The murder trial in the 2018 death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts began Wednesday.
Prosecutors delivered their opening statements to argue Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 26-year-old Mexican national, followed Tibbetts while she was on a run in Brooklyn, Iowa, stabbed her to death, and abandoned her body in a cornfield.
There could be no evidential conclusion other than Rivera killed Tibbetts, said Poweshiek County Attorney Bart Klaver.
TRIAL FOR ACCUSED KILLER OF MOLLIE TIBBETTS DELAYED BY IOWA SUPREME COURT
Tibbetts was reported missing in July 2018, and her body was found the following month. The trial start comes after delays over pretrial evidence disputes and the coronavirus pandemic.
According to investigators, home surveillance video from the night of July 18, 2018, shows the silhouette of an individual running and a black Chevy Malibu with features such as nonstandard rims and chrome door handles.
Rivera allegedly admitted in an interview with a Spanish-speaking officer that he was the only person who drove the vehicle, the prosecutor said.
Rivera initially denied knowing about Tibbetts but then admitted seeing her on the night of her disappearance, Klaver said. He added the defendant said he found her attractive and circled back to have another look at her.
“He admits taking Mollie’s body out of the trunk. He admits seeing blood on Mollie’s body and neck,” Klaver said, according to Radio Iowa. “He admits putting Mollie over his shoulder. He admitted taking Mollie into the field, placing her face up and putting corn stalks on her body, and then leaving.”
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“Ladies and gentlemen, when you examine this evidence together, there can be no other conclusion than that the defendant killed Mollie Tibbetts,” Klaver continued. “I’ll ask you to return a verdict, the only verdict that the evidence demands, that you find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”
Rivera, who officials said came to the United States illegally and worked at a dairy farm, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge against him.
