Tibbetts murder trial gets change of venue
AP/Hunter
3/28/19
A judge has approved a motion filed by prosecutors and defense lawyers to move the trial involving the murder of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts to a new venue.
The trial, set for September 3, is now set to be held in Sioux City. That’s in Woodbury County, about 250 miles away from Montezuma, in Poweshiek County, where the trial was originally scheduled.
24 year-old Christhian Bahena Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the abduction and killing of the 20 year old Tibbetts, of Brooklyn, Iowa. She disappeared after going out on a run in her hometown on the evening of July 18th. Investigators found her body about a month later in a cornfield.
Authorities accuse Bahena Rivera of stabbing the woman to death. He’s allegedly in the country illegally and worked at a dairy farm nearby.
A hearing to prevent Bahena Rivera’s post arrest interview from being entered into evidence is set for June. His attorneys accuse authorities of not advising Bahena Rivera of his Miranda rights to have an attorney present during questioning until well into the interview.
