(Davenport) — A jury has found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of murdering 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, nearly three years ago. The jury’s decision that was announced in court shortly before two o’clock this (Friday) afternoon.
The judge then polled the jury, which reached a unanimous verdict after about eight hours of deliberations.
Prosecutor Scott Brown admitted to sleepless nights as the trial progressed, but stressed during a news conference in Davenport that the trial was about Tibbetts and her family.
Brown and Poweshiek County Attorney Bart Klaver met with the Tibbetts family privately following the verdict. Klaver says it was an emotional moment.
Bahena will be sentenced later. A first degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
(photo courtesy of FOX News)
