Sentencing For Man Convicted Of Killing Mollie Tibbetts Put On Hold

The man convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts won’t be sentenced Thursday  after all. Defense attorneys for Cristhian Bahena (CRIS-chun bah-HAY-nah) Rivera have filed additional motions.
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Earlier this week, defense attorneys filed a motion after an inmate at the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility claimed a second inmate told him that he killed Mollie Tibbetts in Brooklyn, Iowa in July 2018 and planned to dump her body near a Hispanic man to make the Hispanic man appear guilty.

In an additional motion filed Tuesday night, this second inmate claims he saw Tibbetts bound and gagged at a trap house. The new defense motion also refers to 50-year-old James Manuel Lowe, who allegedly ran a trap house in New Sharon. Defense attorneys Chad and Jennifer Frese say they have learned that Lowe had dated Sarah Harrelson of Montezuma. She’s the mother of 11-year-old Xavior Harrelson, who has been missing since May 27.

The two attorneys claim that prosecutors suppressed evidence and there should be a new trial for Bahena Rivera. That motion will be heard Thursday morning in Montezuma. Judge Joel Yates has put Bahena Rivera’s sentencing on hold after the hearing on a motion for a new trial.

(Graphic Courtesy Of KCCI)