Cristhian Bahena Rivera sentenced to life in prison for killing Mollie Tibbetts

POWESHIEK COUNTY, Iowa (TCD) -- Cristhian Bahena Rivera was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole over three years after killing 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts.

Bahena Rivera was convicted of first-degree murder May 28, 2021. His attorneys requested a new trial in August, but Judge Joel Yates denied the request, WHO-TV reports.

According to KCCI-TV, Yates told Bahena Rivera at his sentencing, "Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and you alone forever changed the lives of those who love Mollie Tibbetts."

The Des Moines Register reports Tibbetts’ mother Laura Calderwood wrote a victim impact statement, which was read by an Iowa attorney general office staffer. In it, Calderwood said, "Mr. Rivera, I come here today not because I feel the need to address you. However, I come here to give a voice to our daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin and friend, Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts. Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the evening of July 18th, and you chose to violently and sadistically end that life."

Calderwood wrote, "Because of your act, Dalton Jack will never get to give Mollie the engagement ring he had purchased for her. Because of your act, Mollie’s father, Rob, will never get to walk his only daughter down the aisle. Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never get to see my daughter become a mother."

Tibbetts was last seen alive on July 18, 2018, when she went on a run in her neighborhood. Bahena Rivera was arrested about a month later after taking police to her body in a cornfield.  The Iowa State Medical Examiner determined Tibbetts died from "multiple sharp force injuries."

NBC News reports Tibbetts had been stabbed in the neck, chest, and skull between seven and 12 times.

According to the Des Moines Register, Bahena Rivera's attorneys plan to appeal.

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