Mollie Tibbetts disappeared from her rural Iowa town of Brooklyn on July 18, 2018 after going on a run in her small community. Now "Dateline" looks at how investigators pieced together what happened to the 20-year-old that fateful night.
Judge Joel Yates’ sentence for Cristhian Bahena Rivera was mandatory for a first-degree murder conviction in Iowa, which does not have the death penalty.
Christhian Bahena Rivera's attorneys argued that new witnesses pointed to a different suspect in the murder of Mollie Tibbetts, but a judge said that the conflicting nature of the account with Bahena Rivera's own testimony at trial would have been unlikely to change the verdict.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera's attorneys contend Mollie Tibbetts' death could have been connected to a separate sex trafficking investigation and disappearance of an 11-year-old boy, noting that "something rotten" was amiss in the rural Iowa community.
Christhian Bahena Rivera's attorneys say new witnesses have come forward corroborating his story that Mollie Tibbetts was killed by someone else, but prosecutors say the facts don't add up.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera's attorneys say two witnesses have come forward that point to another suspect in the case just days before Bahena Rivera is scheduled to be sentenced for first-degree murder in Mollie Tibbetts' death.
After deliberating on Friday, a jury found Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an immigrant from Mexico, guilty of murdering 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018 while she was jogging.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera testified hat two armed men, wearing stocking caps over their faces, surprised him at his home and forced him to drive them around in his car before one got out and apparently killed Mollie Tibbetts.
A lawyer for Cristhian Bahena Rivera said in her opening statement that their hearts should break for Mollie Tibbetts, but that authorities conducted an incomplete investigation into her death.
Division of Criminal Investigation agent Trent Vileta said he wanted to speak with Cristhian Bahena Rivera after investigators linked him to a car seen on video driving near where Mollie Tibbetts disappeared.
