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

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

College student Mollie Tibbetts disappeared from the small Iowa town of Brooklyn. The 20-year-old woman former high school track star went out for an evening jog and never came home. After a month-long search, Tibbets' body is found in a cornfield, covered by stalks. The man who put Tibbetts there led police to the body. The medical examiner concluded she died from "multiple sharp force injuries." Cristian Rivera, charged with snatching the Iowa college student, goes to trial this week. Today, jury selection begins.Joining Nancy Grace today: Francey Hakes - Former federal prosecutor, Podcast: "Best Case Worst Case", Senior Producer on FOX's America’s Most Wanted, Twitter/Instagram: @franceyhakes Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Featured on "The Piketon Massacre: Return to Pike County" on iHeartRadio  Angenette Levy - Emmy-nominated Reporter & Anchor, Twitter: @Angenette5 from Davenport Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. A 20-year-old girl goes jogging and she's never seen alive again. Jury selection commences in the case of Molly Tibbetts. This is how it started. This is not like her. Dalton Jack is living in a nightmare. I figured, you know, I'd speak to her in an hour or so. And right now, it's one he can't wake up from.

I came home as soon as her mom said that she called the hospital and she wasn't there. The last time the 20-year-old saw Molly was on Wednesday at 10 p.m. when he opened a Snapchat from her. It was just a selfie with a caption and I don't remember what the caption said but it looked like she was inside. He never thought he wouldn't hear from her again. When he said her early Thursday morning he didn't notice the message hadn't been read until her friend called late that afternoon. One of her co-workers called me said Molly had not called into work that day and she hadn't showed up and then I looked at the messages and she hadn't opened or read any of them so I started getting in contact with her friends and her family saying hey have you seen her have you heard from her and everybody came up with the same thing, I haven't seen her since yesterday.

That very scenario throws suspicion immediately on the longtime boyfriend at whom's home Molly was staying. You are hearing from our friends Angelina Salcido, WOITV5 there in Des Moines. The search was on for Molly Tibbetts. You know, if they're listening, then I would just like them to know that imagine this was you. Everybody has a Molly in their life, a person that has affected them in a way that she affected everybody standing up here right now. And imagine if this was you, somebody had taken your Molly. Wouldn't you want to help? Wouldn't you want her back? How would you feel?

Just do the right thing and, you know, let her go pretty much. You were hearing Dalton Jack, that's Molly's boyfriend at whose place she was staying, and went through everything into a quandary was she released video. And in the background, you could see his place. It looked as if she was doing her homework there in his place where she was staying and taking care of the dogs. Again, suspicion on the boyfriend, but yet you hear him speaking out. That's very rare for a suspect to speak out. Remember Scott Peterson? He shied away from the cameras and the microphones when Lacey Peterson goes missing, but not Dalton Jack.

Now listen to Crime Stoppers' Greg Wiley. What we're trying to do is shake the tree. We want somebody to come forward, even if it's not real, at least to start a conversation with somebody. Somebody might know that she's being held by somebody but would never say anything, because if they've said something, they may think that reciprocity or their life might be in danger. We can guarantee that whoever gives this information up, their identity will be protected. When they put in the tip, they get a random number that matches that tip. So if you're 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, they'd have to contact us back and say, hey, I saw in the media. Well, in this case, if they got them, if they got Molly, they're going to call in and say, hey, I see there's a reward.

I want to let her go. And then that negotiation will be done with the law enforcement. A reward, a reward issue leading to the discovery of Molly Tibbetts. Her father weighs in. Here's Sandra Smith at Fox News. Rob, when was the last time you talked to Molly? I talked to Molly Sunday for about three hours. We talked regularly on the phone.

I live in California. She was out earlier this year for my wedding, and so we just talked about she's going to the Dominican Republic for a wedding, her boyfriend's brother. She's getting to the Dominican Republic for a wedding, her boyfriend's brother. She's getting back to school. As you can hear Molly's father speaking, that's Rob Tibbetts. I see that so often with victims' families. Everything is so normal, so in place, and then it's hard to face the reality that things are not normal, not normal at all.

That was her dad. Listen to her mom speaking to KCCI. It is just, you know, an emotional roller coaster. It's a nightmare she's unable to wake up from. Laura Calderwood can't look anywhere in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, without seeing her daughter Molly's face on a missing person poster. It's a reality check every time I see one of those posters also, you know, it's like she's gone. 20-year-old Molly Tibbetts vanished nearly two weeks ago. Her mom immediately knew something bad must have happened. I knew something was terribly wrong.

She would not go to work. My greatest fear is that we wouldn't find her. But I can't go there right now. Calderwood says Molly was seen out on a jog around 7.30 p.m. on July 18th. To the best of my knowledge, I believe she did make it home from the run and was in Dalton's home. The family says evidence shows Tibbetts was doing homework on her computer after her jog that night. Or was she? As the mom and the dad try to face the new normal, their daughter missing, the search ensues. Here's ABC's Alex Perez.

The search for missing Molly Tibbetts has come to a tragic end today. A body was discovered early this morning in a farm field southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa. We believe it to be the body of Molly Tibbetts. She was found in a cornfield and there were corn stalks placed over the top of her. And tonight, a suspect in custody, 24-year-old Christian Rivera. Police say Rivera led them to her body this morning and confessed to her murder. The case will be prosecuted by the Iowa Attorney General's Area Prosecution Division and first degree murder carries a penalty of life without the possibility of parole according to

authorities Rivera encountered Molly Tibbetts near the intersection of boundary and middle streets in eastern Brooklyn while she was out jogging he actually tells us that he ran alongside of her or behind her and then at one point he tells us that Molly grabbed a hold of her phone and said, you need to leave me alone. I'm going to call the police. And then she took off running. He, in turn, chased her down. With me, an all-star panel at this hour. Jury selection, Voidire is underway in the trial of Christian Bahena Rivera, age 26, age 24 at the time, in the murder of this young girl, 20-year-old Iowa College student, Molly Tibbetts. With me, Francie Hakes.

You know her well, former federal prosecutor. Podcast, Best Case, Worst Case. Senior producer, Fox's America's Most Wanted, Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist joining us from the Atlanta jurisdiction, professor of forensics, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star of a new series, The Piketon Massacre, returned to Pike County on iHeartRadio, Joseph Scott Morgan, but first, to Emmy Award-nominated reporter, anchor, Anjanette Levy, joining us in Davenport, Iowa, for the trial. Anjanette Levy, what's happening? Well, Nancy, all of the jurors showed up, the prospective jurors this morning. They are being

held in a, it's basically a huge convention center area, a huge room that's been transformed almost into a courtroom for jury selection. Because of COVID, they are distanced. Their seats are six feet apart. There are about 200 people in there right now, and it's a slow start so far. They're just getting started with printing off things for the jurors. The questioning will begin momentarily. Christian Bahena-Rivera is in there with his attorneys, as are the prosecutors in the case. So jury selection is expected to take about two days. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Let me understand something. Anjanette Levy with us, Emmy-nominated reporter and anchor. The location, the venue of this trial has been moved from the original location where the murder occurred to, I believe, and that would be Woodland County to Sioux City. And now finally, Davenport, which is Scott County. Is that correct? That's correct. It's Scott County, Davenport, Iowa. It's about an hour and 40 minutes from where this happened. And why the three changes of venue, Anjanette? Well, they've been really concerned about the amount of pretrial publicity in this case. This made international news and really in 2018 when it happened, the governor spoke out about it because Bahena Rivera is an

undocumented immigrant. The president of the United States at that time, President Trump, he spoke about this on the campaign trail and in rallies that he would hold. Really, people were using this to try to say we need tougher immigration laws. But Molly Tibbetts' parents have said that she wouldn't want that, that she was not against immigration or people trying to come to this country to improve their lives. So they don't want her death politicized. So there's been a tremendous amount of publicity surrounding this case. Francie, changing venues is nothing new. It happens all the time. And I have no doubt there will be a jury and panel that says they can be fair and impartial.

Many of, first of all, not everybody cares what the media says, alert. And second, it's been done before in much more highly publicized cases. Well, you're right about that, Nancy. And the reason for a change of venue, of course, is because the judge wants to ensure that he gets that fair and impartial jury. And here, as I'm sure you'll agree with me, as in every case, the case is won or lost in jury selection. Who you put on the jury, who is going and who's going to vote on guilt or

innocence is where the case is won or lost. It's so important to get jurors who can be fair and impartial, but most importantly, can be discerning jurors, can actually separate the wheat from the chaff and ignore the crazy, you know, ballsthe-air distractions that the defense attorney is going to throw and focus on the actual evidence of the case. And so I hope that's what happens here. The defense attorney has a lot of mud to sling in this one. Let me tell you, we've already had statements thrown out because a translator recited. Miranda, guys, we were talking about the trial jury selection happening right now in an Iowa

courtroom in the case of a young jogger, absolutely stunning Molly Tibbetts, last known to be at her longtime boyfriend's home. She was taking care of the home while he was away taking care of the dogs and she showed up in a video, a FaceTime or Snapchat, and you could clearly see the background. Then she goes on a jog. That timeline confusion led to a lot of problems and a very bumpy road in the investigation. But what we are hearing now is that even with two changes of venue, still there's going to be difficulty striking an impartial jury. That jury selection is going on right now. And Jeanette, let me ask you this.

Is there going to be sequestration for the jury? No, Nancy. There will not be sequestration of this jury. Well, let's hope they keep it that way. Guys, the trial is commencing. What will the jury hear? Well, take a listen they keep it that way. Guys, the trial is commencing. What will the jury hear? Well, take a listen to Alex Perez at ABC. According to authorities, Rivera then panicked and got mad.

He tells us that at some point in time he blacks out and then he comes to near an intersection. Rivera told police he then drove to a cornfield in Guernsey where he dragged Tibbetts on foot for 20 meters and left her face up and covered in corn leaves. No one has said this was a sexually driven crime, but it certainly fits the pattern of dozens and dozens of sexual predator attack type crimes. Authorities say an autopsy is being done and have not yet released a cause of death. Rivera has been charged with first degree murder. And of course, in this jurisdiction, there is no death penalty. The death penalty was abolished for the second time in Iowa around 1965. Therefore, you can kill as many people as you want to in that jurisdiction, even when you're behind bars and you will not get the death penalty. You know, Joe Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, death investigator.

Joe Scott, the scenario I understand is that Rivera, and I'm going to circle back to you, Joe Scott, about forensics regarding his very distinctive black Chevy Malibu with, quote, unusual markings on the side, which really led to his arrest. But tell me if this is your understanding, and I want you to connect it to what we know about in the autopsy. The perpetrator, illegal immigrant, or as Anjanette Levy says, unlicensed worker, Christian Bahena Rivera, is driving along in his black Chevy Malibu. He sees Molly Tibbetts minding her own business, jogging. She is wearing fluorescent tennis shoes, a pink jogging bra, and running shorts. I believe she had earbuds in her ear.

And she's jogging after finishing a ton of work for school. It's in the early evening, still quasi-daylight. He speaks to her. She continues to run. He gets out of his vehicle, starts jogging along beside her, then tries to grab her, I guess, iPhone or device she had in her hand. She then says, get away from me, leave me alone, or I'll call 911. That infuriates him. Then he says he, quote, blacks out. And the next thing he remembers is that he looks down, sees her earpiece in his lap or hand,

and suddenly realizes, oh, her body is in the trunk. Then hides the body, drags the body, and hides it and covers it with corn stalks. Is that your understanding of the facts? Yes, it corn stalks. Is that your understanding of the facts? Yes, it is, Nancy. That is my understanding of the facts. Okay, how am I going to prove that forensically? Well, I think that probably one of the key things here is you mentioned her phone.

You know, he's talking about this like he's giving them the roadmap here, Nancy, saying that, you know, he she held out. Joe Scott, Joe Scott, Joe Scott Morgan. Look, I know that you are a renowned death investigator, but there's a little thing called Miranda. Miranda rights. Come on. You've seen him on TV. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be held against you in a court of law. Here's the problem. None of that's coming in because he spoke to police for hours, hours, and the translator omitted, whether honest mistake or not, the one phrase, anything you say will be held against you in a court of law. She left that phrase out. She says she recited it from memory and didn't read her card that you're supposed to read it off of. Hello, police training 101. So none of that's

going to come in. Yeah, it's not going to come in. But what we do know, what we do know is that there can be electronic tracking and specifically where she was with that phone. Now, if that happens to marry up with a comment that he made, God bless him. So be it. But we can put her in that position where she disappeared or vanished from that moment in time. And then she was taken off and God only knows what he did with her after that. So, yeah, he was not Mirandized appropriately. OK, but you still have this electronic fingerprint that we all carry now and it follows us everywhere we go. And that's solid evidence. Hey, there's something else. I don't believe her Fitbit or the murder weapon were ever found.

And anybody jump in. If you know more, if there's been a development in the evidence, I want to hear it. I find that very significant because in my mind, actions taken immediately after the deed under the law come in as evidence. That go to scheme, frame of mind, course of conduct, knowledge of guilt. Okay. And I think I know who it was the

defendant which is indication of guilt jump in is that francy hey nancy yeah francy hakes here you know i think it's really interesting uh and significant that we're not going to be able to use or the jury's not going to be able to hear the defendant's effective confession but really the police have something almost as good and that is that he led them to the body we not only have the forensic evidence on video seeing his truck but we have him leading police to his body and that's not suppressed that is not suppressed francy and another thing you're right as usual uh francy is that when he led them to the body, which, I mean, let me break it down. If you're leading police to an as of yet undiscovered body, how did you know where

the body was? It clearly shows that he's the killer. But at that time, he was re-Mirandized correctly, and he continued talking. Those statements will come in. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Listen to this. Back to you, Joe Scott Morgan. You're talking about technology proving this case. Listen to you, Joe Scott Morgan. You're talking about technology proving this case. Listen to this, Joe Scott.

So her phone that I think she was listening to music with and their iPods. Don't run with earphones, earbuds, please don't. As tempting as it is, I have to tell my daughter this all the time. It shows on the phone movements, Joe Scott, I'm going to let you explain this, that she's apparently running along this rural road where there's no crime ever. And then suddenly she's speeding away as if she's in a car. That's what her cell phone shows, Joe Scott. Explain. Yeah.

You know, I've got a fitness tracker on my phone as well, Nancy, and it actually records pace. It will demonstrate electronically. It gives a record of how fast you're moving at a particular time. It'll even show changes in elevation, Nancy. Did you know that? No. It'll change. It'll show you directions, changes in elevation. It'll show you temperature changes, which is absolutely fascinating. I mean, when I get back from a run, I'll check this sort of thing. So the amount of information that is detailed and contained therein and held that you can go back and resource. I can look at my phone, go back months and months and months and look at my progress.

Same with this. OK, so if you're telling me you go back months and months to look at your elevation, I'm going to cook you up with Dr. Angela Arnold when we finish today. Guys, we are talking about the disappearance and the murder of just a beautiful young girl on the inside and out, 20-year-old Molly Tibbetts, a student there at Iowa State University. I want you to take a listen to our friends at ABC7. Christian Rivera used false identification to get hired, his employer said today. The murder suspect worked at a well-known Iowa dairy farm for four years. The owners calling him a good worker also say they were stunned to hear

he allegedly led police to Molly Tibbetts' body in a cornfield. A quote, good worker. He may have been a good worker, but what he did on his own time is coming into play in this court of law. The trial underway with jury selection. I agree 100% with former prosecutor Francie Hakes, who says the case is won or lost once you strike a jury. Once you put the 12 in the box, frankly, it's over. You've got to know how to strike a jury. Now listen to our friend Rob Elgis at ABC7. Mr. Rivera, did you kill Molly Sobitz?

Shackled and guarded, Christian Rivera arrives at a court hearing escorted by deputies, the 24-year-old facing a judge. Mr. Rivera, you have been charged the murder of the young woman. The investigation has started. Christian Rivera arrives at a court hearing escorted by deputies, the 24-year-old facing a judge. Mr. Rivera, you have been charged with murder in the

first degree. A translator at his side and his girlfriend and family in the courtroom, authorities say Rivera confessed to abducting and killing Molly Tibbetts while she was out for a jog.

Detectives used surveillance video to hunt down Rivera. Frame by frame and in real-time motion and eventually saw Molly on the video, led us to Mr. Rivera, identifying the vehicle. According to investigators, Rivera was here illegally. The owner of the farm where he worked says Rivera lied. What we learned in the last 24 hours is that our employee was not who he said he was. The farm now says when they

hired Rivera, they screened him through an older system instead of Homeland Security's E-Verify. Rivera is being held on a five million dollar bond. Tonight, the Tibbetts family released a statement saying their hearts are broken. They thanked everyone for their support. Autopsy results might take four to eight weeks, but some results could come as soon as this week. Joining us at the courthouse is Anjanette Levy, Emmy-nominated reporter and anchor. But to you, Dr. Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. Dr. Angie, you hear what the defense is going to be. Now, if the defense lawyers had a choice in this, they may have chosen another defense.

But they're stuck with this. They're locked into it. The blacking out defense, because the defendant stated that at the time of arrest and after his Miranda warning that he blacked out after he approached her on foot, getting out of his Chevy Malibu, yanking the phone out of her hand. The next thing he remembers is looking, according to him, is looking down and seeing her earbuds in his hand or lap in the car and suddenly realizing, oh, I put her in the trunk. What is that?

You know, Nancy. Blacked out. I don't buy it. Nancy, I don't buy it. What is that blacked out? pass out there is no way that they are ever going to be able to prove that this guy had some sort of passing out while he killed her and and conveniently woke up to find her body in the trunk of his car and i'm just sorry i don't buy that at all i am a little bit interested to know how he had the wherewithal to come up with that. Has he used that before? Has he ever done anything like this to anyone before? Does he have a history of mental illness?

Does he have a seizure disorder? Does he have a seizure disorder that he's being treated for that makes him black out? But there was too much planning on his part beforehand. And was he on drugs? So there are a lot of questions that need to be answered here before we can believe if this man blacked out while he conveniently killed this beautiful young woman.

We are live at the courthouse with Anjanette Levy, Emmy-nominated reporter and anchor, as jury selection, voie d'air begins, coincidentally, French, to speak the truth. Where jurors are questioned, typically, at first, they'll be questioned as a group. For instance, do all of you live in this county, Scott County, Davenport? If they're not registered to that county, they can't sit on that jury. They may be asked as a group, have any of you or someone you know ever been convicted of a crime or accused, even wrongly accused of a crime? General group questions. And then if someone raises their hand, those people

will be questioned individually. But yes, Francie Hakes, former federal prosecutor and podcast star of Best Case, Worst Case. Francie, when you're striking a jury, you can get people on the jury that have heard about the case, but no one is allowed that has formed an opinion or thinks they cannot be fair or impartial. That's how you strike a jury. That's right, Nancy. And you know, it's funny, it's called jury selection, of course, but I always called it jury selection because as you remember well. I thought you were going to say juror elimination. Go ahead. Oh, well, that too. But all you can really do is strike the jurors. I also call it, this is a real dirty little secret,

I also used to call it weed the wackos because all you could really do is get rid of the people who seem too eager or too biased one way or the other. And you're sort of stuck with the people in the middle. And can I just say one quick thing about what the doctor said, Nancy? It's such a great point because she brings up how are they going to get in the evidence that the defendant claims he blacked out. And I can virtually guarantee you that defendant is never going to take the stand in this case. No way. So how is the defense going to present any defense at all? And I think the doctor's right. It's got to be medical evidence if they have any, which I highly doubt. Although you and I both know that they'll be able to find

someone that they can pay. A doctor somewhere to say just about anything as long as you pay them you're absolutely right but another thing that first part of his confession is disallowed but what he said as he was leading police to molly's body and what he said upon second miranda statement will be allowed in so i think him stating he blacked out will come into evidence, but you're right. Without him testifying to it, it will not carry the same weight. And again, this jury will be instructed during for a dire jury selection throughout the trial and before the close of the trial that they are not to hold it against the defendant that he did not testify. And I used to love it when the judge would have to say that over and over and over under the law because it

only highlighted the defendant can't take the stand because they're lying. They can't hold up on cross-examination. You're going to hear over and over that under the Fifth Amendment, you have a right to remain silent and you may, quote, take the fifth. You're not going to testify and you have the right to do that under the Constitution. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Right now, jury selection before we put the cart before the horse is going on right now in an Iowa courtroom in an area where crime, much less murder, is unheard of. Guys, take a listen to this.

According to a preliminary autopsy report, Molly Tibbetts died from multiple sharp force injuries, indicating that she was stabbed to death. Mr. Rivera, did you kill Molly Tibbetts? A judge ordering the suspect, 24-year-old Christian Rivera, held on a $5 million cash bond. Mr. Rivera, you have been charged with murder in the first degree. Investigators say Rivera followed Tibbetts when she was out for a run, abducted and killed her, then put her in the trunk of his car and dumped her body in a cornfield. This morning, we are learning more details about Rivera. His girlfriend, Iris Menarez, who attended the bail hearing, attended the same high school as Molly.

Yearbook photos show them both at the school. They appear to even have been friends on Facebook. But investigators maintain there is no evidence they actually knew each other, saying in a small town, it's not unusual for people who go to the same school together to be friends on Facebook without being personally acquainted. That's absolutely true. I don't know if the Facebook connection is even going to come into evidence. But speaking of evidence, take a listen now to our friend Matt Finn at Fox News. Guys, we are talking about jury selection. It's going down right now in an Iowa courtroom in the long-awaited trial in the death of Molly Tibbetts.

Take a listen to Matt Finn. 24-year-old Christian Rivera is expected to appear at Poweshie County Court charged with first-degree murder in the death of Molly Tibbetts. Police say that Rivera confessed that on July 18th, the day that Molly Tibbetts disappeared, he followed her on her jog and she became frightened and got out her cell phone and said, get away from me. I'm going to call police. And at that point, he blacked out and says he doesn't remember what happened next, but that Molly Tibbetts ended up in his trunk with the bloody skull. Ultimately, police tracked down Rivera and he led them to Tibbetts' body that he says he hid in a cornfield. You know, the way that they said that

is so interesting to me, that he came upon her and then she, quote, ended up in his trunk. Okay, to you, Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, and author, death investigator, Joseph Scott Morgan. Not only is her Fitbit missing, the murder weapon missing, but the way he was really found was because of, quote, unusual markings on his black Chevy Malibu spotted in a neighbor's surveillance video at their home and they see Molly Tibbets jogging by. Then they see his black Chevy Malibu going forward and backward and forward and backward, like reversing, then going back by her again and then reversing and going by her again. What do you think it is about that Chevy Malibu that has been described as having

quote unusual markings and what was found in the trunk? Well, let me just, there are a lot of Chevy Malibus out there, Nancy. You can ride around and see them just about anywhere, but something that draws to mind for a witness in particular, some kind of marking, some kind of design. So for instance, it's on a car, that's going to make it stick out in your mind, particularly, let's think about how small this little town is, Nancy. I mean, it's tiny, very tiny, and it's going to stand out. And particularly if you're doing odd kind of things with your car, you have automatic recall on that.

When they think back to seeing this young woman jog down the street. Now, to a bigger point here for me, this guy can black out all he wants. He can say that he doesn't remember this. He can say he doesn't remember that. However, you know what doesn't diminish science? And the fact that we know that Molly Tibbetts' DNA was found in that trunk is significant. So what are you going to try to argue if you're the defense? Yeah, this guy is just so kind. He didn't know Molly, but he decided to give her a ride in the back of his car.

Matter of fact, not just in the backseat, but in the trunk. He held her there. Let me tell you why this is significant. This is significant because we know, as you stated earlier, as the reporter stated earlier, her cause of death, Nancy, are multiple stab wounds. Now, I've worked a lot of deaths in my life, okay? People think gunshot wounds are bloody. They got nothing on stab wounds, and let me tell you what happens. You're going to be losing a tremendous amount of DNA rich blood. This is not like a partial or touch DNA. This is intact strands, Nancy.

He would have had her DNA on him. I'd like to know where his clothes are. Because he would have literally had to have cradled her, and this is very sad, in his arms like a child in order to get her into that trunk, in order to leverage her in there. And it takes all kinds of points of contact where you, you've got blood that's dripping everywhere.

So we've looked for that at a scene, even if you try to clean it up, we're going to find it. And her DNA is in that trunk and there's no way to explain it away. I think my biggest thing here is I want to know what the status of her body was as far as her clothing, because I can tell you, you just don't stop and slaughter a young woman just at random. I think that there's a sexual motivation. I want to know what the status of her clothes missing. I don't know that. Were they ripped off? You know, what did he do with her body during this blacked out time?

And that's key here because not only if there's a sexual component, not only will you find her DNA in his trunk, there's an outside possibility that you might find his DNA deposited within her. As sad as that is. To Dr. Angela Arnold, psychiatrist joining us. Dr. Angie, again, everyone, the jury selection is underway right now, and that means a trial has commenced. Those jurors being sworn in, just like a witness, that they are to tell the truth as they commence answering questions by both the prosecution, the defense, and the judge, if necessary.

It will start with four to ten impaneling questions regarding whether they can be honest, whether they can be impartial, whether they live in that jurisdiction. We're waiting for the actual general questions to start with this jury. And again, as you heard, prosecutor, former prosecutor, Francie Hakes, say once you put the jurors in the box, strike your jury, the case is won or lost right there. To Dr. Angela Arnold, there may not be a sex component to this case, i.e. rape or sodomy. But I agree with Joe Scott Morgan in the sense that this may be a psychosexual case. In other words, when she said, get away from me, when he first approached her and grabbed her phone out of her hand, that could have triggered, not that this is a defense, in fact, it is not a defense, some type of psychosexual response that threw him into a rage. Sure. Sure. And you know, rages just don't come out of, rages don't come out of nowhere, Nancy. Okay. Rage is, rage is from an escalated,

he escalated before this rage happened. Okay. So we don't, we have no idea what was going on what was going through his mind as he was following her hold on you're cutting out on me just one moment okay i've got you back can you hear me now okay rage does not just start from nowhere. It just doesn't come out of nowhere. Okay. Rage is the end of an escalation in your mood. And so who knows what he was thinking about while he was following her and traveling, no telling what was going on through his mind about what he was going to do to her and how this was exciting him. And yes, when she said no and gave some defense against him, it probably did switch him into a very rageful behavior. Okay? Back to the courthouse, standing by Anjanette Levy joining us.

Reporter, anchor, Emmy-nominated. Anjanette, have you seen the jurors go into the courtroom? Have you looked in there yet? Well, they're actually, this is taking place at a convention center. It's not even taking place at the courthouse. So it's a huge room. They are in there, about 200 people, socially distanced. And so the questioning should be getting underway here very quickly.

Guys, right now is, in my mind, the single most critical moment of a trial, and that is when you strike the jury. For those of you just joining us, take a listen to Hour Cut 22 from KCCI-TV News. July 18, 2018, 20-year-old Molly Tibbetts was dog-sitting at the home of her boyfriend's brother in her hometown of Brooklyn. Last time boyfriend Dalton Jack heard from Molly was around 10 p.m. The next day, he got the call from her co-workers at a Grinnell daycare saying she didn't show up, setting off an extensive search for the University of Iowa student, whom so many in the small Poweshie County community

knew and loved. Molly is one of the most caring people you'll ever meet. As investigators scoured the area, efforts to find Molly Tibbetts went nationwide. Authorities have intensified the search for missing Iowa college student, Molly Tibbetts went nationwide. Authorities have intensified the search for missing Iowa college student Molly Tibbetts. The nearly five-week search ended August 21st in a rural Poweshie County cornfield with the news no one wanted to hear. We believe it to be the body of Molly Tibbetts. That came after they identified a suspect, Christian Bahena

Rivera, after seeing his car on a neighbor's surveillance video. They say he led them to her body. Investigators say Rivera admitted to abducting Tibbetts while she was out jogging, blacking out, and then killing her. One fact instantly injected politics into the case. He is an illegal alien. Investigators say Rivera was a Mexican farm worker who had lived in the area for a few years. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.