Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Co-ed's body hidden in cornfield: Mollie Tibbetts trial starts now!

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Co-ed's body hidden in cornfield: Mollie Tibbetts trial starts now! · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:06
Speaker 1: A twenty year old girl goes jogging and she's never
0:10
Speaker 1: seen alive again. Jury selection commences in the case of
0:15
Speaker 1: Molly Tibbitts. This is how it started. This is not
0:26
Speaker 1: like her. Dalton Jack is living in a nightmare. I figured,
0:30
Speaker 1: you know, i'd speak to her in an hour or so,
0:33
Speaker 1: and right now it's one he can't wake up from.
0:36
Speaker 1: I came home as soon as her mom said that
0:38
Speaker 1: she called the hospital when she wasn't there. The last
0:40
Speaker 1: time the twenty year old saw Molly was on Wednesday
0:42
Speaker 1: at ten pm when he opened a snapchat from her.
0:45
Speaker 1: It was just a selfie with the caption and I
0:47
Speaker 1: don't remember what the caption said, but it looked like
0:49
Speaker 1: she was inside. He never thought he wouldn't hear from
0:52
Speaker 1: her again. When he said her early Thursday morning, he
0:54
Speaker 1: didn't notice the message hadn't been read until her friend
0:57
Speaker 1: called Late that afternoon. One of her co workers called
1:00
Speaker 1: me and said Molly had not called in to work
1:03
Speaker 1: that day and she hadn't showed up. And then I
1:05
Speaker 1: looked at the messages and she hadn't opened or read
1:08
Speaker 1: any of them. So I started getting in contact with
1:11
Speaker 1: her friends and her family, saying hey, have you seen her?
1:13
Speaker 1: Have you heard from her? And everybody came up with
1:16
Speaker 1: the same thing. No, I haven't seen her since yesterday.
1:20
Speaker 1: That very scenario throws suspicion immediately on the long time
1:24
Speaker 1: boyfriend at who's home Molly was staying. You were hearing
1:29
Speaker 1: from our friends Angelina Salcito w o I t V
1:32
Speaker 1: five there in Des Moines. The search was on from
1:35
Speaker 1: Molly Tibbits. You know they're listening. Then I would just
1:39
Speaker 1: like them to know that imagine this was you. Everybody
1:42
Speaker 1: has a Molly in their life, a person that has
1:44
Speaker 1: affected her them in a way that she affected everybody
1:48
Speaker 1: standing up here right now, and imagine if this was you.
1:51
Speaker 1: Somebody had taken your Molly when you want to help,
1:56
Speaker 1: when you want her back, how would you feel. Just
1:58
Speaker 1: do the right thing and you know, let her go.
2:01
Speaker 1: Pretty much, you were hearing Dalton Jack, that's Molly's boyfriend
2:06
Speaker 1: at whose place she was staying, and went through everything
2:10
Speaker 1: into a quandary. Was she released video and in the
2:16
Speaker 1: background you could see his place. It looked as if
2:19
Speaker 1: she was doing her homework there in his place where
2:23
Speaker 1: she was staying and taking care of the dogs. That
2:25
Speaker 1: get suspicion on the boyfriend, but yet you hear him
2:28
Speaker 1: speaking out. That's very rare for a suspect to speak out.
2:34
Speaker 1: Remember Scott Peterson, he shied away from the cameras in
2:38
Speaker 1: the microphones when Lacy Peterson goes missing, but not Dalton
2:41
Speaker 1: Jack New Listen to crime stoppers, Greg Wially, what we're
2:44
Speaker 1: trying to do is shake the tree. We want somebody
2:47
Speaker 1: to come forward, even if they're even if it's not real.
2:50
Speaker 1: At least it started a conversation with somebody. Somebody might
2:55
Speaker 1: know that there she's being held by somebody, but would
2:58
Speaker 1: never say anything because if they've said something, they may
3:01
Speaker 1: think that reciprocity or their life might be in danger.
3:04
Speaker 1: We can guarantee that whoever gives us information up their
3:09
Speaker 1: identity will be predicted. When they put in the tip,
3:11
Speaker 1: they get a random number that matches that tip. So
3:14
Speaker 1: if you're one, two, three, four five, they'd have to
3:16
Speaker 1: contact us back and say, hey, I saw in the media. Well,
3:19
Speaker 1: in this case, if they got them, if they've got
3:22
Speaker 1: Molly Collin and say hey, I see there's a reward,
3:25
Speaker 1: I want to let her go, and then then that
3:27
Speaker 1: negotiation will be done with the law enforcement. A reward
3:31
Speaker 1: a reward issued leading to the discovery of Molly Tibbets.
3:35
Speaker 1: Her father weighs in. Here's Sagra Smith at Fox News, Robin,
3:40
Speaker 1: was the last time you talk to Molly? I talked
3:43
Speaker 1: to Molly Sunday for about three hours. We talked regularly
3:46
Speaker 1: on the phone. I live in California. She was out
3:50
Speaker 1: earlier this year from my wedding, and so we just
3:53
Speaker 1: talked about She's going to the Dominican Republic for a wedding,
3:58
Speaker 1: her boyfriend's brother, She's getting back to school. As you
4:04
Speaker 1: can hear Molly's father speaking, that's Rob Tibbots. I see
4:08
Speaker 1: that so often with victims families. Everything is so normal,
4:13
Speaker 1: so in place, and then it's hard to face the
4:17
Speaker 1: reality that things are not normal, not normal at all.
4:21
Speaker 1: That was her dad. Listen to her mom speaking to
4:23
Speaker 1: kse Cci. It is just, you know, an emotional roller coaster.
4:30
Speaker 1: It's a nightmare. She's unable to wake up from. Laura
4:33
Speaker 1: Calderwood can't look anywhere in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa
4:37
Speaker 1: without seeing her daughter, Molly's face on a missing person poster.
4:42
Speaker 1: It's a reality check every time I see one of
4:45
Speaker 1: those posters. Also, you know, it's like she's gone. Twenty
4:51
Speaker 1: year old Molly Tibbots vanished nearly two weeks ago. Her
4:54
Speaker 1: mom immediately knew something bad must have happened. They knew
4:58
Speaker 1: something was terribly wrong. She would not go to work.
5:01
Speaker 1: My greatest fear is that we wouldn't find her. But
5:09
Speaker 1: I can't go there right now. Calderwood says Molly was
5:12
Speaker 1: seen out on a jog around seven thirty pm on
5:15
Speaker 1: July eighteenth. To the best of my knowledge, I believe
5:20
Speaker 1: she did make it home from the run and was
5:25
Speaker 1: in Dalton's home. The family says evidence shows Tibbots was
5:29
Speaker 1: doing homework on her computer after her John that night,
5:34
Speaker 1: or was she As the mom and the dad try
5:37
Speaker 1: to face the new normal their daughter missing, the search
5:40
Speaker 1: ensue ensues. Here's ABC's Alex Perez. The search for missing
5:46
Speaker 1: Molly Tibbots has come to a tragic end today. A
5:50
Speaker 1: body was discovered early this morning in a farm field
5:53
Speaker 1: southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa. We believe it to be the
5:57
Speaker 1: body of Molly Tibbots. She was found in a field
6:00
Speaker 1: and there were cornstocks placed over the top of her,
6:03
Speaker 1: and tonight a suspect in custody. Twenty four year old
6:07
Speaker 1: Christian Rivera. Police a Rivera led them to her body
6:10
Speaker 1: this morning and confessed to her murder. The case will
6:13
Speaker 1: be prosecuted by the Iowa Attorney General's Area of Prosecution Division,
6:18
Speaker 1: and first degree murder carries a penalty of life without
6:21
Speaker 1: the possibility of parole. According to authorities, Rivera encountered Molly
6:26
Speaker 1: tibbots near the intersection of Boundary and Middle Streets in
6:29
Speaker 1: eastern Brooklyn while she was out Johnkie. He actually tells
6:32
Speaker 1: us that he ran alongside of her or behind her,
6:36
Speaker 1: and then at one point he tells us that Molly
6:39
Speaker 1: grabbed a hold of her phone and said, you need
6:41
Speaker 1: to leave me alone. I'm going to call the police,
6:44
Speaker 1: and then she took off running. He in turn chased
6:47
Speaker 1: her down with me an all star panel. At this hour,
6:52
Speaker 1: jury's selection of Vadier is underway in the trial of
6:57
Speaker 1: Christian Bahina Rivera, aged twenty six age twenty four at
7:01
Speaker 1: the time, in the murder of this young girl, twenty
7:05
Speaker 1: year old Iowa college student Molly tibbitts with me. Francy Haykes,
7:10
Speaker 1: you know her well, former federal prosecutor, podcasts Best Best Case,
7:14
Speaker 1: Worst Case, senior producer, Fox's America's most Wanted doctor Angela Arnold,
7:21
Speaker 1: renowned psychiatrists, joining us from the Atlanta jurisdiction, Professor forensics,
7:27
Speaker 1: author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star
7:30
Speaker 1: of a new series, The Piketon Massacre returned to Pike
7:33
Speaker 1: County on iHeartRadio, Joseph Scott Morgan for First to Emmy
7:38
Speaker 1: Award nominated reporter anchor an Jeanette Levy joining us in Davenport,
7:45
Speaker 1: Iowa for the trial. Anjeanette Levy, what's happening well, Nancy.
7:49
Speaker 1: All of the jurors showed up, the prospective jurors this morning.
7:52
Speaker 1: They are being held in a it's basically a huge
7:56
Speaker 1: convention center area, a huge room that's been transformed almost
8:00
Speaker 1: into a courtroom for jury selection because of COVID. Their
8:04
Speaker 1: distanced their seats, they're six six feet apart. They're about
8:07
Speaker 1: two hundred people in there right now and there. It's
8:11
Speaker 1: a slow start so far. They're just getting started with
8:13
Speaker 1: printing off things for the jurors. The questioning will begin momentarily.
8:18
Speaker 1: Christian Bahana Rivera is in there with his attorneys, as
8:22
Speaker 1: are the prosecutors in the case. So jury selest year
8:25
Speaker 1: and is expectant take to take about two days climb
8:35
Speaker 1: stories with Nancy Grace. Let me understand something, Anjanette, leave
8:41
Speaker 1: you with us, I mean nominated reporter and anchor. The location,
8:47
Speaker 1: the venue of this trial has been moved from the
8:50
Speaker 1: original location where the murder occurred to I believe, and
8:55
Speaker 1: that would be Woodland County to Sue City and now
9:00
Speaker 1: finally Davenport, which is Scott County. Is that correct? That's correct.
9:04
Speaker 1: It's Scott County, Davenport, Iowa. It's about it an hour
9:06
Speaker 1: and forty minutes from where this happened. And why the
9:10
Speaker 1: three changes a venue, Anjanette, Well, they've been really concerned
9:15
Speaker 1: about the amount of pre trial publicity in this case.
9:18
Speaker 1: This made international news and really in twenty eighteen when
9:22
Speaker 1: it happened, the governor spoke out again about it because
9:26
Speaker 1: the Hana Rivera is an undocumented immigrant. The President of
9:30
Speaker 1: the United States with that time, President Trump, he spoke
9:32
Speaker 1: about this on the campaign trail and in rallies that
9:35
Speaker 1: he would hold. Really people were using this to try
9:39
Speaker 1: to say we need tougher immigration laws. But Molly Timbotz's
9:43
Speaker 1: parents have said that her she wouldn't want that. She
9:47
Speaker 1: was not against immigration or people trying to come to
9:51
Speaker 1: this country to improve their lives, so they don't want
9:53
Speaker 1: her dath to politicize. So there's been a tremendous amount
9:56
Speaker 1: of publicity surrounding this case. Francy changing v is nothing new.
10:01
Speaker 1: It happens all the time, and I haven't no doubt
10:05
Speaker 1: there will be a jury impaneled that says they can
10:08
Speaker 1: be fair and impartial. First of all, not everybody cares
10:13
Speaker 1: what the media says alert And second it's been done
10:17
Speaker 1: before and much more highly publicized cases. Well, you're right
10:21
Speaker 1: about that, Nancy. And the reason for a change of venue,
10:24
Speaker 1: of course, is because the judge wants to ensure that
10:26
Speaker 1: he gets that fair and impartial jury. And here, as
10:30
Speaker 1: I'm sure you'll agree with me, as in every case
10:32
Speaker 1: the case is one or lost in jury selection, who
10:36
Speaker 1: you put on the jury, who is going on who's
10:38
Speaker 1: going to vote on guilt or innocence is where the
10:42
Speaker 1: case is one or lost. It's so important to get
10:45
Speaker 1: jurors who can be fair and impartial, but most importantly,
10:49
Speaker 1: can be discerning. Jurors can actually separate the wheat from
10:54
Speaker 1: the chaff and ignore the crazy, you know, balls in
10:58
Speaker 1: the air, distractions of the defect, this attorney is going
11:00
Speaker 1: to throw and focus on the actual evidence of the case.
11:03
Speaker 1: And so I hope that's what happened. The defense attorney
11:06
Speaker 1: has a lot of mud to sling in this and
11:08
Speaker 1: let me tell you, we've already had statements thrown out
11:10
Speaker 1: because a translator recited Miranda. Guys who were talking about
11:16
Speaker 1: the trial jury selection happening right now in an Iowa
11:20
Speaker 1: court room in the case of a young jogger, absolutely
11:23
Speaker 1: stunning Molly Tibbitts last known to be at her longtime
11:28
Speaker 1: boyfriend's home. She was taking care of the home while
11:30
Speaker 1: he was away taking care of the dogs, and she
11:34
Speaker 1: showed up in a video a FaceTime or snapchat and
11:38
Speaker 1: you can clearly see the background. Then she goes on
11:43
Speaker 1: a jog. That timeline confusion led to a lot of
11:47
Speaker 1: problems and a very bumpy road in the investigation. But
11:51
Speaker 1: what we're hearing now is that even with two changes
11:55
Speaker 1: the venue, still there's going to be difficulty striking and
11:59
Speaker 1: in martial jury. That jury selection is going on right now.
12:04
Speaker 1: A Jeanette, let me ask you this, is there going
12:07
Speaker 1: to be sequestration for the jury. No, Nancy, there will
12:12
Speaker 1: not be a sequestration of the jury. Well, let's have
12:16
Speaker 1: they keep it that way, guys. The trial is commencing.
12:19
Speaker 1: What will the jury here, We'll take a listen to
12:21
Speaker 1: Alex Perez at ABC. According to authorities, Rivera then panicked
12:26
Speaker 1: and got mat He tells us that at some point
12:29
Speaker 1: in time he blacks out, and then he comes to
12:33
Speaker 1: near an intersection. Rivera toldfully he then drove to a
12:36
Speaker 1: cornfield and Guernsey, where he dragged tibots on foot for
12:40
Speaker 1: twenty meters and left her face up and covered in
12:43
Speaker 1: corn leaves. No one has said this was a sexually
12:47
Speaker 1: driven crime, but it certainly fits the pattern of dozens
12:52
Speaker 1: and dozens of sexual predator attack type crimes. Authorities saying
12:57
Speaker 1: autopsy is being done and have not yet released a
13:00
Speaker 1: cause of death. Rivera has been charged with first degree murder,
13:04
Speaker 1: and of course, in this jurisdiction there is no death penalty.
13:08
Speaker 1: The death penalty was abolished for the second time in
13:12
Speaker 1: Iowa around nineteen sixty five. Therefore, you can kill as
13:16
Speaker 1: many people as you want to in that jurisdiction, even
13:19
Speaker 1: when you're behind bars, and you will not get the
13:22
Speaker 1: death penalty, you know. Joe Scott Morgan Professor Forensics, Jacksonville
13:25
Speaker 1: State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon,
13:29
Speaker 1: death investigator Joe Scott. The scenario I understand is that
13:36
Speaker 1: Rivera and I'm going to circle back to you, Joe
13:40
Speaker 1: Scott about forensics regarding his very distinctive black Chevy Malibu
13:46
Speaker 1: with quote unusual markings on the side which really led
13:50
Speaker 1: to his arrest. But tell me if this is your understanding,
13:54
Speaker 1: and I want you to connect it to what we
13:56
Speaker 1: know about in the autopsy. The perpetrator illegal immigrant or
14:01
Speaker 1: as Anginette Levy says, unlicensed worker Christian Bahina. Rivera is
14:07
Speaker 1: driving along and his black Chevy Malibu. He sees Molly
14:12
Speaker 1: Tibbets minding her own business jogging. She is wearing fluorescent
14:17
Speaker 1: tennis shoes, a pink jogging bra, and running shorts. I
14:22
Speaker 1: believe she had earbuds in her ear and she's jogging
14:26
Speaker 1: after finishing a ton of work for school. It's in
14:30
Speaker 1: the early evening, still quasi daylight. He speaks to her,
14:36
Speaker 1: she continues to run. He gets out of his vehicle
14:40
Speaker 1: starts jogging along beside her, then tries to grab her.
14:46
Speaker 1: I guess iPhone or a device she had in her hand.
14:50
Speaker 1: She then says, get away from me, leave me alone,
14:53
Speaker 1: or I'll call nine one. That infuriates him. Then he
14:59
Speaker 1: says he quote blacks out, and the next thing he
15:03
Speaker 1: remembers is that he looks down, sees her earpiece in
15:06
Speaker 1: his lap or hand, and suddenly realizes, oh, her body
15:11
Speaker 1: is in the trunk. Then hides the body, drags the
15:15
Speaker 1: body and hides it and curbs it with cornstalks. Is
15:19
Speaker 1: that your understanding of the facts, Yes, it is, Nancy,
15:22
Speaker 1: That is my understanding of the facts. Okay, how I'm
15:25
Speaker 1: going to prove that forensically? Well, I think that probably
15:28
Speaker 1: one of the key things here is you mentioned her phone. Um,
15:32
Speaker 1: you know he's he's talking about this like he's given
15:36
Speaker 1: them the roadmap here. Nancy's saying that, you know, she
15:40
Speaker 1: held out jo Joscott Morgan, Look, yeah, I know that
15:46
Speaker 1: you are a renowned death investigator. But there's a little
15:49
Speaker 1: thing called miranda Miranda rights. Come on, you see him
15:54
Speaker 1: on TV. You have the right to remain silent and
15:57
Speaker 1: anything you say will be held against you in a
15:58
Speaker 1: court of law. Here's a problem. None of that's coming
16:01
Speaker 1: in because he spoke to police for hours, hours and
16:06
Speaker 1: the translator omitted, whether honest mistake or not, the one phrase.
16:12
Speaker 1: Anything you say will be held against you in a
16:14
Speaker 1: court of law. She left that phrase out. She says
16:18
Speaker 1: she recited it from memory and didn't read her card
16:22
Speaker 1: that you're supposed to read it off of Hello police
16:26
Speaker 1: training one oh one. So none of that's going to
16:29
Speaker 1: come in. Yeah, it's not going to come in. But
16:31
Speaker 1: what we do know. What we do know is that
16:33
Speaker 1: there can be electronic tracking and specifically where she was
16:38
Speaker 1: with that phone. Now, if that happens to marry up
16:40
Speaker 1: with a comment that he made, God bless him, so
16:43
Speaker 1: be it. But we can put her in that position
16:46
Speaker 1: where she disappeared or vanished from that moment in tom
16:49
Speaker 1: and then she was taken off and God only knows
16:52
Speaker 1: what he did with her after that. So yeah, he
16:56
Speaker 1: was not mirandaised appropriately. Okay, but you still have this
17:01
Speaker 1: electronic fingerprint that we all carry now and it follows
17:05
Speaker 1: us everywhere we go. And that's solid evidence. Nanthw Hey,
17:08
Speaker 1: there's something else. I don't believe her fitbit or the
17:14
Speaker 1: murder weapon were ever found, And anybody jump in if
17:19
Speaker 1: you know more, if there's been a development in the evidence,
17:21
Speaker 1: I want to hear it. I find that very significant
17:25
Speaker 1: because in my mind, action is taken immediately after the
17:29
Speaker 1: deed under the law come in as evidence. They go
17:34
Speaker 1: to scheme, frame of mind, of course of conduct, knowledge
17:38
Speaker 1: of guilt. Okay, and I think I know who it
17:40
Speaker 1: was the defendant, which is indication of guilt. Jump in,
17:44
Speaker 1: is that, Francy? Yeah, Francy hikes here. You know, I
17:47
Speaker 1: think it's really interesting and significant that we're not going
17:51
Speaker 1: to be able to use or the jury is not
17:53
Speaker 1: going to be able to hear the defendant effective confession.
17:56
Speaker 1: But really the police have something almost as good, and
18:00
Speaker 1: that is that he led them to the body. We
18:03
Speaker 1: not only have the French evidence on video seeing his truck,
18:07
Speaker 1: but we have him leading police to his body. And
18:09
Speaker 1: that's not suppressed. That is not suppressed, Francy. And another
18:14
Speaker 1: thing you're right as usual, Francy, is that when he
18:19
Speaker 1: led them to the body, which I mean, let me
18:21
Speaker 1: break it down. If you're leading police to and as
18:25
Speaker 1: of yet undiscovered body, how did you know where the
18:29
Speaker 1: body was? It clearly shows that he's the killer. But
18:33
Speaker 1: at that time he was remorandized correctly, and he continued talking.
18:40
Speaker 1: Those statements will come in crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
18:54
Speaker 1: Listen to the aspect you Jesscott Morgan, you're talking about
18:57
Speaker 1: technology proving this case. Listen to this, Joe Scott. So
19:03
Speaker 1: her phone, I think she was listening to music with
19:06
Speaker 1: and their iPods don't run with earphones earbuds. Please don't
19:11
Speaker 1: as tempting as it is. I have to tell my
19:13
Speaker 1: daughter this all the time. It shows on the phone movements,
19:19
Speaker 1: Joe Scott, I'm gonna let you explain this that she
19:23
Speaker 1: apparently running along this rural road where there's no crime ever,
19:28
Speaker 1: and then suddenly she's speeding away as if she's in
19:32
Speaker 1: a car. That's what her cell phone shows. Joe Scott explain. Yeah,
19:38
Speaker 1: you know, I've got a fitness tracker on my phone
19:41
Speaker 1: as well, Nancy, and it actually records pace. It will
19:44
Speaker 1: demonstrate electronically. It gives a record of how fast you're
19:50
Speaker 1: moving at a particular time. It'll even show changes in elevation, Nancy,
19:54
Speaker 1: did you know that it'll change It'll show you directions,
19:57
Speaker 1: changes in elevation. It'll show you temperature, which is absolutely
20:01
Speaker 1: fascinating me. When I get back from a run, I'll
20:03
Speaker 1: check this sort of thing. So the amount of information
20:06
Speaker 1: that is detailed and contained, are in and held that
20:10
Speaker 1: you can go back in resource. I can look at
20:12
Speaker 1: my phone, go back months and months and months and
20:15
Speaker 1: look at my progress. Shame with this, okay. So if
20:18
Speaker 1: you're telling you go back months and months to look
20:21
Speaker 1: at your elevation, I'm gonna cook you up. With doctor
20:24
Speaker 1: Angela Arnold when we finished today, we are talking about
20:28
Speaker 1: the disappearance and the murder of just a beautiful young
20:31
Speaker 1: girl on the inside and out, twenty year old Molly Tibbots,
20:35
Speaker 1: a student there at Iowa State University. I want you
20:39
Speaker 1: to take a listen to our friends at ABC seven.
20:43
Speaker 1: Christian Rivera used false identification to get hired, his employer
20:47
Speaker 1: said today. The murder suspect worked at a well known
20:50
Speaker 1: Iowa dairy farm for four years. The owners, calling him
20:54
Speaker 1: a good worker, also say they were stunned to hear
20:57
Speaker 1: he allegedly led police to Molly Tibbot's body in a
21:00
Speaker 1: cornfield a quote good worker. He may have been a
21:03
Speaker 1: good worker, but what he did on his own time
21:08
Speaker 1: is coming into play in this court of law. The
21:11
Speaker 1: trial underway with jury selection. I agree with former prosecutor
21:16
Speaker 1: Francy Hikes, who says the case is one or lost.
21:20
Speaker 1: Once you strike a jury, once you put the twelve
21:22
Speaker 1: in the box, Frankly, it's over. You've got to know
21:26
Speaker 1: how to strike a jury. Now, listen to our friend
21:29
Speaker 1: Rob Elgis at ABC seven. Mister Rivera, did you kill
21:33
Speaker 1: Molly Tabbeth? Shackled and guarded, Christian Rivera arrives at a
21:36
Speaker 1: court hearing, escorted by deputies, The twenty four year old
21:39
Speaker 1: facing a judge, mister Rivera, you have been charged with
21:43
Speaker 1: murder in the first degree, A translator at his side,
21:46
Speaker 1: and his girlfriend and family in the courtroom. Authorities say
21:49
Speaker 1: Rivera confess to abducting and killing Molly Tibbots while she
21:52
Speaker 1: was out for a jog. Detectives use surveillance video to
21:56
Speaker 1: hunt down Rivera, trained by frame and in real time emotion,
22:00
Speaker 1: and eventually saw Molly on the video led us to
22:04
Speaker 1: mister Rivera identifying the vehicle. According to investigators, Rivera was
22:08
Speaker 1: here illegally. The owner of the farm where he worked
22:11
Speaker 1: says Rivera lied. What we learned in the last twenty
22:15
Speaker 1: four hours is that our employee was not who he
22:19
Speaker 1: said he was. The farm now says when they hired Rivera,
22:23
Speaker 1: they screened him through an older system instead of Homeland
22:26
Speaker 1: Securities e Verify. Rivera is being held on a five
22:29
Speaker 1: million dollar bond. Tonight, the Tibbets family released a statement
22:32
Speaker 1: saying their hearts are broken. They thanked everyone for their support.
22:36
Speaker 1: Autopsy results might take four to eight weeks, but some
22:39
Speaker 1: results could come as soon as this week. Joining us
22:43
Speaker 1: at the courthouse is Anjeanette Levy, Emmy nominated reporter and anchor.
22:46
Speaker 1: But to you, doctor Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrists, joining us
22:50
Speaker 1: out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Doctor Angie, you hear what
22:53
Speaker 1: the defense is going to be. Now, If the defense
22:55
Speaker 1: lawyers had a choice in this, they may have chosen
22:59
Speaker 1: another their defense, but they're stuck with this. They're locked
23:03
Speaker 1: into it. The blacking out defense because the defendant stated
23:09
Speaker 1: that at the time of arrest and after his Miranda warning,
23:13
Speaker 1: that he blacked out after he approached her on foot
23:18
Speaker 1: getting out of his Chevy Malibu yanking the phone out
23:21
Speaker 1: of her hand. The next thing he remembers is looking,
23:25
Speaker 1: according to him, is looking down and seeing her earbuds
23:29
Speaker 1: in his hand or lap in the car and suddenly realizing, oh,
23:33
Speaker 1: I put her in the trunk. What is that out?
23:38
Speaker 1: I don't buy it, Nancy, I don't buy it. I
23:42
Speaker 1: also don't know how he was able to come up
23:44
Speaker 1: with us number three. I don't know how they're ever
23:48
Speaker 1: going to prove that was he wearing a fitbit that
23:53
Speaker 1: showed him pass out. There is no way that they
23:58
Speaker 1: are ever going to be able to prove that the
24:00
Speaker 1: Sky had some sort of passing out while he killed
24:03
Speaker 1: her and conveniently woke up to find her body in
24:07
Speaker 1: the trunk of his car. And I'm just sorry, I
24:11
Speaker 1: don't buy that at all. I am a little bit
24:14
Speaker 1: interested to know how he had the wherewithal to come
24:17
Speaker 1: up with that. Has he used that before? Has he
24:20
Speaker 1: ever done anything like this to anyone before? Does he
24:24
Speaker 1: have a history of mental illness? Does he have a
24:26
Speaker 1: seizure disorder? Does he have a seizure disorder that he's
24:29
Speaker 1: being treated for that makes him blackout? But there was
24:34
Speaker 1: too much planning on his part beforehand, and was he
24:38
Speaker 1: on drugs? So there are a lot of questions that
24:41
Speaker 1: need to be answered here before we can believe if
24:44
Speaker 1: this man blacked out while he conveniently killed this beautiful
24:49
Speaker 1: young woman. We are live at the courthouse with Anginette Levy,
24:53
Speaker 1: Emmy nominated reporter and anchor as sequestration excuse me, a
24:57
Speaker 1: jury selection voidier begins incidentally French to speak the truth?
25:03
Speaker 1: Where are questioned? Typically at first they'll be questioned as
25:08
Speaker 1: a group, for instance, do all of you live in
25:11
Speaker 1: this county Scott County, Davenport. If they're not registered to
25:16
Speaker 1: that county, they can't sit on that jury. They may
25:18
Speaker 1: be asked as a group, or have any of you
25:21
Speaker 1: or someone you know ever been convicted of a crime
25:24
Speaker 1: or accused even wrongly accused of a crime? General group
25:27
Speaker 1: questions and then if someone raises their hand, those people
25:31
Speaker 1: will be questioned individually. But yes, Francy Haig's former federal
25:37
Speaker 1: prosecutor and podcast star A best case, a worst case, Francy.
25:44
Speaker 1: When you're striking a jury, you can get people on
25:47
Speaker 1: a jury that have heard about the case, but no
25:50
Speaker 1: one is allowed that has formed an opinion or thinks
25:54
Speaker 1: they cannot be fair or impartial. That's how you you
25:58
Speaker 1: strike a jury. That's right, nanswer, And you know it's funny.
26:01
Speaker 1: It's called jury selection, of course, but I always called
26:03
Speaker 1: it jury selection because you remember, go ahead, oh well
26:10
Speaker 1: that too. But all you can really do is strike
26:13
Speaker 1: the jurors. I also call it this is a real
26:15
Speaker 1: dirty little secret. I also used to call it weed
26:18
Speaker 1: the whackos, because all you could really do is get
26:21
Speaker 1: rid of the people who seem too eager or too
26:24
Speaker 1: biased one way or the other, and you're sort of
26:26
Speaker 1: stuck with the people in the middle. And can I
26:28
Speaker 1: just say one quick thing about what the doctor said, Nancy.
26:30
Speaker 1: It's such a great point because she brings up, how
26:33
Speaker 1: are they going to get in the evidence that the
26:36
Speaker 1: defendant claims he blacked out? And I can virtually guarantee
26:39
Speaker 1: you that defendant is never going to take the stand
26:42
Speaker 1: in this no way. So how is the defense going
26:45
Speaker 1: to present any defense at all? And I think the
26:48
Speaker 1: doctor's right, it's got to be medical evidence if they
26:50
Speaker 1: have any, which I highly doubt, although you and I
26:53
Speaker 1: both know that they'll be able to find someone that
26:56
Speaker 1: they can pay. You're to say just about anything as
26:59
Speaker 1: long as you pay them. You're absolutely right. But another thing,
27:02
Speaker 1: that first part of his confession is disallowed, but what
27:06
Speaker 1: he said as he was leading police to Molly's body,
27:10
Speaker 1: and what he said upon a second miranda statement will
27:15
Speaker 1: be allowed. In so I think him stating he blacked
27:20
Speaker 1: out will come into evidence, but you're right, without him
27:23
Speaker 1: testifying to it, it will not carry the same weight.
27:27
Speaker 1: And again, this jury will be instructed during for adire
27:30
Speaker 1: jury selection, throughout the trial, and before the close of
27:34
Speaker 1: the trial that they are not to hold it against
27:36
Speaker 1: the defendant that he did not testify. And I used
27:39
Speaker 1: to love it when the judge would have to say
27:41
Speaker 1: that over and over and over under the law, because
27:43
Speaker 1: it only highlighted the defendant can't take the stand because
27:48
Speaker 1: they're lying, they can't hold up on cross examination. You're
27:53
Speaker 1: going to hear over and over that under the Fifth Amendment.
27:57
Speaker 1: You have a right to remain silent, and you may
28:00
Speaker 1: quote take the Fifth You're not going to testify and
28:04
Speaker 1: you have the right to do that under the constitution.
28:14
Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace right now, jury's selection before
28:20
Speaker 1: we put the cart before the horse is going on
28:22
Speaker 1: right now in an Iowa courtroom in an area where crime,
28:26
Speaker 1: much less murder, is unheard of. Guys, take a listen
28:30
Speaker 1: to this. According to a preliminary autopsy report, Molly Tibbots
28:34
Speaker 1: died from multiple sharp force injuries, indicating that she was
28:38
Speaker 1: stabbed to death. Mister Rivera, did you feel Molly' tibbits
28:41
Speaker 1: ordering the suspect of twenty four year old Christian Rivera
28:44
Speaker 1: held on a five million dollar cash bond. Mister Rivera,
28:47
Speaker 1: you have been charged with murder in the first degree.
28:50
Speaker 1: Investigators say Rivera followed Tibbots when she was out for
28:52
Speaker 1: a run, abducted and killed her, then put her in
28:56
Speaker 1: the trunk of his car, and dumped her body in
28:58
Speaker 1: a cornfield. This morning, we are learning more details about Rivera.
29:02
Speaker 1: His girlfriend, Iris Minars, who attended the bail hearing, attended
29:06
Speaker 1: the same high school as Molly. Yearbook photos show them
29:09
Speaker 1: both at the school. They appear to even have been
29:12
Speaker 1: friends on Facebook, but investigators maintain there is no evidence
29:16
Speaker 1: they actually knew each other, saying in a small tone,
29:19
Speaker 1: it's not unusual for people who go to the same
29:22
Speaker 1: school together to be friends on Facebook without being personally acquainted.
29:27
Speaker 1: That's absolutely true. I don't know if the Facebook connection
29:30
Speaker 1: is even going to come into evidence. But speaking of evidence,
29:34
Speaker 1: take a listen now to our friend Matt Finn at
29:38
Speaker 1: Fox News. Guys, we are talking about jury selection. It's
29:41
Speaker 1: going down right now in an Iowa courtroom in the
29:44
Speaker 1: long awaited trial in the death of Molly Tibbots. Take
29:48
Speaker 1: a listen to Matt Finn. Twenty four year old Christian
29:51
Speaker 1: Rivera is expected to appear at Powaschee County Court charged
29:55
Speaker 1: with first degree murder in the death of Molly Tibbots.
29:57
Speaker 1: Police say that Rivera confessed on July eighteenth, the day
30:01
Speaker 1: that Molly Tibbots disappeared. He followed her on her jog
30:04
Speaker 1: and she became frightened and got on her cell phone
30:07
Speaker 1: and said, get away from me. I'm going to call police.
30:09
Speaker 1: And at that point he blacked out and says he
30:11
Speaker 1: doesn't remember what happened next, but that Molly Tibbots ended
30:15
Speaker 1: up in his trunk with the bloody square. Ultimately, police
30:18
Speaker 1: tracked down Rivera and he led them to Tibot's body
30:21
Speaker 1: that he says he hid in a corn field. You
30:24
Speaker 1: know the way that they said that is so interesting
30:27
Speaker 1: to me. That he came upon her and then she
30:30
Speaker 1: quote ended up in his trunk. Okay to you. Joseph S.
30:35
Speaker 1: Goot Morgan, Professor forensics Jacksonville State University and author death
30:40
Speaker 1: investigator jose got Morgan, not only it's her fitbit missing,
30:45
Speaker 1: the murder weapon missing, but the way he was really
30:48
Speaker 1: found was because of quote unusual markings on his black
30:53
Speaker 1: Chevy Malibu spotted in a neighbors surveillance video at their home.
31:01
Speaker 1: And they see Molly tib Is jogging by. Then they
31:04
Speaker 1: see is black Chevy Malibu going forward and backward and
31:08
Speaker 1: forward and backward like reversing, then going back by her
31:12
Speaker 1: again and then reversing going by her again. What do
31:16
Speaker 1: you think it is about that Chevy Malibu that has
31:21
Speaker 1: been described as having quote unusual markings and what was
31:25
Speaker 1: found in the trunk? Well, let me let me just
31:29
Speaker 1: there are a lot of Chevy Malibus out there, Nancy.
31:31
Speaker 1: You ride around and see them just about it anywhere.
31:33
Speaker 1: But something that draws to mind for a witness in particular,
31:38
Speaker 1: some kind of marking, some kind of design, super instance,
31:42
Speaker 1: it's on a car, that's going to make it stick
31:44
Speaker 1: out in your mind. Particularly. Let's think about how small
31:47
Speaker 1: this little town is, Nancy. I mean, it's tiny, very tiny,
31:50
Speaker 1: and it's going to stand out, and particularly if you're
31:53
Speaker 1: doing odd kind of things with your car, you're have
31:56
Speaker 1: anematic recall on that when they think back to seeing
32:00
Speaker 1: this young woman jogged down the street. Now to a
32:03
Speaker 1: bigger point here, for me. This guy can black out
32:07
Speaker 1: all he wants. He can say that he doesn't remember
32:09
Speaker 1: this he does. He can say he doesn't remember that. However,
32:12
Speaker 1: you know what doesn't diminish science, and the fact that
32:16
Speaker 1: we know that Molly Tibbitts DNA was found in that
32:20
Speaker 1: trunk is significant. So where are you going to try
32:22
Speaker 1: to argue if you're the defense? Yeah, this guy is
32:25
Speaker 1: just so kind. He didn't know Molly, but he decided
32:27
Speaker 1: to give her a ride in the back of his car.
32:29
Speaker 1: A matter of fact, not just in the backseat, but
32:31
Speaker 1: in the trunk. He held her there. Let me tell
32:34
Speaker 1: you why this is significant. This is significant because we know,
32:37
Speaker 1: as you stated earlier, as a reporter stated earlier, her
32:41
Speaker 1: cause of death, Nancy, are multiple stab wounds. Now, I
32:45
Speaker 1: worked a lot of deaths in my life. Okay, people
32:48
Speaker 1: think gunshot wounds are bloody, They got nothing on stab wounds.
32:53
Speaker 1: And let me tell you what happens. You're going to
32:55
Speaker 1: be losing a tremendous amount of DNA blood. This is
33:00
Speaker 1: not like a partial or touch DNA, This is intact strands, Nancy,
33:06
Speaker 1: he would have had her DNA on him. I'd like
33:08
Speaker 1: to know where his clothes are because he would have
33:10
Speaker 1: literally had to have cradled her and this is very
33:13
Speaker 1: sad in his arms like child, in order to get
33:17
Speaker 1: her into that trunk, in order to leverage her in there,
33:20
Speaker 1: and it takes all kinds of points of contact where
33:23
Speaker 1: you've got blood that's dripping everywhere. So we've looked for
33:26
Speaker 1: that at a scene. Even if you try to clean
33:29
Speaker 1: it up, we're gonna find it. And her DNA is
33:32
Speaker 1: in that trunk and there's no way to explain it away.
33:37
Speaker 1: I think my biggest thing here is I want to
33:39
Speaker 1: know what the status of her body was as far
33:42
Speaker 1: as her clothing, because I got to tell you, you you
33:44
Speaker 1: does you just don't stop and slaughter a young woman
33:51
Speaker 1: just at random. I think that there's a sexual motivation.
33:54
Speaker 1: I want to know what the status of her club were,
33:56
Speaker 1: clothes missing, I don't know that where they ripped off?
34:00
Speaker 1: You know what did he do with her body during
34:02
Speaker 1: this blacked out time? And that's key here because not
34:07
Speaker 1: only if there's a sexual component, not only will you
34:10
Speaker 1: find her DNA in his trunk, there's an outside possibility
34:15
Speaker 1: that you might find his DNA deposited within her as
34:20
Speaker 1: sad as that is to doctor Angela Arnold psychistra is
34:23
Speaker 1: joining us, doctor Angie. Again, everyone, the jury selection is
34:28
Speaker 1: underway right now, and that means a trial has commenced.
34:30
Speaker 1: Those jurars being sworn in just like a witness, that
34:35
Speaker 1: they are to tell the truth as they commence answering
34:38
Speaker 1: questions by both the prosecution, the defense, and the judge.
34:42
Speaker 1: If necessary, it will start with four to ten and
34:45
Speaker 1: paneling questions regarding whether they can be honest, whether they
34:50
Speaker 1: can be impartial, whether they live in that jurisdiction. We're
34:54
Speaker 1: waiting for the actual general questions to start with this jury.
34:58
Speaker 1: And again, as you heard prosecutor former prosecutor Francie has say,
35:03
Speaker 1: once you put the gerars in the box, strike your jury,
35:06
Speaker 1: the cases one are lost right there. To doctor Angela Arnold,
35:10
Speaker 1: there may not be a sex component to this case,
35:14
Speaker 1: ie rate or sonomy, But I agree with Joe Scott
35:18
Speaker 1: Morgan in the sense that this may be a psycho
35:20
Speaker 1: sexual case. In other words, when she said get away
35:24
Speaker 1: from me, when he first approached her and grabbed her
35:26
Speaker 1: phone out of her hand, that could have triggered not
35:30
Speaker 1: that this is a defense. In fact, it is not
35:31
Speaker 1: a defense. Some type of psycho sexual response that threw
35:37
Speaker 1: him into a rage. Sure, sure, And you know, rages
35:41
Speaker 1: just don't come out of Rages don't come out of nowhere, Nancy. Okay,
35:47
Speaker 1: rage is rage is from an escalated He escalated before
35:54
Speaker 1: this rage happened. Okay, so we don't we have no
35:59
Speaker 1: idea was going on what was going through his mind
36:03
Speaker 1: as he was following her. Hold on, you're cutting out?
36:08
Speaker 1: I mean just one Okay, I've got you. Can you
36:12
Speaker 1: hear me now? My landline? Okay, Rage does not just
36:17
Speaker 1: start from nowhere. It just doesn't come out of nowhere. Okay.
36:22
Speaker 1: Rage is the end of an escalation in your mood.
36:27
Speaker 1: And so who knows what he was thinking about while
36:31
Speaker 1: he was following her and traveling, no telling what was
36:36
Speaker 1: going on through his mind about what he was going
36:39
Speaker 1: to do to her and I and how this was
36:43
Speaker 1: exciting him. And yes, when she said no and gave
36:48
Speaker 1: some defense against him, it probably did switch him into
36:55
Speaker 1: a very rageful behavior. Okay. Back to the courthouse, standing
36:59
Speaker 1: by Angeanette Levy joining US reporter anchor Emmy nominated Internet.
37:04
Speaker 1: Have you seen did girards go into the courtroom? Have
37:07
Speaker 1: you looked in there yet? Well, they're actually This is
37:10
Speaker 1: taking place at a CID center, taking a place at
37:14
Speaker 1: the court house, so it's a huge room. They are
37:17
Speaker 1: in there about two hundred people socially distanced, and so
37:21
Speaker 1: the questioning should be getting underway here very quick. Please guys.
37:25
Speaker 1: Right now is in my mind, the single most critical
37:29
Speaker 1: moment of a trial, and that is when you strike
37:32
Speaker 1: the jury. For those of you just joining us, take
37:37
Speaker 1: a listen to our cut twenty two from casey CI
37:42
Speaker 1: TV News July eighteenth, twenty eighteen, Twenty year old Molly
37:47
Speaker 1: Tibbitts was dog sitting at the home of her boyfriend's
37:50
Speaker 1: brother in her hometown of Brooklyn. Last time boyfriend Dalton
37:54
Speaker 1: Jack heard from Molly was around ten pm. The next day,
37:57
Speaker 1: he got the call from her co workers at a
37:59
Speaker 1: Grennelle daycare saying she didn't show up, setting off an
38:02
Speaker 1: extensive search for the University of Iowa student, whom so
38:06
Speaker 1: many in the small Poochee County community knew and loved.
38:09
Speaker 1: Molly is one of the most caring people you'll want
38:12
Speaker 1: to meet. As investigators scoured the area efforts to find
38:16
Speaker 1: Molly tibbots When nationwide authorities have intensified the search from
38:20
Speaker 1: missing Iowa College student Molly tim The nearly five weeks
38:24
Speaker 1: search ended August twenty first, in a rural Poochee County
38:27
Speaker 1: Cornfield with the news no one wanted to hear. We
38:30
Speaker 1: believe it to be the body of Molly Tibbots. That
38:32
Speaker 1: came after they identified a suspect, Christian Behina Rivera, after
38:36
Speaker 1: seeing his car on a neighbor surveillance video. They say
38:39
Speaker 1: he led them to her body. Investigators say Rivera admitted
38:42
Speaker 1: to abducting Tibbots while she was out jogging, blacking out,
38:46
Speaker 1: and then killing her. One fact instantly injected politics into
38:50
Speaker 1: the case. He is an illegal alien. Investigators say Rivera
38:54
Speaker 1: was a Mexican farm worker who had lived in the
38:56
Speaker 1: area for a few years. We wait as justice unfals
39:03
Speaker 1: Nancy Grace crime story, signing off goodbye friend.