Trial for man accused of killing Mollie Tibbetts: Key takeaways from Day 5 wsjm.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsjm.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Defense paints Iowa murder suspect as hard-working immigrant
by Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press
Posted May 25, 2021 12:43 pm EDT
Last Updated May 25, 2021 at 12:44 pm EDT
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) The man on trial for the 2018 stabbing death of a University of Iowa student is a hard-working, family-centered immigrant from Mexico who was pressured into making a false confession, his defense told jurors Tuesday.
Jennifer Frese, a lawyer for Cristhian Bahena Rivera, said in her opening statement that their hearts should break for 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, but that authorities conducted an incomplete investigation into her death and were too quick to close the case.
Illegal Mexican farm laborer accused of murdering Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts now claims his confession was coerced because he was questioned after working 12-hour shift scooping poop
Cristhian Bahena Rivera s lawyer Jennifer Frese said authorities conducted an incomplete investigation into 20-year-old Tibbetts death in July 2018
His defense began Tuesday by questioning the confession and DNA evidence
Frese told jurors: He wasn t in an interview; he was in an interrogation
Bahena Rivera´s defense described him as a hard-working, family-centered immigrant from Mexico who was pressured into making a false confession
They also kept working to raise suspicion about Tibbetts´ boyfriend, Dalton Jack, who testified again Tuesday about their up-and-down relationship
Defense paints Mollie Tibbetts murder suspect Cristhian Bahena Rivera as hard-working immigrant thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Defense talks about suspect’s background in Tibbetts murder trial
Jennifer Frese
The defense has begun calling witnesses in the trial of the man accused of murdering a 20-year-old college student as she went running in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.
Defense attorney Jennifer Frese delivered opening arguments to the jury today.
“Mollie Tibbetts deserves justice. Her family deserves justice,” Frese said, “but so does Cristhian Bahena Rivera.” Frese says Rivera is a “yes” man and after what she describes as a systematic confrontation rather than an interview with her client, he confessed to the crime.