IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 *Arrest* #39

[Charliegizmo49]

Sorry ya'll, I have skipped a bit. But has it been confirmed that the name he's provided/being charged with is ACTUALLY his real name? Or is that still being looked into by LE?

LE probably has a very clear idea about his true identity by now. They have spoken to blood relatives. He may have several id’s. They are looking into every second of his life since he crossed the birder.
I’m curious to learn if there are unsolved crimes within 6 hours of driving distance. Or the nearly 3 years before he went to work for the Lang family. Or if he is more than a lurker/liker on certain blog.

 

[MsBetsy]

Confirmed. I’ve snapped a pair or two.

Does the earbud go flying?

 

[Al Hoffman]

Have heard this story before. I would say there is a 1/1000 chance maybe 1/10000 chance he 'blacked out'. Often that is an excuse.

People perform under stress - times of war, police, crisis and don't 'black out' however perform well. I suppose there is a chance of a panic attack happening, but even then it appears he drove a number of miles which is pretty hard to do 'blacked out'.

Sounds very fishy. Under those circumstances, nawwwwww

I agree with you, but I could see a rage induced "Red Out", and parts of his recollection may be spotty. But this does not excuse his actions, and maybe this means that CR needs to be incarciated for the rest of his life, however long that may be. I don't think that anyone one the inside will be impressed by his anger management techniques.

 

[MassGuy]

Does the earbud go flying?

Not that I recall. I guess it depends on where/how you snap it.

 

[jillycat]

I'm not sure why he's focused on the ear piece. By the time he got her in the trunk and got himself back in the car, how would anything from the abduction/trunk event land in his lap in the driver's seat?

 

[ChuckMaureen]

This is what I was imagining. Maybe we will know details eventually.

Many style ear buds are available. I wonder how CR could 'come out of a memory block' to find wireless ear bud(s) "on his lap." CR doesn't appear to have particularly muscular or large thighs so if the block out event is true he must have had it/them in his hand/s when he re-entered the vehicle and placed/dropped it/them on to his "lap".

When I drive there is some minor separation between my thighs, I wouldn't refer to the whole as a "lap". If I were sitting and working with something and I needed to place some part of it down I would move my thighs together and place the item there and proceed with whatever until I needed to retrieve the item. I suspect he was attempting to work the ear buds and phone....

Another possibility: MT at some point was in the passenger cabin of the vehicle and that's how the ear bud/s ended up in the cabin.

 

[otto]

It seems to me if there was an earbud on his lap it must have flown or snapped off and landed there. While he was in the car.

It is a bit farfetched. It's as though he needed an excuse to start the "block out", as in getting so mad when she allegedly threatened to call police that he might have accidentally murdered her, and he needed an excuse for coming out of the "block out" and he suddenly noticed an earbud on his lap. Seeing that earbud startled him to the realization that there's a dead girl in the trunk.

Both Mollie making threats and the earbud on the lap are very likely the best he could come up with after 5 weeks to think up a good explanation.

 

[MsBetsy]

Edited to add, It did seem the ear buds held significance to him. Or maybe it's just me.

When I first read he said he had a piece of the ear phones in his hand, when he awoke from his memory block, I wondered if he had used them to strangle her. I'm not sure if at her stage of decomposition, the autopsy would reveal that. Also, if the cord is strong enough. In the pic it looks like it could be. MOO

Good thinking though! I think the earbud on lap is significant too. It couldn't have landed on his shoulder outside of the car in a,struggle and then rolled down to his lap when he got in the car. Even if it was stuck in his shirt somewhere, it would fall straight to the ground while he was outside the car. It would seem something had to happen in the car. But then she couldn't have been in the trunk at that time, right? She would have to still be in the car. I just don't know what to make if it.

 

[chi123]

It is a bit farfetched. It's as though he needed an excuse to start the "block out", as in getting so mad when she allegedly threatened to call police that he might have accidentally murdered her, and he needed an excuse for coming out of the "block out" and he suddenly noticed an earbud on his lap. Seeing that earbud startled him to the realization that there's a dead girl in the trunk.

Both Mollie making threats and the earbud on the lap are very likely the best he could come up with after 5 weeks to think up a good explanation.

It's amazing that those were the best he could have come up with after 5 weeks.

I still wonder where we'd be if he just lawyered up immediately. Would they have even had enough for an arrest? Scary to think about.

 

[MsBetsy]

It is a bit farfetched. It's as though he needed an excuse to start the "block out", as in getting so mad when she allegedly threatened to call police that he might have accidentally murdered her, and he needed an excuse for coming out of the "block out" and he suddenly noticed an earbud on his lap. Seeing that earbud startled him to the realization that there's a dead girl in the trunk.

Both Mollie making threats and the earbud on the lap are very likely the best he could come up with after 5 weeks to think up a good explanation.

But why not say on the seat or floor? On his lap incriminates him even more. It just doesn't sound good. I mean they were on her head and now they are on his lap?what does he think they're going to think?

 

[jillycat]

It is a bit farfetched. It's as though he needed an excuse to start the "block out", as in getting so mad when she allegedly threatened to call police that he might have accidentally murdered her, and he needed an excuse for coming out of the "block out" and he suddenly noticed an earbud on his lap. Seeing that earbud startled him to the realization that there's a dead girl in the trunk.

Both Mollie making threats and the earbud on the lap are very likely the best he could come up with after 5 weeks to think up a good explanation.

But he noticed the ear piece when he got to the cornfield....and hence, knew she was in the trunk. In other words, he drove to the cornfield without even knowing he had her in the trunk. Which of course is a load.

 

[whiskers]

I wonder how much LE will probe his ex gf and how much she will reveal. If anyone had experienced abuse, it would be her. But for various reasons, she may not acknowledge any abuse.

Nothing to back this up, but I’m thinking he wanted a piece of the American dream and that includes a girl. We know he cruised the streets previously. To an extent we know he’s harassed women, but I also wonder if he wanted a girl who didn’t have a background similar to his.

 

[ellieuma]

This article says that she used wireless ear buds

Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts went for a jog last week – and hasn’t been seen since

"She ran with her Fitbit on her wrist, and with her cellphone connected to wireless headphones."

Edited to add: But yeah, mentioning the headphones is strangely specific, especially if they were wireless. Did she take one out to talk to him/(or tell him to p*ss off? Did she drop it during an altercation and then he picked it up?

I am petite like MT & ear phones/buds are my nemesis. They never fit me correctly like they do other people, and fall out a lot especially when walking my dog or jogging. I have tried many brands, but the problem has never changed. When running & becoming sweaty, the situation worsens. It’s something I am used to experiencing. If someone picked me up or caused me to turn my head around fast when jogging, there is no doubt in my mind that at least one of my ear buds would fall out, and the second is usually not far behind.

The iPhone 7 and onwards use wireless ear buds. We can probably safely assume she was using wireless buds if we knew her phone was iPhone 7 or newer.

 

[otto]

LE probably has a very clear idea about his true identity by now. They have spoken to blood relatives. He may have several id’s. They are looking into every second of his life since he crossed the birder.
I’m curious to learn if there are unsolved crimes within 6 hours of driving distance. Or the nearly 3 years before he went to work for the Lang family. Or if he is more than a lurker/liker on certain blog.

Mortvedt was quoted in the People article (linked upthread) as saying that no one starts their criminal career with a brazen blitz daylight abduction and murder, then cool as a cucumber the following day.

There were two murders of two girls, aged 8 and 10, one hour North of Brooklyn 6 years ago. They were cousins who rode their bikes to a remote area of the park without permission.

The 10 year old was 4'11", 140 pounds. Mollie was 5'2" or 5'3" and 120 pounds. The suspect would have been 18 years old that July 13, 2012. He may have lived in Blaristown, Tama, or Marshalltown. I have tracked down that there are connections or contacts in those locations.

I'm very curious whether police can connect this suspect to other similar crimes in Iowa such as peeping, sexual assault, and unsolved murders.

 

[MassGuy]

Mortvedt was quoted in the People article (linked upthread) as saying that no one starts their criminal career with a brazen blitz daylight abduction and murder, then cool as a cucumber the following day.

There were two murders of two girls, aged 8 and 10, one hour North of Brooklyn 6 years ago. They were cousins who rode their bikes to a remote area of the park without permission.

The 10 year old was 4'11", 140 pounds. Mollie was 5'2" or 5'3" and 120 pounds. The suspect would have been 18 years old that July 13, 2012. He may have lived in Blaristown, Tama, or Marshalltown. I have tracked down that there are connections or contacts in those locations.

I'm very curious whether police can connect this suspect to other similar crimes in Iowa such as peeping, sexual assault, and unsolved murders.

That’s precisely why it’s huge that they now have his DNA. There’s tons of unsolved crimes where they have DNA, but no one in the system to match it to. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a Codis hit on anything else.

 

[whiskers]

Otto, I’d also wondered if he was involved with Lyric and Elizabeth. From my research and various posts on different boards, locals are solidly in the camp that it’s drug related. But I recently came across an interview with Lyric’s dad, the one in prison, that actually made a bit of sense. It was about how he couldn’t be involved. And meth is stupid easy to make.

I wonder where he was 6 years ago?

 

[MsBetsy]

I'm not sure why he's focused on the ear piece. By the time he got her in the trunk and got himself back in the car, how would anything from the abduction/trunk event land in his lap in the driver's seat?

Unless she was still in the car.

 

[otto]

It's amazing that those were the best he could have come up with after 5 weeks.

I still wonder where we'd be if he just lawyered up immediately. Would they have even had enough for an arrest? Scary to think about.

Lawyered up immediately means he would have negotiated a shorter prison sentence in exchange for giving up the location of the body. I think he believed that he would get away with it. As Mortvedt said, he didn't start his criminal history with a daylight abduction and murder. I think he expected that the worst that would happen is that he would be deported.

I believe that Mollie was bleeding from a head wound, and that there would be her blood evidence in his trunk. I'm pretty sure he would have been arrested and probably convicted without a body (if that's allowed in Iowa).

Portraying Mollie as the threat that triggered the entire abduction and murder, and then pretending that an earbud on his lap caused him to end his "block out"? That's absurd.

This man very likely raped Mollie. How in the world does an earbud end up on his lap at the dump site?

 

[MsBetsy]

But he noticed the ear piece when he got to the cornfield....and hence, knew she was in the trunk. In other words, he drove to the cornfield without even knowing he had her in the trunk. Which of course is a load.

I thiught the earbud was lying in his lap when he came to in his car.

 

[otto]

But why not say on the seat or floor? On his lap incriminates him even more. It just doesn't sound good. I mean they were on her head and now they are on his lap?what does he think they're going to think?

I don't think there was an earbud on his lap. I think that was the best he could come up with to explain the end of his "block out".