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Defense to take over in Tibbetts murder trial
Cristhian Rivera (Court TV screen capture)
The defense will begin presenting its arguments in the Mollie Tibbetts murder trial today after the prosecution rested Monday on the fourth day of the trial.
Cristhian Rivera is accused of confronting Tibbetts as she ran in her hometown of Brooklyn, then killing her and dumping her body in a cornfield in July of 2018.
In a common procedural move, defense attorney, Jennifer Frese asked the judge to throw out the case. She said there was little evidence to link Rivera to the crime beyond a forced confession.
By Jason Taylor
May 25, 2021
DAVENPORT, Iowa - The defense calls its first witness in the Cristhian Rivera murder trial Tuesday morning.
The prosecution spent Monday making the case that Rivera is the only one to have any sort of connection in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, killed while she was jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa in 2018.
Lead investigator, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Trent Vileta, said security footage from a home in Brooklyn on July 18, 2018, helped lead investigators to Rivera.
“The footage on Logan Collins cameras broke open the case for us, it was the lead that we needed,” Vileta said.
Editor s note: The video above contains footage that some may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
The search for Mollie Tibbetts drew national interest.
Young, bright and described as “everyone’s counselor,” Tibbetts, 20, was a college student from rural Iowa whose missing person case involved hundreds of community members in her search and drew national media to Brooklyn, Iowa, about an hour outside Des Moines.
Tibbetts had disappeared while out on a run on July 18, 2018. The monthlong search to find her ended on Aug. 21, when a Mexican native, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, was charged with first-degree murder. Rivera, then 24, was in the U.S. working illegally on a dairy farm at the time of her death.
KILLER CUFFED
Murder suspect Tyler Terry accused of ‘killing 4’ in ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ rampage with girlfriend in 2 states is arrested
Updated: 24 May 2021, 20:13
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A MURDER suspect who allegedly killed four people in a Bonnie and Clyde rampage with his girlfriend in two states has been arrested.
Tyler Terry, 26, was cuffed around 10.30am on Monday after a week-long manhunt involving more than 300 officers in Chester County, South Carolina.
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Terry was on the run for daysCredit: Chester County Sheriff s Office
Investigators have linked him to a May 2 killing in South Carolina, two killings outside of St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday and two additional shootings in recent weeks.
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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 cor