Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 *Arrest* #47

[PommyMommy]

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Both attorneys finished with first group of jurors. Atty Chad Frese led defense questioning. As expected, lot of Qs about Bahena Rivera’s immigration status and whether that (or his inability to speak English) would affect jurors’ ability to judge the case impartially.@KCCINews
2:24 PM · May 17, 2021 from Davenport, IA·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Also a number of questions from Frese about jurors’ perceptions of conflicting statements, police officers, as well as familiarity with false/coerced confessions.
@KCCINews
2:25 PM · May 17, 2021 from Davenport, IA·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Good morning from Davenport. Day two of jury selection in the Cristhian Bahena Rivera trial is set to begin any minute. Looks like we will be going through that third tranche of jurors. Stay tuned for updates after the next break. #BahenaRiveraTrial @KCCINews
8:34 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

 

[PommyMommy]

Angenette Levy on Twitter
Defense attorney Robert Frese asked prospective jurors whether the fact that Bahena Rivera was in the country illegally would make them think he doesn't enjoy the same constitutional rights as citizens.@LawCrimeNetwork
5:48 PM · May 17, 2021·Twitter Web App

Angenette Levy on Twitter
Frese also asked prospective jurors whether they had ever heard of a false confession. Defense claims Bahena Rivera gave up after 11 hours of interrogation & confessed. Not clear how Bahena Rivera knowing the location of Mollie Tibbetts' body will be explained @LawCrimeNetwork
5:48 PM · May 17, 2021·Twitter Web App

Angenette Levy on Twitter
Brown asked prospective jurors whether they believed police are perfect? Whether they make mistakes. (Several mistakes being alleged by the defense including an officer not properly reading Miranda rights) @LawCrimeNetwork
5:48 PM · May 17, 2021·Twitter Web App

Angenette Levy on Twitter
Update on IA v. Cristhian Bahena Rivera: two panels of 12 jurors selected. More tomorrow. Prosecutor Scott Brown told prospective jurors “We’re going to talk about the violent death of a young girl, Mollie Tibbetts... it's not going to be pleasant." @LawCrimeNetwork
5:48 PM · May 17, 2021·Twitter Web App

 

[PommyMommy]

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Questioning from Asst @AGIowa Scott Brown for 3rd group largely the same as yesterday. Focusing on jurors thoughts of reasonable doubt, scientific evidence, circumstantial evidence, etc. One prospective juror has served on a homicide trial before. #BahenaRiveraTrial.@kccinews
10:35 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Defense is up next following this brief recess. #BahenaRiveraTrial @kccinews
10:36 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
On short break. Third and final group over. Defense Atty Chad Frese largely had the same line of questioning as previous groups: Can police cut corners? Were they under pressure to solve the #MollieTibbetts case?@KCCINews
#bahenariveratrial
11:47 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
One line of defense questioning that came up a lot both in this group and previous — would it cause you pause if someone did not have a clear recollection/memory of what they and a loved one talked about for the last time before they died? @KCCINews #BahenaRiveraTrial
11:48 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Some jurors have said they would question this, others said no and that everyone processes memories differently. #BahenaRiveraTrial @KCCINews
11:49 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Seattle1]

Refresher on what we know going into court from the criminal complaint:

August 21, 2018

Mollie Tibbett's body is found. 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the suspect charged with first-degree murder, led investigators to her body in a cornfield outside Brooklyn, Iowa

Rivera allegedly told police he followed Tibbetts in his car while she was jogging in town July 18, then got out and started running beside her. According to a criminal complaint, Rivera confessed to police that he blacked out and that, sometime after, he remembered Tibbetts’ body was in his car.

Rivera told police he hauled Tibbetts’ body into a cornfield and covered it with stalks, court documents say.

The following is an excerpt from the criminal complaint:

Rivera stated he then made a u-turn, drove back to an entrance to a field and then drove into a driveway to a cornfield. He noticed there was an earpiece from headphones in his lap and that is how he realized he put her in the trunk. He went to get her out of the trunk and he noticed blood on the side of her head. The Defendant Rivera described the female's clothing, that she was wearing an ear phone or headphone set. The defendant further described during the interview that he dragged Tibbetts on foot from his vehicle to a secluded location in a cornfield. Rivera described he put her over his shoulder and took her about 20 meters into the cornfield and he left her covered in some corn leaves and that he left her there, face up. The Defendant was able to use his phone to determine the route he traveled from Brooklyn. Rivera then later guided law enforcement to her location from memory. Law enforcement located the remains of a deceased female in the area Rivera took them to. The physical surroundings of her location and other factors at the scene matched his earlier physical description of the area as that where he placed her body.

Death of Mollie Tibbetts: Suspect's murder trial begins in Iowa | weareiowa.com

 

[PommyMommy]

Angenette Levy on Twitter
Defense and prosecution striking jurors in IA v. Cristhian Bahena Rivera. Jury should be seated soon in the Mollie Tibbetts case. I am coming up on
@LawCrimeNetwork soon
12:25 PM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Seattle1]

USA TODAY

May 17, 2021

Bahena Rivera's attorneys declined the Des Moines Register's interview requests, citing their ongoing preparations for the trial. A spokesperson for the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which is assisting with the prosecution, would comment only on the timeline of the trial, saying the state has about 20 witnesses and expects to begin presenting its case Wednesday, hopefully wrapping up by Monday, May 24. The trial is expected to run from May 17 to 28.
________

Photo above is from the Nov 14, 2019 Evidence Suppression Hearing which I personally viewed the live coverage for two+ days. While CBR has rightfully requested and received an interpreter, I believe it's naive to think and or imply that CBR does not speak or understand English. Reportedly, CBR met and dated several local girls including Mollie's high school classmate -- a cheerleader from her class. The classmate gave birth to his child.

Personally, I really resent how media has spent more time focusing on CBR's undocumented status than the fact that CBR spent several years living in Iowa-- all the while successfully employed in Powshiek County. MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 18, 2021
Jury selected in Bahena Rivera Murder Trial | KGAN (cbs2iowa.com)
At 12:50pm on Tuesday the jury was officially selected for the Cristhian Bahena Rivera murder trial.

[...]

8 women and 7 men will hear the case.

Opening arguments are set to begin Wednesday.

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Jury in #BahenaRiveraTrial has been seated. Each attorney got 11 strikes. Final composition/demographics: 8 women, 7 men. All appear to be white, except for a woman who appears to be either Hispanic or Native American. @KCCINews
12:48 PM · May 18, 2021 from Davenport, IA·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Seattle1]

‘Something about him was off’: Other women say Mollie Tibbetts' suspected murderer messaged them repeatedly on social media over the years

Aug 25, 2018

Cristhian Bahena Rivera was a familiar fixture in Brooklyn, Iowa, where he worked for the last four years at a dairy farm a few miles from where Tibbetts was last seen.

Brooke Bestell, a local 20-year-old woman, told the Times she once turned him down when he asked her out on a date, but he repeatedly messaged her on Facebook late at night though they didn't speak in person.

"He would just stare. He wouldn't really like talk," Bestell said. "Something about him was off."

Bestell said he would message her "just over and over, like every week or so." She said the most recent message from Bahena Rivera came June 13 at 3 a.m. After Bahena Rivera was arrested, two of Bestell's friends told her that he had also messaged them and Bestell said she wondered "how many other girls he probably was trying to talk to."

[..]

Law enforcement officials and Bahena Rivera's employer told the Times that the suspect seemed like a hardworking and law-abiding presence in the community, who was often seen in the local park and grocery store.

 

[Seattle1]

By Ann Klein, Mitch Smith and Miriam Jordan

• Aug. 24, 2018

BROOKLYN, Iowa — Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the Mexican farmworker accused of killing a 20-year-old college student and concealing her body beneath corn leaves, seemed to have built a quiet, productive life in the seven or so years since he slipped across the southwest border and found work in the fields of Iowa.

[..]

Mr. Bahena Rivera grew up in El Guayabillo, a village of unpaved roads some three hours’ drive from Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, and attended the only elementary school in the village of about 400 people.

“A very good person, a simple guy with no vices,” Victor Manuel Nuñez Carbajal, who attended school with Mr. Bahena Rivera, said in a Facebook message. Neighbors told Univision network that his father tended his small corn plot and also milked dairy cows in the village, earning less than $10 a day.

[..]

Outside of work, Mr. Bahena Rivera started dating a Brooklyn high school student, Iris Monarrez, whom he met in 2013. Around 2014, they had a daughter. And for about a year, they lived together. Mr. Bahena Rivera once posted on Facebook that the day he met his girlfriend was “el mejor día de mi vida,” or “the best day of my life.” When she posted a photo of herself in 2015, he wrote in Spanish, “My beautiful cool princess.”

“He was really romantic,” said Aby Felix, a second cousin of Ms. Monarrez, who she said has been separated from Mr. Bahena Rivera for about two years. “He would bring her flowers.”

How the Suspect in Mollie Tibbetts’s Death Built a Life in an Iowa Farm Town (Published 2018)

ETA: Seems that CBR spent about 1/3 of his life in Brooklyn, IA...

 

[PommyMommy]

MAY 18, 2021
Mollie Tibbetts: Prosecutor warns of graphic evidence in trial for Iowa student’s murder (ktvu.com)
A prosecutor warned prospective jurors Monday that the trial of a Mexican national charged in the 2018 fatal stabbing of a University of Iowa student will include graphic evidence that will be emotionally difficult to see and hear.

Prosecutor Scott Brown said the first-degree murder trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera will feature photos and testimony about the stab wounds 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts suffered after going for a run.

[...]

... Frese suggested Monday he will argue his client gave a false confession after hours of questioning, and will cast suspicion on others for the death.

[...]

Jury selected in trial surrounding the death of Mollie Tibbetts | wqad.com
[...]

Twelve jurors and three alternates, made up of eight women and seven men, have been instructed by Judge Joel Yates to report back for opening statements Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., according to KCRG-TV and the Law & Crime Network.

[...]

Among the array of interview questions, the defense zeroed in on some topics regarding police matters, asking whether police should be allowed to take shortcuts and to consider whether police were under pressure to solve the case.

[...]

Jury picked for man's trial in 2018 slaying of Iowa student - ABC News
[...]

Defense lawyer Chad Frese only briefly addressed his client's immigration status and race during jury selection, saying Bahena Rivera enjoys the same rights as U.S. citizens and that his lack of English language skills could not be held against him. He suggested Monday he will argue that the confession was coerced and false and that he will cast suspicion on others for the death.

 

[BUF]

Jury picked for man's trial in 2018 slaying of Iowa student

Defense lawyer Chad Frese only briefly addressed his client's immigration status and race during jury selection, saying Bahena Rivera enjoys the same rights as U.S. citizens and that hois lack of English language skills could not be held against him. He suggested Monday he will argue that the confession was coerced and false and that he will cast suspicion on others for the death.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

“... Frese suggested Monday he will argue his client gave a false confession after hours of questioning...”

And then, astoundingly, led LE right to her body.

 

[PrairieWind]

“... Frese suggested Monday he will argue his client gave a false confession after hours of questioning...”

And then, astoundingly, led LE right to her body.

He is probably just psychic.

 

[wary]

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Questioning from Asst @AGIowa Scott Brown for 3rd group largely the same as yesterday. Focusing on jurors thoughts of reasonable doubt, scientific evidence, circumstantial evidence, etc. One prospective juror has served on a homicide trial before. #BahenaRiveraTrial.@kccinews
10:35 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Defense is up next following this brief recess. #BahenaRiveraTrial @kccinews
10:36 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
On short break. Third and final group over. Defense Atty Chad Frese largely had the same line of questioning as previous groups: Can police cut corners? Were they under pressure to solve the #MollieTibbetts case?@KCCINews
#bahenariveratrial
11:47 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
One line of defense questioning that came up a lot both in this group and previous — would it cause you pause if someone did not have a clear recollection/memory of what they and a loved one talked about for the last time before they died? @KCCINews #BahenaRiveraTrial
11:48 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Gothner KCCI on Twitter
Some jurors have said they would question this, others said no and that everyone processes memories differently. #BahenaRiveraTrial @KCCINews
11:49 AM · May 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

Oh my, does this mean the defense is going to insinuate that someone close to Mollie killed her, (and sneakily got Bahana to tell LE where her body was?)

 

[BUF]

Some notes from listening to Court TV:

• Jurors ages 20-60
• Rivera has 2 interpreters, male & female that will sit with him
• Opening statements @ 9:00 tomorrow

- 20 or so prosecution witnesses including 6 lay witnesses (Mollie’s BF and his brother included), Iowa City police officer, forensic anthropologist, ME to name a few

- No murder weapon recovered or Mollie’s cell phone

 

[MsBetsy]

Refresher on what we know going into court from the criminal complaint:

August 21, 2018

Mollie Tibbett's body is found. 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the suspect charged with first-degree murder, led investigators to her body in a cornfield outside Brooklyn, Iowa

Rivera allegedly told police he followed Tibbetts in his car while she was jogging in town July 18, then got out and started running beside her. According to a criminal complaint, Rivera confessed to police that he blacked out and that, sometime after, he remembered Tibbetts’ body was in his car.

Rivera told police he hauled Tibbetts’ body into a cornfield and covered it with stalks, court documents say.

The following is an excerpt from the criminal complaint:

Rivera stated he then made a u-turn, drove back to an entrance to a field and then drove into a driveway to a cornfield. He noticed there was an earpiece from headphones in his lap and that is how he realized he put her in the trunk. He went to get her out of the trunk and he noticed blood on the side of her head. The Defendant Rivera described the female's clothing, that she was wearing an ear phone or headphone set. The defendant further described during the interview that he dragged Tibbetts on foot from his vehicle to a secluded location in a cornfield. Rivera described he put her over his shoulder and took her about 20 meters into the cornfield and he left her covered in some corn leaves and that he left her there, face up. The Defendant was able to use his phone to determine the route he traveled from Brooklyn. Rivera then later guided law enforcement to her location from memory. Law enforcement located the remains of a deceased female in the area Rivera took them to. The physical surroundings of her location and other factors at the scene matched his earlier physical description of the area as that where he placed her body.

Death of Mollie Tibbetts: Suspect's murder trial begins in Iowa | weareiowa.com

So I guess it was finally confirmed that he said he "blacked out" instead of saying he "blocked it out?" I remember debating about that for several weeks and how frustrating it was.

Either way, I don't believe he did either one. He didn't black out and he didn't block it out of his mind. He knew exactly what he was doing and probably enjoyed it. Imo

 

[Seattle1]

I think it's very clear what happened. Mollie's threat to call police was a threat to CBR's improved, successful life in Iowa and would also separate him from his child. I think the accused's defense will have to invent anything more CBR's admitted blind (blocked-out) rage. MOO

What led to the arrest of Cristhian Bahena Rivera?

May 17, 2021

Investigators said Rivera saw Tibbetts running and began running alongside her.

Court documents said Tibbetts threatened to call police and that Rivera “got mad” and “blocked” his “memory.”

Rivera told police that the next thing he remembered was finding an earpiece from headphones in his lap and realizing that he had placed Tibbetts in his vehicle.

He then drove out into a cornfield and placed Tibbetts' body there, according to court documents.

 

[MsBetsy]

I think it's very clear what happened. Mollie's threat to call police was a threat to CBR's improved, successful life in Iowa and would also separate him from his child. I think the accused's defense will have to invent anything more CBR's admitted blind (blocked-out) rage. MOO

What led to the arrest of Cristhian Bahena Rivera?

May 17, 2021

Investigators said Rivera saw Tibbetts running and began running alongside her.

Court documents said Tibbetts threatened to call police and that Rivera “got mad” and “blocked” his “memory.”

Rivera told police that the next thing he remembered was finding an earpiece from headphones in his lap and realizing that he had placed Tibbetts in his vehicle.

He then drove out into a cornfield and placed Tibbetts' body there, according to court documents.

Yes I think he meant he blacked out, as in he didn't remember what happened during that time. Not that he blocked it from his memory, although he may have tried to. Imo

 

[Seattle1]

Refresher about the accused's legal team:

Mollie Tibbetts case: Suspect Cristhian Rivera changes lawyers

Aug 28, 2018

[..]

Jennifer Frese said she and her husband have not worked a case like this together, but they decided it would be good to have two attorneys defending Rivera because it's a high-profile case.

Frese said she and her husband have been privately retained by Rivera's family.

[..]

The day Tibbetts was found, and three days before speaking with Rivera about the possibility of representing him in court, Chad Frese wrote a public Facebook post about the case. In it, he criticized the media attention and online narrative surrounding Wayne Cheney, a Poweshiek County hog farmer who had been questioned by investigators and whose property had been searched while Tibbetts was missing.

"We all knew who did it, right? It was the hog farmer who had been interviewed a number of times, taken a polygraph and had his property searched. He had stalking convictions. The digital footprint put it all together.

"Nope..................," Frese wrote in the post.

Frese wrote that people's minds seemed to be made up about the case before any arrests were announced.

"But wait.... an illegal alien snatched her up and committed this heinous act? He admitted to it? He took the cops to the body? How can that be?

"They had the killer in custody. It wasn’t Wayne Cheney. We were all wrong," Chad Frese wrote in the post.

In an interview Monday, Frese said he wasn't giving his own opinion of the case, but saying that anyone accused of a crime "is deserving of a full and fair defense" as provided in the Sixth Amendment.

"I wasn't saying I thought he was the killer," Chad Frese said.

"I was just parroting the media narrative. I was just parroting what we were being fed at that point in time. Nowhere in that post do I spout my opinion as to what this gentleman had done or didn’t do," he added.

He said he didn't believe the post would prevent him from defending Rivera in court. He said he has not come to a conclusion about whether or not Rivera is guilty.

 

[PrairieWind]

Yes I think he meant he blacked out, as in he didn't remember what happened during that time. Not that he blocked it from his memory, although he may have tried to. Imo

He remembered that her body was in the trunk. So I don't think his "black out" story is going to carry much water with the jury. Not that it really matters anyway.