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

[soap mama]

Thank you. Wow that was eye opening. I too, like the female reporter, thought all of this took place in the middle of nowhere.

Why did she continue running if he was following her?

My take on this is that she did know him from town, school, her friend and didn't think him a threat only annoying.

I’m sure she recognized him, agreed.
And i always thought those roads “outside” of town were bigger and more desolate, nope, this was mollie’s territory. I don’t think i would ever feel unsafe in that sweet small-town environment (before this)

 

[soap mama]

So the August 31st appearance has been pushed back? Or is it not formal yet?

I think it’s waived, not gonna happen.
Wonder what’s next?
ETA - i guess we wait for a trial date unless he pleads guilty. I feel this counsel will guide him more effectively, which isn’t hard to do considering his first counsel lol

 

[feralwriter]

Broad daylight, Utah, this past Saturday. Put his hand on her mouth then tried to drag her into nearby bushes:
Woman fights off attempted kidnapping in Roy park, films suspect to help police make arrest (no author listed, article dated 8/26/18, Fox13now.com)
Woman fights off attempted kidnapping in Roy park, films suspect to help police make arrest

“moment of weakness,”... told police he had “bad thoughts,” and stated he wanted to touch the woman inappropriately" Suspect later located at an elementary school & arrested.

The above is another case where, out of the blue, a man gets the drop. I know when I go walking, or hang out in a park, I'm not continuously thinking some stranger is going to approach me, take his hands & grab me, then drag me off into greenery. I def. was not thinking that the 8 years I lived in Iowa. I felt extremely safe there in a town much larger than Brooklyn.

I continue to maintain her wearing earbuds is a red herring. MT was smart. I highly doubt she would have put herself in a situation where she was unaware of her surroundings on any roadway. Like many women listen in public, the volume was likely low enough to hear an approaching car. It could have been a book on tape. Who knows.

I think of it this way: CR circled her at least once we know of. His adrenaline's going. He's pumped up. He knows he's going to make MT look at him. He's about to insert himself into her space. He's so determined to do that, he drags or lifts her up after hitting her in the head, likely imo with his fist. He finally has total control of her. Now does anyone really doubt his ability to lift a 5'2 probably unconscious woman into the trunk? I too, creepily enough, am 5'6, 130lbs, & have few muscles. Even I could do that, esp. with- imagine the intense chemical- coursing through him at that moment. Pretty sure he was shaking like a leaf, which is what adrenaline does. At that moment, moo, for him, it could have been do or die in his mind.

"Block out" part is not wanting the investigator's judgement, and his family's, the world's. Have read many cases where killers never admit out loud the worst part of the assault they were responsible for. He knows by our standards, not his, that murdering her was wrong. If he thinks after leading the world to her body that he'll get off on a technicality, he's dead wrong. moo

 

[Twistinginthewind]

Question. Why didn't he flee to Mexico? He could have said his father was sick and he had to go if he needed an excuse to get out of town. One that would not cast suspicion on him.

They had no idea it was a Hispanic Farm Worker so I don't think his absence would have made headlines.

IMO because he thought he had gotten away with it, circling around and coming upon her on an isolated stretch of road with no one on sight, having no idea his car had been videotaped prior to that at a residence earlier on her route going back and forth following her. And doing her in and disposing of her body in a corn field covered up, which was also not in sight of anyone. As the days and weeks went by with no one suspecting him, he thought he was in the clear.

LE said in the PC last week when they announced his arrest that they had only been looking at him / interviewed him in the previous 24 to 36 hours - apparently they had gone over hundreds of hours of videos from the area and thousands of tips, and the video from the residence earlier in her run that was turned in at some point showed his car that they tracked down to him.

 

[Alethea]

Thanks for the clarity there. I’m pretty indifferent on the death penalty, but I do like the leverage that it gives the prosecution in order to force a plea. Unfortunately Iowa doesn’t have the death penalty of course.

It’s good to know that there are options at the disposal of the prosecution (things that they can offer), in order to encourage a plea, even though it would still be for first degree murder.

I won't go into my personal feelings on the death penalty but there are well-funded DP opposition groups and brilliant, talented lawyers who take DP cases to fight the DP on principle. They're not out for the publicity necessarily, they just oppose the state being able to put someone to death. If you're a prosecutor your fight gets a lot more difficult once you have a deep-pocketed DP lawyer on the defense. Without the DP on the table, that type of lawyer isn't interested in the case.

 

[EaglesSpeical]

JMO
Totally agree. There is no doubt that LE is going to find evidence in his car trunk that proves MT was placed in there.

I had an older vehicle once where milk had spilled in the trunk area and I didnt realize it until it had spoiled and smelled really bad. I tried cleaning it and I could not get rid of the odor. I finally had to cut out all the carpet lining in the trunk. And I even had to go to a junkyard to get an entire "new"/used back seat pad from a similar wrecked car because it had leaked forward into the back seat cushion foam.

I spilled wine (long story lol). Equal problem.

 

[Mom24]

I can't get over the boldness of doing this on a street, in town and while there might some light still available. But Kelsey Smith's killer abducted her in the parking lot of a Target store in the middle of the day so it happens. Video surveillance caught Kelsey Smith's killer, too.
Murder of Kelsey Smith - Wikipedia
Another one might be Elizabeth Salgado, but the public doesn't know when she disappeared. Amazing that these sick characters do this during the day and right off the street and LE has a difficult time determining what happened.

I was visiting a large city in MI (East Lansing), must have been around 86? Anyway, on the news that night they were reporting on the murder of a young woman who had stopped at a light, someone hopped into the car with her and assaulted her, in broad daylight, on a busy street. That's when we were all cautioned to roll up our windows and lock our car doors.

 

[Al Hoffman]

I think I read they were both 130# and 5'6". So pretty equal there. I will give him some farm work that beefs..no pun intended..you up. But if he was close to her she was in some self defense classes.

I donno I just always wonder how he stopped and subdued her. There fore I went back to Abby and the stun gun.

Re the guns on his FB page. I realize they were not his and only a picture but it does show and interest in guns.

If we believe his story, and pick where it ends and begins...
When MT reached for her phone, they were both running, he lost it "Redding out" and tackled MT to the ground, and slammed her head into the ground to stun her, creating the head wound and bleed noted on arrest warrant. He then dragged the now stunned/unconscious MT to the car. While attempting to load her into the trunk she comes to and fights like a wildcat. Fearing that he is loosing control, he grabs something sharp and pointy out of the trunk and stabs her repeatedly to subdue her. Once she is subded, he looks at what he has done, takes her offending phone, and closes the trunk (The ear buds are wrapped up in his non-dominant hand as he held her by the throat in an attempt to control her). He gets in the car to get the hell out of Dodge, and shakes an ear bud into his lap as he starts to steer the car. MT, in the trunk, dies of her wounds as he leaves/passes through the 1900 block of 385th Ave. CR drives by or passes near the deserted hog farm while looking for a place to deal with MT...whatever happened he turned the phone off before he reached the cornfield and saw the ear bud in his lap, looked in the trunk and found MT dead. The rest of the story is per the arrest warrant.
MOO
What do you think

 

[Jaclin]

Sorry guys, another Fitbit question. Assuming she had on the Fitbit and it was registering when she died, would it have shown a continuous heartbeat and its pattern of slowing? I would assume her pulse would be rushing, rushing, rushing, then slowing, slowing, stop. Would all that show?

I've figured all along that if LE had this information, they would have told the family they suspected she was dead because of the data. However, maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Maybe they had their reasons to play like they thought she was alive?

The drop would show, but the detail isn't really there. It's possible that Fitbit corporate could pull more details than the app shows. I've had my fitbit drop my heart rate temporarily occasionally for who knows what reason, and if they get too wet and they aren't the waterproof kind, they can just quit. Also, I don't know if it has been determined for certain whether Mollie had the type that kept a heart rate or not. I saw somewhere where it said she had an Alta, but there is the regular Alta and the Alta HR. The regular Alta doesn't detect heartrate. I'm attaching how the windows app shows my heartrate.

 

[tigertales]

With respect to lifting MT by CR ....

I found a weightlifting chart (attached), highlighting squats, showing how much weight for a range of fitness levels and weight of person lifting. The dead weight lift chart (not pictured) shows the ability to lift even more weight for each category.

MOO - I think he would have been able to lift her into the trunk as well as carry her over his shoulders to the corn field.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

He may have thought he’d gotten away with it, or he may not have had the means.

In the Vanessa Marcotte case, the suspect willingly took a DNA test and hung around for the results, which he knew would implicate him.

Who knows why these guys don’t flee?

Totally agree. Time and time again in cases like this the perp is assumed to be thoughtful, cagey, smart about bolting if need be if hiding their tracks doesn’t work. But they’re often not any of those things. Impulse control issues and some level of premeditation and hasty covering up these crime with fingers crossed or worse yet smugness is often their downfall thankfully, and LE never giving up looking at every aspect of a disappearance and thousands of tips was enough to catch Mollie’s killer hiding in plain sight in her community. JMO of course

 

[bizzle2]

I had never even entertained this thought until just now, and I have thought all along that CR will plead not guilty, and that this will go to trial. But...many here have noted that Mollie's dad, Rob, has been remarkably compassionate in his comments, including at her service yesterday, talking about doing what Mollie would do (paraphrasing). Anyone think he and the family would let CR plead to a lesser charge, either 2nd degree murder, or even voluntary manslaughter, to avoid a trial if CR admits to doing something in anger and expresses remorse? Were it me, I would want him punished to the fullest extent of the law, but I have already determined that Rob is a better man than I am. JMO

RT has been awesome. First and foremost, he wants to know what happened to his daughter. And how and why. If that means first degree murder then so be it. But he's expressing that he wants whoever did this to have a fair trial. That way, at the end of it, he can know that justice was served. I mean, if someone were convicted with no fairness or proper procedures followed, then how can he know for certain what happened to his daughter?

It's certainly an honorable position, but it's one that everyone should have. The back story of who did it and where they are from is irrelevant. The only relevant things are that justice is served and that the family is satisfied (as much as they can be) with the outcome. It's very impressive how he has been a voice of reason.

 

[TL4S]

The drop would show, but the detail isn't really there. It's possible that Fitbit corporate could pull more details than the app shows. I've had my fitbit drop my heart rate temporarily occasionally for who knows what reason, and if they get too wet and they aren't the waterproof kind, they can just quit. Also, I don't know if it has been determined for certain whether Mollie had the type that kept a heart rate or not. I saw somewhere where it said she had an Alta, but there is the regular Alta and the Alta HR. The regular Alta doesn't detect heartrate. I'm attaching how the windows app shows my heartrate.

Thank you! I've been curious what the Fitbit showed. I'm curious to know which kind she had and what LE could see going on!

 

[AnaTeresa]

Most states require attorneys to do some "pro bono" work (no fee or greatly reduced). Given the high publicity (future name recognition) and potential for book deal etc. might be situation here. Doubt Iowa paying for these attorneys. MOO

Typically, pro bono work is not a case of this magnitude, so I think that’s unlikely. Further, most defense attorneys have no interest in writing books about their cases. Murder trials are hours and hours of complicated, stressful work. It’s not the type of thing one usually does for a reduced fee, unless you’re working for the Innocence Project or another advocacy group.

If Iowa was paying, it would be because the attorneys were court appointed and that would be part of the public record, which doesn’t seem to be the case here. It’s either CR’s family, or others who are footing the sizable bill, IMO.

 

[Al Hoffman]

This video gives you an idea of the surrounds Mollie was jogging in, not desolate at all

Until she ran up 385th Ave as pointed to at the end of the video. MT was killed in the 1900 block of 385th Ave (which is rural with few homes) per the arrest warrant, 1.2 miles directly East of where the reporter is standing. However, this corner showed in the video is where CR was identified on video as going back and forth, and then following MT.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

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.

The only time the perp seemed to show any emotion during the bail hearing was when the Judge mentioned DNA. The perp has the equivalent of a 7th grade education but even he knew enough to show emotion around the mention of DNA and being registered as a sex offender.

 

[Gardenista]

I had never even entertained this thought until just now, and I have thought all along that CR will plead not guilty, and that this will go to trial. But...many here have noted that Mollie's dad, Rob, has been remarkably compassionate in his comments, including at her service yesterday, talking about doing what Mollie would do (paraphrasing). Anyone think he and the family would let CR plead to a lesser charge, either 2nd degree murder, or even voluntary manslaughter, to avoid a trial if CR admits to doing something in anger and expresses remorse? Were it me, I would want him punished to the fullest extent of the law, but I have already determined that Rob is a better man than I am. JMO

I certainly hope not. Because, IMO, he will do his time, get deported and come right back to kill again.

 

[Deleted member 227095]

There seems to be some confusion as to whether these 2 were married or not and whether the GF had lived in the trailer with the perp until recently. I am still stuck on the fact that she chose to come to court and not only that brought an innocent child to that situation complete with press and cameras. Has the Iowa Dept of Child Services checked this entire situation out as I wonder about this woman's ability to keep her child safe amidst all the trial drama.

 

[Al Hoffman]

Thank you. Wow that was eye opening. I too, like the female reporter, thought all of this took place in the middle of nowhere.

Why did she continue running if he was following her?

My take on this is that she did know him from town, school, her friend and didn't think him a threat only annoying.

It did take place in the middle of nowhere. MT was killed 1.2 miles directly East of this corner in the 1900 block of 385th Ave, per the arrest warrant!

 

[otto]

It did take place in the middle of nowhere. MT was killed 1.2 miles directly East of this corner in the 1900 block of 385th Ave, per the arrest warrant!

There's also that small detail on the arrest warrant where the box for "known date and time of incident" is filled: No.