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.
A jury found a farm laborer guilty of murder Friday in the abduction and killing of a University of Iowa student who vanished while out for a run in 2018.
The verdict came after a two-week trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, in a case that fueled Investigators say they broke the case open nearly a month later after obtaining surveillance video from a homeowner that shows, for a split second, a shadowy figure that appears to be Tibbetts running in the distance. The video shows a black Chevy Malibu with chrome mirrors and door handles driving past 20 seconds later, and back and forth several times in the next 20 minutes.
Prosecutor Scott Brown said in a closing argument that Bahena Rivera killed Tibbetts out of anger after she rebuked him. He said Bahena Rivera also had a sexual motive, noting that Tibbetts was found partially naked with her legs spread when her body was found.