IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found a farm laborer guilty of murder in the abduction and killing of a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018.
The jury on Friday found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, a friendly and bright 20-year-old who was studying to become a child psychologist. Bahena Rivera, who came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico as a teenager, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdict comes after a two-week trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, in a case that inflamed public anger over illegal immigration and concerns about random violence against women.