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Medical examiner testifies, prosecution rests in Tibbetts murder trial
Dennis Klein. (Court TV screen capture)
The state medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on the body of Mollie Tibbetts testified this afternoon in the trial of Cristhian Rivera, who is accused of killing her.
Medical Examiner Dennis Klein says Tibbetts’ body had deteriorated in the July heat — but he was able to find nine stab wounds — and there were possibly 12 overall wounds to her body. Defense attorney, Chad Frese, asked if Klein determined one knife was used.
“They would all be consistent with one weapon — but I am not able to exclude more than one weapon,” Klein responded. Frese asked about how the wounds occurred. “Could you tell the vantage point of the assailant from where the wounds were located,” Frese asked. Klein said “no.” “So you couldn’t tell if the assailant was in standing front of or behind miss Tibbetts?,” Frese asked. “That’s correct.”