Cristhian Bahena Rivera worked at Yarrabee Farms for four years and was an employee in good standing, the farm told The Associated Press. The company told The AP it was shocked to learn Rivera had been charged in Tibbettsâ death.
Chad and Jennifer Frese, Bahena Rivera's attorneys Bahena Rivera is represented by the husband-wife team of Chad and Jennifer Frese of Marshaltown. Both Freses are former prosecutors who now do criminal defense work, among other types of law.
But in our system of justice he is entitled to that presumption of innocence.â Watch Live: Mollie Tibbetts Murder Suspect Makes First Court Appearance | NBC News Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the undocumented Immigrant charged with first-degree murder in the case of missing Iowa college student, Mollie Tibbetts makes his first court appearance.
Iris Gamboa, the mother of Bahena Riveraâs daughter, testified Tuesday that she lived with him for four years before they broke up in 2017. She said he worked 12-hour days and only got two days off every two weeks.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted of first-degree murder Friday, nearly three years after Mollie Tibbetts disappeared while jogging near her Brooklyn, Iowa, home.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a farmworker, stayed mostly unphased during the court session wearing headphones where interpreters helped in translating the decision of the jury to him. The verdict was announced nearly three years after the fateful day when the body of Mollie Tibbetts was found.
The spine-chilling first-degree murder case of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts who was killed when she was out jogging is coming to a conclusion with Cristhian Bahena Rivera, unanimously convicted by jurors on Friday, May 28. The formal sentencing of the convicted 26-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant Rivera will take place on July 15.
Defense attorneys pointed the jury toward several other possible suspects, including Tibbettsâ boyfriend, Dalton Jack. On Wednesday, Bahena Rivera took the stand in his own defense and admitted leaving Tibbettsâ body in the field, but denied killing her.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a farm worker, mostly stood idle while wearing headphones at the court session, where interpreters helped her translate the juryâs verdict. The verdict is about three years from the fateful day that Mollie Tibbettsâ body was found. According to previous reports, Rivera stated that he âfaintedâ during the incident.
Iowa student Mollie TibbettsâinĂśldĂźrĂźl first-degree murder trial, Friday, May 28, which was condemned unanimously by the jury members Cristhian ends with Bahana Rivera. convicted 26-year-old illegal Mexican immigrants Rivera, will be held on 15 July.
Defense lawyersjury to other potential suspects, including Tibbettsâ boyfriend Dalton Jack. Bahena on Wednesday Rivera took the podium in his own defense and admitted that he had abandoned Tibbettsâ body on the field, but refused to kill him.
to earn better wages. She said Bahena Rivera âis a yes manâ who did anything he was asked on the dairy farm where he worked, and cooperated when law enforcement showed up there and asked to question him.
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.
Investigators said Bahena Rivera confessed during an 11-hour interrogation to approaching Tibbetts, fighting with her after she threatened to call the police, putting her body in his trunk and hiding it in a cornfield. They say he led them to the body, which was badly decomposed and hidden underneath cornstalks.
Police say they cleared Jack as a suspect after establishing he was out of town for work when Tibbetts went missing while on a run in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18, 2018. Her disappearance triggered a search involving local, state and federal agencies and hundreds of volunteers.
The first defense witness called Tuesday was forensic consultant Michael Spence, who agreed that Tibbettsâ DNA was found on blood stains in the trunk, but said there was also unaccounted for DNA in the trunk, including at least one unknown male and female.
Bahena Rivera was also sending money back to his parents in Mexico and paying to build them a house, she said. The defense showed jurors a photograph of a smiling Bahena Rivera and Gamboa with their young daughter at a family party in 2017. âHe was happy that his daughter was happy,â Gamboa said. âIt was a good day.â.
His lawyers began calling witnesses Tuesday, questioning the confession and DNA evidence, and painting Bahena Rivera as a non-violent family man who crossed the border illegally from Mexico as a teenager in search of a better life.
After his arrest, managers at the farm said he had provided them a false name and lived in a trailer on the farm. Bahena Rivera's arrest, and undocumented status, drew national outrage, including from then-President Donald Trump, who made multiple references to the case in calling for more restrictive immigration policies.
Teachers and classmates remembered her as kind, dedicated and empathetic even at a young age. Tibbetts was described by family and friends as "everyone's counselor," with an âinfectious laugh and beautiful smile,â who also had a silly and stubborn side. She journaled and wrote poetry.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera. Prosecutors say Cristhian Bahena Rivera, now 26, is an immigrant from El Guayabillo, a town of about 400 people, in Guerrero, Mexico. Riveraâs Facebook page said he attended âPreparatoria 35,â a school in Guerrero. He, however, has many relatives in the Poweshiek County area.
He, however, has many relatives in the Poweshiek County area. He spent the four years before Tibbetts' death working as a farmhand at Yarrabee Farms in rural Poweshiek County. He gained employment there through a former girlfriend and worked on day-to-day operations with the cows. He had no prior criminal record.
Mollie Tibbetts, 20, was a University of Iowa student studying psychology who had returned to her hometown of Brooklyn the summer before her disappearance on July 18, 2018. Her body was found more than a month later, Aug. 21, in a cornfield after a massive search effort. She had been stabbed to death, investigators said.
He has served on the bench since 2007 and is a 1994 graduate of the Drake University School of Law. Iowa district judges serve six-year terms and must be retained by voters after each term. Nearly all judges are retained, including Yates, who was retained in 2010 and 2016.
Chad and Jennifer Frese, Bahena Rivera's attorneys. Bahena Rivera is represented by the husband-wife team of Chad and Jennifer Frese of Marshaltown. Both Freses are former prosecutors who now do criminal defense work, among other types of law.
Local 5 can verify: Bahena Rivera is being defended by Chad and Jennifer Frese, a private legal team based in Marshalltown.
So Local 5 can verify: I fBahena Rivera wants a speedy trial, it's within his rights under the Constitution. However, he's also allowed to waive that right and have a trial at a later date. Below is a June 2019 court document Bahena Rivera signed, waiving his right to a speedy trial. scribd.