just up and leave.'

I’m from NYC so I guess I don’t really understand how it works in small town areas. But where I am from we usually clock out, write what time we get in/leave and/or notify a supervisor or someone on staff that is higher up to let them know we are done for the day and are leaving. We don’t just go as we please. We have set hours but there are ways to determine when we’ve actually left work.

 

[Ilovemy3boys]

Suspect’s relatives say they’re baffled by arrest in Mollie Tibbetts case

 

[otto]

I am guessing he will continue with the "block out" rage - and try for manslaughter/accident or something along those lines. I think he acted alone and I think his unwanted advances we are now hearing about perhaps led up to the 18th of July and whatever happened after that date. I agree with the other poster I am very glad he led LE to her body. I just cannot imagine the horror these past weeks have been for her family.

I don't know if I believe all these after-the-fact stories. They strike me as a bit of hysteria, like the media article that was posted a couple of days ago where someone un-named received some sort of contact from the suspect on Facebook and the recipient of the unknown type of contact did not respond. It's like everyone is thinking "it could have been me!"

Yes, it could have been anyone, but it wasn't. It was Mollie. Interactions with others before and after her abduction and murder do not mean that those people were potential victims. It came down to Mollie being an easy target on July 18 and that's why he chose her.

 

[DizzyB]

I think the strongest argument that the defense has at this time is tainted jury pool. Politicians in the highest office have declared the suspect guilty. Either the Judge has to declare that the opinions of those politicians do not influence what people believe, or the Judge has to accept that the opinions of those politicians do influence what people believe and there is not a city or town in the country where the jury pool is not tainted.

The defense can further argue that he did everything possible to minimize information that was made public, and that it is the court that chose to publicize all information.

It's an interesting argument- and by no means do I intend to make this in any way political. I'm talking about whether or not a jury pool is tainted. Do those opinions carry weight in one direction or the other-if you believe that someone giving their opinion publicly is not to be trusted, would it then influence you to have reservations that perhaps this defendant has been framed? Last I am going to say about any of this. I'm putting on my tinfoil hat and conspiracy theorists be damned.

 

[oviedo]

I think you can, in this sort of situation. He's worked for them for four years. He knows what needs to be done. He's a responsible worker. (Give the devil his due.) When the work's finished--I think you do 'just up and leave.'

Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers | iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov - www
Iowa has rules/regulations - so I wonder if CR is classified as a migrant/seasonal/agricultural worker? Housing and transportation guidelines are included - vehicles have to be registered and insured if workers are using them. Regarding the identification of the vehicle following Mollie - IMO it had to be really distinguishable for them to find it so quickly (assuming two weeks based on the first press conference held after the arrest when he said he had the video a "week or two") and have it lead to CR. My guess is it is part of the housing package and that's what led them directly to CR.

 

[duster1979]

Whether CR had a rope or not is not really relevant, is it? If you’re considering what he might have had to bind a victim, we’re probably talking about something as simple as zip ties, duct tape, or even his own shirt.

I wasn't the one who brought up the rope, I was just responding to a comment asking about the likelihood that he would have access to a rope because of his job. I have no reason to believe he used one in the commission of this crime at all at this point.

 

[oviedo]

It's an interesting argument- and by no means do I intend to make this in any way political. I'm talking about whether or not a jury pool is tainted. Do those opinions carry weight in one direction or the other-if you believe that someone giving their opinion publicly is not to be trusted, would it then influence you to have reservations that perhaps this defendant has been framed? Last I am going to say about any of this. I'm putting on my tinfoil hat and conspiracy theorists be damned.

Casey Anthony did not get a change of venue - everyone I know thought she murdered Caylee. I don't know how Iowa works though.

 

[MesquiteO21]

I think he had his eyes on Mollie for some time and I think he knew exactly where to bring her and exactly how to get back.
I truly believe that he scoped out what he needed to.

i know he had approached another young girl who was out running/walking so that does say he's got the predatory mindset. However, i do agree with you that he had been particularly scoping out Mollie. Frankly, i don't think it's a coincidence at all that the three people she lived with were out of town (even with her mom and brothers in town, if the people she lives with are gone that increases the amount of time it will take for anyone to realize something is wrong. and that's exactly what happened as it wasn't until the next day, and not that night, that red flags were raised.)

 

[netbrsr]

I’m asking myself why he led investigators to the body. You know any motivation the guy has is self-serving, what leverage could possibly be used to wring that out of him? Iowa doesn’t have death penalty to bargain with, so what could it be?

Very good point.. Only thing that comes to my mind is LE got it out of him. He was quiet until they found his car on the tape.

 

[Gardenista]

I don't know who used this to describe CR but I think it is a tad bizarre.

His bizarre attorney

 

[wary]

Given the rules of discovery, the prosecution must turn over all evidence to the defense well before trial, blindsiding is not condoned by the court.

Exactly right, but still, they want discovery released on a controlled timetable. And, they especially don't want LE saying things to the press that, later on, won't fit into their theory of the case. (And I'm sure that their theory of the case isn't set in stone yet. The forensic evidence isn't complete, and they can't trust a word of what CR said, except that he did lead them to her body.)

 

[Twistinginthewind]

There has to be something.... you cant just up and leave without notifying at least SOMEONE.

If you're asking about whether CR would need to "Clock out" at the end of his work day and/or tell someone he was done for the day and leaving, it's not common on most big farms in my experience. Each worker has their chores and duties to carry out by the end of each daily shift, and when they're done with them, they're free to do whatever they want after that. It's usually a casual labor type of setup like a family farm where everyone pitches in and does the work that needs to be done without set hours, but in this case it was larger than a family farm so they had laborers as well. I've seen this all over the country since I was a kid, living in rural areas and small towns. JMO of course

 

[SharonNeedles]

I'm glad they will have that evidence, but find it odd CR said that. He had been living and working in that area for 4 yrs. The field where he placed Mollie's body was only a few miles away from where he lived and worked. The roads there are well marked. There's no way he was lost and needed help to find his way back. Really strange, why would he say that? He's one odd duck. Going out on a limb here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they either discovered his intelligence is below average or he's very poorly educated. His attempts to concoct stories, excuses and alibis are really bad.

The thing about locals and gravel roads - we don’t know them by name. If you ask me where my regular fishing spot is, I can only tell you that it’s along the next-to-last gravel road before the highway meets the interstate. If you wanted to know what road that is I’d need to look at my phone. And I’ve driven by that road a dozen times per week for the past twelve years.

 

[netbrsr]

Casey Anthony did not get a change of venue - everyone I know thought she murdered Caylee. I don't know how Iowa works though.

I don't think there is a county in Iowa that isn't somewhat familiar with this case. They had search parties, TV spots, signs all looking for her. I don't think they can move it out of state but that still wouldn't find juror's unfamiliar. I am in Nebraska 3 hours away and heard about it before they caught him.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

I think the strongest argument that the defense has at this time is tainted jury pool. Politicians in the highest office have declared the suspect guilty. Either the Judge has to declare that the opinions of those politicians do not influence what people believe, or the Judge has to accept that the opinions of those politicians do influence what people believe and there is not a city or town in the country where the jury pool is not tainted.

The defense can further argue that he did everything possible to minimize information that was made public, and that it is the court that chose to publicize all information.

The same thing happened with the Zimmerman case but he received a fair trial. It's pretty powerful when a popular president claims a victim could be his son. So a politician's opinion really doesn't seem to influence juries. Most jurers take jury duty very seriously.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

I don't know if I believe all these after-the-fact stories. They strike me as a bit of hysteria, like the media article that was posted a couple of days ago where someone un-named received some sort of contact from the suspect on Facebook and the recipient of the unknown type of contact did not respond. It's like everyone is thinking "it could have been me!"

Yes, it could have been anyone, but it wasn't. It was Mollie. Interactions with others before and after her abduction and murder do not mean that those people were potential victims. It came down to Mollie being an easy target on July 18 and that's why he chose her.

It also doesn't mean that those people WEREN'T potential victims of the monster either.

 

[otto]

I’m asking myself why he led investigators to the body. You know any motivation the guy has is self-serving, what leverage could possibly be used to wring that out of him? Iowa doesn’t have death penalty to bargain with, so what could it be?

Police had lots of information. Once they identified the vehicle, they had the suspect. The suspect knew that there would be forensic evidence of Mollie in his vehicle, so he knew that he was directly connected to Mollie at the time of abduction and her blood evidence in the trunk of that car. He would have been told that it was just a matter of time until they found the body, and that it might go easier for him if he told them exactly where to look. Some type of coercion would have been used to convince him that he may as well get it over with and lead them to the body.

 

[Crystal Regan]

Excuse me for having this dark thought:
Ultimately, I am thankful that CR is in the custody of LE. But part of me wishes that a real-life version of Dexter Morgan existed and before LE apprehended CR that this “Dexter Morgan” had been able to torture (by way of fear) CR so that he could experience the same kind of torture that he inflicted on Mollie. Wishful thinking.

But SO, SO, SO thankful this man was caught so that he will never be able to strike again.

I feel the same way. My husband is a man of few words and he said he wished Mr. Tibbetts could bond CR out and give him a ride home. I think as time passes our anger will subside. I have been all over the place this week emotionally.