The Murder of Mollie Tibbetts: Court Trial Part 8 of 8
00:00Welcome to True Crime Stories with Crime-a-Trorian.Mr. Fries, at this time you may give your closing on behalf of Mr. Behina.Thank you, Your Honor. May it please the court.Counsel.Mr. Brown, Mr. Klaver, Molly Tibbetts is truly an innocent victim. She was absolutely an innocentvictim here, no doubt about it. This young woman was a spectacular young woman. She was destinedto do great things. She was destined to become the change that she wanted to see in the world.She was just about to spread her wings and fly. We acknowledge that. We sympathize with her family.
00:54we offer empathy to them. This young lady was on her way to being someone special.No doubt about it. Absolutely no doubt about it. The loss of Maui Tibbetts is tragic. Absolutelytragic. And the reason I mention that is because the loss of someone like that can evoke a lot ofemotion. And it has evoked emotion. And that can be a problem when you are sitting as a juror.Because when you're sitting as a juror, emotions have no place in that deliberation room.You don't decide this case based upon emotions.You don't decide this case with emotions tugging at your heartstrings.It's not your job to right a wrong.
01:40It's not your job to impart vengeance.It's not your job to bring justice for Molly.She deserves justice, absolutely.It's not your job. Your job is to do justice, period, full stop.Your job is to provide a logical, analytical, almost surgical and mechanical application of what you heard here and the instructions, and that's it.The analysis is simple. The analysis is not whether you go back in that room and decide, I think he did it.The analysis is much, much different than that.The analysis is whether this table and the people from this table, the government of this state of Iowa,
02:29and the people hired by the government of this state of Iowa,and the resources they've produced have brought forth enough evidence to prove this caseand each and every element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.That is a huge standard, folks.That is a high standard, and you cannot forget that,and you must keep that in the forefront of your mind.It must be right here all the time.You can't be swayed by emotion.
03:03You can't let pictures and emotions of those pictures get to you.You must be logical, and you must do your job.Judge Yates has told you that. I'm reminding you of that. I'm not talking atyou about it. I'm just cautioning you because that's what justice is. Justiceis have they done their job and proven Christian Bahena guilty beyond areasonable doubt. Have they proven that man, that young man there, is he a murderer?Have all the elements of murder in the first degree of that young man in themiddle been proven. Like I said, Maui Tibbets deserves justice, but so does Christian Behena.
03:47He deserves justice, and your job is to find the truth, judge the facts, and do justice.Now, let's set the stage. It's important that you know all the facts, okay? It's important that youunderstand where we were in July 2018. A lot of time has passed since July 2018. We've livedthrough a pandemic. Some of us have lived through tornadoes, derechoes. Just a lot of time haspassed. But this case is much, much different than any case I would submit that you have everheard. Within a couple days of Molly's disappearance, the Iowa Division of CriminalInvestigation is on scene. Agent Trent Villada is there, and the investigation begins. Shortlythereafter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is on scene. A number of local law enforcement
04:39agencies are on scene. In Brooklyn, Iowa, a town of 1,400 people, Homeland Security shows up inBrooklyn, Iowa for a missing 20-year-old girl. Use your common sense. Use your experience.When's the last time something like that has happened? It was a circus in Brooklyn, Iowa.Media was everywhere. You heard Agent Villa talk about the media that was there.you heard him talk about this reward that was just skyrocketing. That doesn't happen here in Iowa.Your experience tells you that. Your common sense tells you that. For a missing 20-year-old jogger,we didn't even know that she was dead yet. We didn't know she was picked up off Interstate 80and abducted. We didn't know anything about that. But like Agent Villita said, within five to seven
05:23days, he had the, quote, unlimited resources of the federal government with the FBI. Think aboutthat. Think about that. That is unprecedented. Unprecedented. Now why do I tell you that? I tellyou that because I want to harken back to Mr. Claver's opening statement. In his openingstatement, he said that the DCI comes in town and they kick off an extensive investigation. He tellsyou the DCI is in town, the FBI is in town, Homeland Security is in town, and every leadcame up empty after what he called exhaustive and intensive investigations. Four weeks,you heard they were canvassing, they were searching everywhere. You saw the map withall the red dots, and they had nothing, okay? Imagine the pressure to close this case.
06:17imagine the pressure to put this case to bed because that's the context in which this arrestand this charge happened every lead mr claver said in his opening came up empty absolutely rightsome of the investigation was sloppy but it really got sloppy when christian bahena riveragot targeted because folks what happened here was they closed a case they didn't solve a caseto coin a phrase fromAgent Villada. In his mind, ChristianBahena cleared Rod and Pexa.I would expand on that.
06:53In his mind, Christian Bahena closedthe case. Good enough for them.Let's close the case,shut the book, get everybody out ofhere, and we're done.But they didn't solve the case.They didn't get enough evidence to prove this casebeyond a reasonable doubt.
07:09Mr. Claver, in his openingstatement, also told you thatthey found a video of the Malibu.that was good police work that was good police work we're not going to suggest to you thatChristian Bahena's Rivera's Malibu was on that video that was him he testified to that you sawhim on the stand or that was him driving that car we'll give you that absolutely was him he saidthat Miss Tibbitt's blood was in Christian's Malibu in the trunk that's true too we aren'tgoing to dispute that at all he didn't mention to you that there was a mixture of blood in the trunk
07:42And they talked about Christian's quote-unquote admissions, or what Mr. Brown called a confession, which we wholeheartedly disagree with.What is missing in this case?That's really what you've got to look at.What is missing?Because there's a lot missing in this case.We don't have a murder weapon.No murder weapon ever was discovered in this case.And it wasn't for lack of looking, at least as it pertains to Christian Bahena-Rivera, okay?
08:11They found a folding knife at his trailer.They sent it into the DCI lab, tested it.No blood. No blood.They found another knife, black knife.Sent that in. No blood. Nothing.However, think way back to when Tara Scott talked about her initial crime scene analysis.Remember, she went to 622 West Des Moines Street a couple days after Molly went missing.They sent the DCI crime scene team up, and they looked at the home at 622 West Des Moines Street,
08:42and they looked at it very, very closely.And what did she note?She noted in the hallway there was a gun safe with a number of guns in it.But of particular note was a loaded pistol, a loaded pistol,in a little cabinet hanging on the wall with several knives, hunting-style knives.Some of them were folding knives.Bet you if they wouldn't have looked, they may have found them with a camouflage handle.But they didn't bother to look.
09:12Why?Because they'd already made up their mind.We'll get to more of that later.What else don't they have?They don't have a primary crime scene.They don't have a primary crime scene.Where was Molly Tibbetts killed?Was she killed on 385th Street?
09:25Did someone stab her 9 to 12 times along the blacktop where she was jogging?Someone stab her in the throat or do the slashing motion of the throatand stab her several times in the rib and then penetrate her skull on 385th Streetwhere you heard about where all these houses are and the cars that were traveling out thereand they talked to darn near, I would submit, everyone on 385th Streetand they didn't find one piece of evidence, not any blood.They had it narrowed down.We saw the map of the cell phone technology.
09:59They had a pretty small window as to where they'd find something.They send any type of canines out there to find blood.Oh, the weather was bad.I forgot.It was humid.It was hot.It had rained.I mean, they have an excuse for every piece of evidence they don't have,
10:18but they don't have a primary crime scene.Or was she killed on the 460th Avenue address?Did someone take her 430 feet back in this location and kill her there?We don't know.what investigation did they do to find a primary crime scene next to the cornfield or was shekilled right there in the cornfield i highly doubt that i highly doubt someone killed her right inthe rows of corn and there wasn't some other evidence there to establish that we don't havea primary crime scene we'll tell go pass it off and explain it away by oh it's been five weeks
10:53the weather was bad, the corn was tallyou know, they'll find an excuse for everythingthat's not Mr. Bahena's problem, that's their problemthey have to prove it, not himokay, they had the unlimitedresources of the federal government, they had dronesup in the air, they brought a guy in fromDayton, Ohio for the sole purpose
11:17of analyzing the data fromone cell phone, and that's the evidence they put on here. They had unlimited resources.Unlimited resources. Mr. Claver told you in the opening statement, his sheriff was up flyingaround in a helicopter, and they can't even tell you where she was killed. No evidence come offthat stand as to where she was killed. None. No forensic evidence at all. They don't have aneyewitness. They have no witnesses. Zero. None. They talk about a confession. We're going to getto that in a little bit, but we dispute greatly that what they attribute to Christian Bahena asa statement can be characterized as a confession. Absolutely cannot be. Absolutely cannot be.
12:06Motive. Now, motive, Mr. Brown talked about, but you really have to use your common sense here,folks. You really got to think about this one. This man, this man right here, five foot, seveninch, 125 pound illegal immigrant, undocumented immigrant, gets angry at Molly Tibbetts, who hehad never met before, who he was trying to get to know, if you believe that story, and resortsto killing her, stabbing her nine times.or maybe 12, three more times, because he's angry.The only evidence they have of his anger is the story he gave Pamela Romero.The evidence we do have about Christian Bahena is that he's not an angry man,
12:59that he's not violent, that he's a family man, he's hardworking.He came to this country for a reason, and you can bet he wanted to stay in this country.And the concept that he got angry and killed a woman who he had just metdefies any logic. Folks, we've all been rejected in our lives. We've all perhaps have walked up tosomeone, had the courage to ask them on a date, or had the courage to try to get to know someoneand been told no. May have been told no in an epic way, been embarrassed by that person.Common sense tells you that you aren't going to just stab that person, let alone a person likeMolly Tibbetts. It makes no sense. They have no motive as to why this man would commit that act.
13:49And then they have no scientific evidence that connects him to the killing. They want to talkabout the trunk. They want to talk about the cornfield. Both of which, we admit, having herin the trunk and putting her in the cornfield does not mean he killed herthink about that the burden of proof is on the state to prove all that and thatfolks look at what's missing is a reasonable doubt what is a reasonabledoubt the reasonable doubt long and short of it is the judge will tell youthat if after a fair and full consideration of all the evidence, or lack, lack of evidence,okay, if they don't produce the evidence, that's just like evidence you can consider.
14:41Lack of evidence produced by the state. Mr. Bahena doesn't have to produce anything. Hedoesn't have to tell the state anything when he has the opportunity. He doesn't have to,when he's questioned, tell the state about these two masked men. It's not his obligation. It'stheir obligation to prove it. Don't let him shift anything. Don't let him oversimplify and make itsound like he has to do anything. Their burden. You have to be firmly convinced of his guilt asto each and every element, all four, in order to convict him. If not, you must find him not guilty.Now, what does firmly convinced mean? Good question. You're not going to find anywhereare in those instructions where it's defined what firmly convinced means you
15:28have to determine for yourself what that means I would suggest to you that inyour deliberations to be firmly convinced you're going to need to knowthat Christian Bahena did this you can't just think he did this you must knowthat based upon the evidence that they have produced that he killed MollyTibbetts that he committed this crime and the state has proven these elementsyou best know you best not think that's the difference between whether or notyou're firmly convinced instruction 14 defines murder in the first degreeelement number two is that Molly Tibbets died as a result of being stabbed we
16:04admit that there's no doubt about that somebody stabbed her and as a result ofthose stab wounds she's dead no problem but the state has monumental issues withone three and four monumental issues we'll go through those element one whatevidence has the state produced to prove element one they have a drop of blood onthe trunk seal and look at that photo the drop of blood is a centimeter andit's small okay they have her DNA in the trunk and her body in the cornfield thatChristian took him to okay all facts that we don't dispute he testified tothat but what must you believe to establish element number one you must
16:56believe the testimony of Pamela Romero okay now mr. Bahena told them enough toget them to the body. Okay. This was an 11 hour interrogation, 11 hours. Okay. After he had workeda full day at the dairy. Okay. And he works at a dairy. That's hard work. And if you think it'sa coincidence that they waited till the end of the work day to get this guy and bring him backand question him, you got another thing coming. So he'd worked since 4.30 in the morning. Theyget him, he voluntarily agrees to go speak. He's compliant. He's a yes man. He talks toPamela Romero and other officers for 11 hours after working in a dairy where he works, mindyou, 12 hours a day plus, 12 out of every 14 days. He tells them enough to take him
17:54to the body. Why did he do that? Very simple. He was protecting his own. He was protectinghis daughter Iris, he was protecting the mother of Iris, or protecting his daughter Paulinaand the mother Iris.I'm sorry, I misspoke.Now this 11-hour interrogation was recorded.And you can see from the photographs, those are snapshots from the interview, that therewere times where English speakers were in there, okay?Agent Valletta speaks English.
18:32You heard Christian testify the guy standing up was yelling at him in English.Agent Valletta was calling him a liar at the point he's sitting here.Yet, you didn't get the benefit of seeing any of the interviewand judging for yourself the credibility of Christian Bahena's statementor the authenticity of that interview.Think about that.This case had the unlimited resources of the federal government there.FBI, right there.
19:06DCI, right there.These guys are the best of the best that we have.These guys know how to interview.They've handled homicide case after homicide case after homicide case.They've interviewed people over and over and over again.And they send in Pamela Romero, a cop who had a total of about two and a half years experience, whose law enforcement training was only the academy and 16 hours, 16 hours of interrogation and interviewing training.Folks, you spent 12 in jury selection. Christian Bahena spent 12 hours working that day.They sent the most inexperienced officer they could into a marathon interrogation with a suspect in a homicide case that had more attention than they've ever known because she was a quote-unquote native speaker.
20:08now why on earth would they not send in one of those agents who really knew howto interview and interrogate and let mr. Romero do the translation she wasfluent which by the way her saying she's fluent in Spanish is like one of ussaying we're from Iowa therefore we're fluent in English there's a lot ofpeople who speak English that aren't fluent folks that's just the way it isjust because you grow up here doesn't mean you're fluent we can speak thelanguage, but I would submit you wouldn't be the best at translating. You wouldn'tbe the best at interpreting. Agent Valletta wanted to sit behind the
20:45curtain and control the interview, but the problem is when they come here tothe courtroom and want to produce evidence, they can't because now it's allin Spanish. So now the state can sit at the table and sit behind the curtain andproduce the evidence by having Ms. Romero testify, and you folks can't judgethe evidence if that evidence and that interview had been with someone who wasan English speaker that evidence would have been played no doubt about it nodoubt about it but since it's in Spanish we only get to hear bits and pieces fromwhat mr. Romero said and you're told to rely upon that as a confession folks
21:23that's a problem that's sloppy and note when the supposedconfetti came. Remember, he was in that room for several hours. I think they took him in three,four o'clock, maybe five. It doesn't really matter. But what were they insistent on saying?What were they insistent on saying? We're not from immigration. We're not from immigration.We're not from immigration, right? Because they know that that's the one thingthat a Mexican national, an undocumented worker, fears most.And they wanted to put him at ease, and hopefully he would open up.And he didn't.
22:05He kept denying, denying, denying,because he knew that there were problems if he came forward.Iris was in danger. Paulina was in danger.So what did they do?At 11, 11.30 p.m.,They called immigration.When he didn't give them what they wanted, they called immigration.And they put that detainer on him so he couldn't go anywhere.
22:33They didn't get what they wanted, so they put the hold on him.So they weren't there for immigration until they were,until he didn't get what they wanted, until he didn't tell them what they wanted.That's 11, 1130 at night, so now he can't go anywhere.And yet they continue.They continue at him.And you saw pictures. He falls asleep. They wear him down. They wear him down. You heardChristian say that they said things to him. Pamela Romero said things to him. Help yourself.
23:06Help yourself. She was the good cop. She was the nice lady. Help yourself, Christian. Help yourself,Christian. Maybe there was something wrong with you suggesting the blackout. This all makesperfect sense he wanted them out of their hair and when finally she says christian think aboutthe family think about if you were the parent of that little girl that's when he relents and tellshim just enough to take him to the body and gives him this blackout story gives him the story aboutbeing angry that's been spoon fed to him now the bad cops are in the room too classic good cop badI mean, this is straight-off TV.Agent Valletta, right in his face.
23:47What is he, a foot and a half?You're a liar. You're a liar. You're a liar.The tall skinny guy in the back is yelling at him,using words that Christian can't understand.You can assume what those words are.I'm sure they're curse words.But, again, they had the full resources of the federal government,and they couldn't give you any basis to know what's been said there because it
24:15was in Spanish you have to believe Pamela Romero and you saw her up hereher answers were evasive she was non-responsive in many of her answersshe was obviously biased in her answers she couldn't just say yes or no to ananswer she had to try to explain herself and take it in a different direction shewants to get back into law enforcement even though she's out of lawenforcement she'd never done a homicide interview in her career ever what acolossal blunder what a colossal blunder they had the ability to videotape itthey had the ability to let you hear it if they chose to use someone spoke
24:56English and translated it and they didn't do it they didn't do it elementthree and element four you'll find in instructions 17 and 18 and those aremalice a forethought and malice and premeditation now I'm gonna just kind ofveer off just for a second but let's assume for a minute that you do buy intowhat mr. Brown selling if you take mr. behind his story the first one he toldpolice that version of the events that he got angry and just started stabbingMr. Tibbetts. There's absolutely no evidence of premeditation. Did he thinkor ponder upon a matter before acting? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Not a
25:44speck of evidence of premeditation which is required for murder in the firstdegree. Did he deliberate? Did he weigh in one's mind? Did he consider? Did he contemplateto reflect? Absolutely not. That's even if you buy the state's theory. Malice of forethought,a fixed purpose or design to do some physical harm to another, which exists before the actis committed. Again, even if you buy what they're selling, they can't prove malice andthey can't prove premeditation. That would take you to murder second degree and maybevoluntary manslaughter. You folks are smart. You folks are bright. I'm not going to takeyou through those. Instruction number six is you are to decide the facts from the evidence. And
26:29again, this goes back to jury selection. And Mr. Brown asked many of you if you would hold itagainst him if he didn't have video evidence, if he didn't have video of the crime. And of course,there's not video of the crime. Very few places in the country have video surveillance all overthe place. But you should hold against him and hold against the state those times where theyhad the ability to video things, record things, and not produce it. Absolutely should. Becausethat's the true way for you to judge the facts. Mr. Brown talked earlier about the unbiaseddigital evidence, Kevin Horan.What about the ability
27:15to have video evidencethat is unbiasedand able for you toanalyze yourself? And again,I have to come back to Agent Villadaand his statement. We had theunlimited resources of the federalgovernment, the FBI,
27:31who investigate major federal crimes,Homeland Security, they investigateterrorists. They had dronesup in the air.They had guys from Dayton, Ohio doing these fancy calculations on cell phone towers,which, by the way, they did one cell phone tower.They provided you evidence of one cell phone tower, Molly Tibbetts.What about his cell phone tower?
27:52Most importantly, what about Dalton Jack?Victimology. Victimology. Remember that statement?Let's get to know people who are closest to Molly Tibbetts.Let's learn her patterns, her habits, what we're doing, what she does, who she associates with.victimology. Where are Dalton Jack's phone records? If he was in Dubuque, he had a cell phone. Whereare the tower records? No, let's bring in his boss, who's going to come in and testify for him.Where's the unbiased, non-biased records? You saw some records with Dalton Jack because I wastrying to cross-examine them with him. And you saw how that went. You saw the fight with those.
28:30We tried to talk about his text messages between him and Jordan Lamb, between him and Molly Tibbetts.We talked about his affairs.Why on earth would you not just put up Dalton Jack's phone records if he truly was in Dubuque,if he truly worked until 7 p.m.?Why not?Unbiased digital evidence that we couldn't refute if it truly was there.Unlimited resources of the federal government.You don't think this Kevin Horan couldn't have done that?
29:06Why didn't they not produce that for you?You can infer from their lack of producing that evidence that it was damaging to them.And you should.Why not?You heard the testimony of that man, and we'll get to it in a little bit.But they could have, and they chose not to.They could have, and they chose not to.These things are everywhere.
29:25These things are the television of the 21st century.Your cell phone, your smart phone, it's unbelievable.You all know it.You sit around your house and you talk about recipes.You talk about buying a new boat.You talk about buying a gift for someone.And the next thing you know, you're on your smart phone looking up the Internet and there's something pops up that you talked about.It's scary.
29:54You can order something off Amazon, you can go to Hy-Vee.com, you can go to Walmart.com,and you can know that the item you purchased is off the shelf or the item's been shipped,and you can track it in real time.You can know where it is anywhere in this country like that, okay?But the state cannot produce for you a video of Christian Bahena from the sheriff's office to Molly Tibbetts' body.You would think that this man says, I'll take you there, I'll take you there, right?That good policing, that all these years of experience, the best that the state of Iowa has with special agents,the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Division of Homeland Security are here.
30:44They're all carrying these at least, and he gets out of the car supposedly.I'm sure it's a patrol car that has at least a recording camera on itfor when someone gets pulled over or something,that they don't at least take a moment to record him going to the edge of the cornand pointing out the body so you can view for yourself what he's doing.They don't have that.Why not?Let me tell you why not.
31:10Because they had nothing for four weeks, and they were excited,and they cut corners, and they rushed to judgment.That's exactly why.They wanted to close this case, and they wanted to close this case now.Just like when out at the scene, they had Christian in a car.And again, if you want to believe his confession, which is now at, what is it, 6 o'clock the next morning after he was taken from his workplace.And he said, supposedly, according to Pamela Romero, I brought you here, didn't I?Question mark.
31:43That must mean I did it.Question mark.Mr. Brown can saycan fight me on the punctuationcan fight me on whether or not it wasone of those things where he's throwing his hands upsaying I brought you here didn't Ior whether he said I brought you here didn't I
31:58you know sarcasmvocal inflection contextall that stuff matterswhen you are talking to someoneyou can't justsay thatwell Pamela Romero saidhe said I brought you here didn't I
32:14after 24 hours of being awake,they didn't have a recording to show you,didn't have...After they have the body now,they have the body.They have Molly's body.At that point, at least, you'd think there's time out.Let's get somebody on this case now
32:31who really knows what they're doingand do a proper interview.And let's translate it.Let's get the case agent, Valetta, on thisand do a proper interviewbecause we want to wrap this up tight but yet they didn't do it they wanted to just close the bookthe state seems to want you to just take their word for it take pamela romero's word for ittherefore he's guilty you've got to believe everything she said you got to believe that
32:59statement he made was absolutely credible without any corroboration whatsoever to what she saidthis is a murder case a murder case of molly tibbets put it in context what was going on therewho was all there why did they cut the corners that they cut remember this instruction we starttalking about what witnesses witnesses you can believe inconsistent statements their appearancetheir conduct what interest they have in the trial what's their memory that tells you whoyou can believe and who you can't believe. You saw Christian Bahena's testimony. He sat thereyesterday and he gave you his version of the events. Mr. Brown suggests that those versionsof the events were as a result of knowing what the evidence was and having time to rehearse them.
33:50And he says it makes no sense. It makes every bit as much sense as the state's theory that anundocumented immigrant, runs up alongside Molly Tibbets on a highway in broad daylight,gets angry, and decides to stab her.Absolutely does.Let's talk about the video evidence, and here there's a mistake here.The jogger was not seen at 807.She was seen at 745, okay?So 745, she's running north, I think it's on Boundary Street,
34:19in the intersection of East Des Moines Street.The Malibu went by heading east out of town, or east by Logan Collins' house at 8.07 p.m.Agent Reeson said it was three minutes off on his cell phone, so it's about 8.10 p.m.Horan's testimony is that Ms. Tibbetts would have been traveling south and east at 8.20 p.m.I'm going to object. That's not the evidence.Well, Mr. Freese has pointed out that there is something inaccurate on there.talking well can we approach i'm sorry yeah go ahead and continue mr freeze the video evidenceyou have to put together a time frame and you have to ask yourself if this crime could have
35:04been committed by five foot seven inch 125 pound christian bahena in that short time frame couldhe have overpowered this woman could he have stabbed her nine times tossed her in the trunkand then headed south.That makes no sense.Let's look at the facts and apply your common sense.Christian Bahena works 12 hours a day, 12 out of every 14 days.He averages 75 hours a week, 75 hours a week.The other days, the other two days out of every two weeks, he sees his kid.
35:35He has a date the next day.You heard his aunt talk about that.You really want to believe that Christian Bahena,the man you saw on the stand yesterday, the undocumented immigrant who has spent yearsworking in this country, working hard to remain undetected, going to town only when necessary,working under an Anglo name, John Budd, having no history of law enforcement contact,no history of violence, is brazen enough to pick up a woman, abduct her, and maybe kill her in aspan of 10 to 20 minutes. Folks, this was planned, not by him, by someone else. Let's talk about the
36:19DNA evidence. DNA evidence is not helpful to the state, absolutely not. Now understand theDNA evidence is we expect Mr. Bahena's DNA to be in his trunk, right? We would expect that,especially if he was involved with killing Molly Tibbetts.Have they presented you any of Mr. Bahena's DNA from that trunk?No, not one speck.We expect Ms. Tibbetts' DNA to be an honored person.Only Ms. Tibbetts and Christian's DNA was submitted to the lab.Now, what the problem is with the DNA is exactly what the reports tell us,
37:02And then as explained by Dr. Spence, and that is, first of all, remember the testimony was that the investigators and the lab didn't test the trunk liners until a year later at Mr. Brown's request.So investigators didn't deem it even relevant to try to find someone else's blood, Molly's blood, inside the trunk.They had it on the trunk liner, on the gasket, that little piece of blood you saw,but not to see if she was actually, her DNA was in the trunk.We're glad that Mr. Brown asked for that because it gave us some very compelling findings.Okay.Now, the DNA that was found on the trunk liner, okay, there's item 59-3,and that's a really small, less than a dime-sized cutting that Tara Scott took.
37:57okay, small. It had 10 accounted for alleles, those little identifying markers that Dr. Spencetalked about, that were not from Christian Bahena or Ms. Tibbetts. They came from an unknown malebeyond the major presence of Ms. Tibbetts. So an unknown male was there. And we know thatfrom the Ms. Scott herself, it was a mixture of three people, three people. And what's importantis Miss Tibbetts' DNA is on that very small spot mixed in with three people, okay? Right there inthat very small spot. Item 60.1, there were 14 unaccounted for alleles, not Miss Tibbetts andnot Christian. 61.1, five unaccounted for alleles. Can't tell if it's male or female. Basically whatit tells us is there's other people's DNA in that trunk mixed with Molly Tibbetts in those very
38:54small portions, not somewhere else in the trunk, but right where Molly Tibbetts' body was, in theexact spot. Why is that important? Because we have no other DNA to exclude anyone, folks.Again, victimology. Why on earth would you not take Dalton Jack's DNA? Remember that?Crime scene team come into 622 West Des Moines Street. They take a Dr. Pepper can. They take anArizona tea can, and they swab everybody in Molly's family for DNA.Of course Molly's DNA is going to be on that can.Why were they even in that bedroom?They were thinking that maybe she was in that bedroom with someone else.
39:36They wanted to get her DNA.Of course her DNA was going to be on that can.Why would they need to know that?Was she going to abduct herself?They were in that room to see if someone else was in that room,yet they did nothing to get DNA to exclude people.That's the funny thing about DNA.It doesn't need to point the finger at anyone, but it can exclude people.
39:59Would that DNA have excluded Dalton Jack, maybe?Maybe.But we don't know because we cut that corner.We just wrote him off right away.July 25th, the testimony was that he was cleared.But then on July 27th, they interviewed him again, and he admitted that he lied.He had withheld information.And he told you here on the stand, he didn't deem that him having an affair on Molly was pertinent.
40:26He didn't think it was relevant to the case.Well, the agent sure did.That's why he was called back to talk about it.But they didn't test anybody's DNA other than Christian and the Tibbetts family and all the Hispanics at Yarrabee Farms.They did a canvas of the entire town and didn't test anyone else's DNA.No one else's.why would you not do that? So you can at least exclude people. You had the resources of thefederal government there, folks. DNA is an exclusion tool. It acts like a funnel. It helps us figure
41:01out who couldn't do it as well. Also recall that there were no fingerprints in that trunk.Christian Bahena's fingerprints were excluded from being in that trunk. Someone else's fingerprintswere in that trunk. And in fact, the fingerprint cards that they were sent in were done so sloppilyThat they couldn't compare the other fingerprints against it, and he didn't ask to do anymoreRemember Tara Scott's report and a young's report were uploaded and I made availableTo agent Vilda he had him right there. It is a disposal. He could have done more investigationAnytime he wanted he didn't he didn't they didn't get you any more digital evidenceThey didn't get you any video. They didn't get you any DNA any more fingerprints
41:44They just say, believe us.And the testimony yesterday, the DCI agents on there after the FBI says,hey, go get some of this blood from 2384 460th Avenue, a mile from where Molly is found.And they get it, and they don't test that either.Even though the FBI says do it, Agent Villada doesn't do that.And that was days and days and weeks before Molly was found.Don't do that either.That brings us to Dalton Jack.
42:14Ask yourself this question.Why did the state even call Dalton Jack as a witness?Think about that.What do you have to add?He wasn't in town during the abduction.He didn't know who committed any of the elements.He wasn't here.That's what they're saying.
42:31He was in Dubuque.He had nothing to add.He wasn't a witness.Where was he?Why?What did he know, really?They knew he was a problem.they knew from the jump that this guy was a problem that's why they investigated him and
42:47questioned him after they cleared him that's why they called his boss today because they heard histestimony remember that jury instruction whether a witness has made inconsistent statements remembermr jack didn't want to be here didn't want to be here for the love of his life to make sure she hadjustice. What kind of person is that? Well, it's the same kind of person that would have an affairon the love of his life while he was planning on getting engaged to her. It's the same kindof person that would portray their relationship as rosy to the public while it's rocky and private.It's the same kind of person who was losing control of Molly. She was going to fly. She wasoutgrowing this man. He was angry. He has a history of being a fighter. And they knew
43:40he was a problem. All Dalton Jack had to add was his testimony that he did not do this.And his alibi that the state gave you was his inconsistent statements. No video camerasfrom the hotel. Not a single receipt that shows that he was at Walmart or got gas orwent to the gas station they got any beer nothing no time cards cell phone towers we talked aboutthose we know where miss tibbets was but we don't know where dalton was easily found ulysses felixyou heard that name come up a number of times ulysses felix knew both mr bahena and he knewdalton jack iris gamboa's cousin he knew miss tibbets he knew the defendant and bid to hishouse over at night that's the connection ulysses felix is the same one who moved in with the tibbets
44:26family after his parents took off. That's how people knew where to find this guy.We don't dispute Kevin Horn's testimony, not at all. We just want to know why itwasn't done for Dalton Jack. This we think is a big point. Dalton Jack textsMiss Tibbets at 818 p.m. says my dad a straight-up won't work. We think at 828p.m. within 10 minutes Miss Tibbets is in the trunk and driving at a high speedaway from Brooklyn. Within 10 minutes, within 10 minutes of her being abductedwith her being killed he mysteriously sends a text that says my data straightup won't work it won't work and ten minutes later she's in a trunk going at
45:08a high rate of speed away from Brooklyn Iowa where's that text sent from where'sthe tower information on that that's a suspicious text if I've ever seen onefolks it sounds like someone trying to cover is that his tracks but believe hisboss. Don't believe unbiased evidence. Remember his testimony that Jack still can't figure outwhat he was doing that night. We asked him, do you recall telling the agents that you showeredthat night and washed brush hour one in your room? He said, I'm sorry, Jack. I'm going to object.This transcript is not in evidence. Sustained, Mr. Freese. Well, we asked him, did you have angerproblems? He answered, I did in high school. You like to fight? He said, yes. We asked him,
45:50Do you recall telling agents on July 18th you were in your room showering and watching Rush Hour 1?He said, is that the night of the 18th?He said, question, yes.He said, yes, I do.But then he come to court and said, your testimony today is you were outside drinking beers with the boys.Answer, yes.Question, I asked him.So he told the officers on the 27th of July a different story, right?
46:15I suppose so.This guy gave different story after different story.I asked him, who's that woman you had an affair with? Her name was Jordan Lamb. What'd you tellthe officers the reason you withheld that information? I didn't deem it necessary. Ididn't think it was pertinent to the case. I went on to ask him, you didn't want Molly moving inwith friends. You wanted her moving in with you. Answer, I was upset that she went back on the planthat I had been going with for the last year and a half after that. You were angry, I asked.He said, correct.
46:47Finally, when I asked him about his temper, I said, it was short-fused, wasn't it, Mr. Jack?And he said, yes.Liked to fight?Yes.Ron Pexa.What do we do with Ron Pexa?Ron Pexa's address is 2410 460th Avenue, less than half a mile where the body was found.His property is adjacent to the property where Molly was discovered.
47:09Jamie Slife came in and told her truth about who this man was.You needed to hear what she had to say.Because law enforcement would not.She called in the tip line, called the sheriff directly.No one would listen to her.Now, did Ron Pexa have anything to do with the demise of Molly Tibbetts?We don't know.But what we do know is that no one investigated him.
47:32There were separate tips.Someone called in, called him a maniac.Someone said he had a torture room.That didn't come from Jamie's life.But what Trent Villa to do with that?You know, we would walk around and we'd talk to him a little bit.didn't document it in a report didn't document it in video or audio recording it's because he'staking care of his own ron pexa is a cop christian bahena in his statement was taking care of his
47:57own he was protecting his daughter and his daughter's mother but let's talk about 460thavenue 460th avenue i would submit to you was not just some random place ron pexa's house is onthere. Now whether or not he had anything to do with it, we don't know. What we do know is thatpeople were calling him with tips that he was some sort of sexual deviant. It was known. What we alsoknow is that officers met with Darian Davis, who was mowing that cemetery on 460th Street. We knowthat Darian Davis associates with Jackson Icorn. The testimony was that Jackson Icorn was in thecemetery in Brooklyn, and one of his stories was he was helping Darian Davis mow at the timemolly tibbets was jogging that night ironic that this guy happens to be mowing two different
48:44cemeteries both where molly tibbets is associated i don't think so i'm not saying mr davis hasanything to do with it but people knew those two cemeteries were connected 460th avenue is nota coincidence the 2384 again less than a mile from where molly was found four buckle swabsjust on the other side of Ron Peck's housewere taken by Agent Bublitz at the FBI directionand never tested.The route taken by Christian Bahenaafter Molly was abducted
49:21was straight down 200th Street, hard left,and then down through this 430-foot drivewayand through long grass to this cornfield.This man had no idea where he was going.That route was direct.Five or six miles south, two and a half miles east, then 110 yards in.That is not coincidence.He would have no idea where this was.
49:48He was directed to go there.We think Christian's confession or his statement wasn't accurate.It was false.You see here, he fell asleep three different times.Once more, he's getting pressed.False sleep again.Getting pressed.After hours and hours.
50:04It was an 11-hour interrogation.He was isolated from his family.He was driven to the sheriff's office and not allowed to bring his own vehicle.Police indicated that confessing might lead to a more lenient sentence.Help yourself, Christian.Police firmly stated...I'm going to object. That's not the evidence.I don't believe there's been anybody testifying to that.
50:24The client did, Your Honor.Overruled. Go ahead. Proceed, Mr. Christ.Our client said very clearly that they said, help yourself.Police firmly stated that the evidence against Christian was overwhelming.Therefore, resistance was futile.He was deliberately picked up at the end of the dayand deliberately interrogated during the time where he would have been sleeping.They lied to him.
50:45They employed trickery or dishonesty.They said, we're not here for immigration, and they called immigration.They suggested psychological excuses for the offense.That's where the blackout comes.They took steps to enhance their authority while interrogating the suspect.That's where Trent Valletta gets right in his face.They put three people in his face.They made Christian think that one or more interrogators were Christian's friends
51:12and were trying to help him or her, or him in this case.Character evidence.You heard a lot of people talking about Christian Bahena.His cousin bought him a car.He paid it on time, first of the month.People said he was not a violent person.This would not be like him.He didn't want to be detected.
51:32He just wanted to take care of his family, take care of his daughter, work hard.This makes no sense.Every one of those people who testified were credible, they were believable,and buttressed everything this man said in his credible testimony.If the evidence of such good character as to nonviolence is good enough,together with all the other evidence to raise a reasonable doubt as to his guilt,he must be acquitted if these people's testimony is that believable and i submit it is you mustacquit him when you couple that with their lack of evidence folks that's the verdict form you're
52:16going to get judges instructed you on how to deliberate and what your verdict must be wesubmit it should be not guilty so remember that man right there is the one you have to judgeThat man, the father, the son, the man who come here to make a better life for those around him.He's not a monster.You saw him testify.You saw him credibly testify.This case was closed.This case is police logic 101, okay?
52:46Police logic 101 is opposite of the analysis that you have to do.the analysis you have to dois you take all the evidence that you've heardand you boil it downand you determine if that evidenceproduces guilt beyond a reasonable doubtthat's not what the police didwhat the police did
53:09is they had four weeks of nothingand then they picked this manand who better to pick than an undocumented immigrantwho doesn't speak the languagewho has nobody here to speak ofto help him outAnd then you cherry-pick the facts that fit your theory, and you close the case.Case closed, but the case is not solved.
53:34Folks, there is serious doubt in this case, serious doubt.Christian Bahena-Rivera has not had the case against him proven beyond a reasonable doubt.and the only verdict that you can come up with under these facts and what you heard right thereis not guilty thank you mr brown on behalf of the state of iowa you may give your rebuttalyes you may proceed i know we're into the lunch hour so i'm not going to try to takea lot of time but there are a few things i have to touch on that relates to issues thatwere raised here by Mr. Freese and his closing. So the first thing I want to do is talk aboutinvestigation. There was an allegation here that there was a pressure to close the case.
54:21The officers that worked this case, Agent Valletta, other agents from the DCI that worked it,worked this case, worked every angle, worked every lead. There's pressure to close any casewhenever they have somebody particularly like Molly Tibbetts or any someone, any other personwho's been the victim of a violent crime. But the pressure to close the case doesn't mean they goout and create their own evidence. If that were true, why wouldn't they just go ahead and do thatright at the beginning? Go point the finger at somebody else, do something, create something,plant something. That's not what they did, right? They go and chase the leads. They look at Molly'sinner circle, right? They look at Dalton. They look at people who know her. They search 622 West
55:10Des Moines. They're looking for signs of violence, signs of breaking and entering, things of thatnature. They don't find it, right? They're trying to shake this tree as hard as they can to see ifthere's any leads that fall, and there's not. Until when? Until they get the video, right? That's thelead that breaks this case. They follow it. They find the defendant, right? They bring him in. Hemakes the admissions he makes. The blood is in the trunk. What are the officers supposed to do?Start looking at Ron Pexa? Start going out and just checking other people to see if maybe,you know, they had something to say about it? I mean, come on. The officers in this case,the agents in this case, the deputy sheriffs, the FBI agents, all the people who were involved
56:02followed the evidence. And that's what we're asking you to do. The defendant was not targeted.That's a word that Mr. Freeze used. The defendant here was not targeted. All right. The evidenceled officers to him. The video evidence led officers to Christian Bahena Rivera. They didn'ttarget him. He targeted himself by becoming involved in this. No knife. I think he's mentioningthis from 622 West Des Moines and the weapons. It's not a crime scene. And by the way, there'sno evidence that Blake Jack or Dalton Jack are involved. Goodness, they ran Dalton Jack to theground in this case. They interviewed him multiple times. They looked at him, right? They found outwhat his history was, that he'd had this brief fling with another girl named Jordan. And by the
56:59way, when you're 18 years old, it's not like he's, I've been married 32 years and I got three kids,okay? That'd be a lot different, let me tell you, okay? But he's a kid, right? What do you do ifyou're not getting along with your girlfriend? You break up with her, right? You don't take herout in the country and stab her to death. Does that make sense to you? Goodness. The primarycrime scene, we don't know. Well, guess who had control of that? This guy. All right. Who's gotcontrol of the Malibu for almost four plus weeks? The defendant, right? He's got control of MollyTibbetts. He controls where she went. He controls where her body got dumped. He controls what thephysical evidence is in his trunk. He does. The reason why we don't have whatever a primary crime
57:50scene is, is because of the defendant. You have to factor that in. Motive. He's not angry. Are youserious? He told us he was angry. The words came from his mouth. The defendant is a yes man. Notyesterday. He wasn't. He gave you a whole new story. Mr. Freeze touched on that about IrisGamboa, about his daughter, about all of those things. We'll talk about that here in just asecond. He's not a yes man yesterday. That's for sure. So tell law enforcement then about theseother two men, right? So you're in a place where you can be protected. So tell them. I mean, youhave multiple officers at the Powysheet County Sheriff's Office, you're probably the one of themost secure places in the county. You know, he's there with law enforcement. He could ask for help.
58:45All he has to say is, okay, listen guys, I know, I think I know what happened. There's these othertwo guys, these other masked men that are covered, that were in my house, right? I don't really knowwho they are. I'm scared for my daughter. I'm scared for Iris. Can you please help me? If youhelp me. If you get them here, I'll tell you what I know. But he didn't do that. You know why?Because it didn't happen. Why use Pamela Romero? Let me tell you what the flip side of this wouldbe. So let's say officers went in, like the picture that you saw, with Agent Valletta andthe FBI agent. Neither speak Spanish. Or we have somebody else. There was a mention of Jeff Fink,who was an officer from Iowa City who's not a native speaker.
59:31So let's say we try, you know, Officer Romero, you're just not experienced enough, okay?By the way, you saw her testify.She's an impressive young woman, right?I mean, she did a phenomenal job in recounting what the defendant said.The whole interview is in Spanish.But why not take advantage of a native speaker?why not do that then we have a clean conversation it's not going through aninterpreter you know it's there's there's none of that you have it and she
01:00:08can they come out and say this is what he said that's why we didn't show youthe video it's in Spanish doesn't that make sense if we had used officer Finkor if we had used agent Valletta then it would be oh hey wait a second didn'tthey have a native speaker right there why not use officer Romero we know she's not experiencedbut why not use her the flip would just be this true but the officers chose to use the nativespeaker that knew Spanish that was her first language so she could understand what thedefendant was telling her and relay that to investigators you know he wasn't so worn downthat he couldn't lead them to molly tibbets that's true yeah he does they give him rest by the way i
01:00:57think officer romero talks about nine times that they took breaks during the day so it's not likean 11 hour interview where he's got somebody in his grill the whole night i mean he's sittingthere at a table he does get a chance to take a break he gets a chance to eat they're good to himin that sense they are asking him hard questions which i would hope officers would do under thesecircumstances. Dalton Jack, listen, Dalton Jack was in Dubuque, okay? He was working there actuallythe day before. I think he was in Iowa County working. That's what his boss said this morning.But Dalton Jack is in Dubuque. You know, phone records, people put him there. By the way, if he'soff at seven, right, how's he going to get back to do anything? And he's going to have to, what,
01:01:43take Christian Rivera's car if somebody has no idea and, what, go and chase down Molly wherehe doesn't know where she is and what he's going to teleport himself back here in you know lessthan an hour I mean it's over a two-hour drive from where he was working to here plus he had noreason no reason if the defendant's DNA is in his trunk the response is of course it is if we wouldhave found Christian Rivera's DNA in the trunk of course it is it's his car it's a push it's likethe fingerprints that they talked about a little bit later you know people can touch things andfingerprints can be there on a it was and it was on items that were in the trunk the fingerprintexpert doesn't know where they come from doesn't know how they got there they're not associated
01:02:30other than being in the trunk they could also be molly tibbets's by the way remember hers are sodestroyed that because she was decomposed and then so it means nothingit did it had you know all these things that that mr. freeze brings up have tomatter right he's poking holes punching at our case you know telling you thesethings but you whenever you sit back there if you evaluate them they have tomatter Ron Paxson is six seven he doesn't describe the men in his housethat tall. Totally inconsistent with that. Ulysses Felix, where is he? There's noevidence that he's associated with Ron Pex or Dalton Jack or anybody else that
01:03:14they're throwing stones at over here with regard to who may be involved. Thereis no false confession for goodness sakes. If the defendant falsely confesseshow does he take them to Molly Tibbetts? He knows where she's at. It's the onepiece of evidence in this case the one circumstance that completely cuts thatargument down to the ground so motive there was another motive here a sexualone that we know about that we can look at this is the document that shows thecrime scene diagram Molly Tibbetts his body if you recall her legs were spreadapart and her knees were up and her underwear and her shorts were off they
01:03:58They were at a different spot.Her jogging bra is pushed up around her neck.The defendant says that he left her with her clothes on.That is clearly not true.The defendant says, before we get to that, he also says in his interview that she is hot or attractive.The way that it was interpreted by Romero was that Molly Tibbetts, that he said that she was hot.That's why he was encountering her, because he found her attractive.That's why he chased her down.
01:04:31That's why he stopped on the road, right?He saw a pretty girl, and it drew his attention.Molly is found with no shorts or underwear.Her jogging bra, like I said, is pushed up around her neck, and her legs are spread apart.That would all suggest a sexual motive here.Guess who does not have a sexual motive?Dalton Jack or anyone else that's been raised here by the defense.The defendant wanted to encounter Molly Tibbetts by his own admission because he said that she was hot or attractive.
01:05:04And we have physical evidence at the scene that would suggest that there is also a sexual motive here that corroborates the defendant's involvement.She was found in that condition under the corn stalks, and he testified that she was clothed.He kept, that's what he said, but we know that's not true.Look at the corn stalks.they're not disturbed. Look at it. There they are. The corn stalks don't appear to have beendisturbed. His testimony cannot be true based upon the evidence near Molly, which means thesexual motive is there, that her clothes were off, that he took them off, that he was there by hisown admission, and we have physical evidence at the scene of the clothes being off and the corn
01:05:51not being disturbed. It all provides another reason, which excludes other people. So whyconsider it? Again, I've mentioned this already. Why consider a sexual motive here? There's anothercircumstance. That's another circumstance that removes Dalton Jack, who they pointed the fingerat repeatedly in this case, or anyone associated with him. It also excludes the two phantom menstory. By the defendant's own admission, there was no sexual motive there. There was no evidence ofthat. So these two phantom men that show up at his apartment that he can't identify, exclude it,right? I mean, it supports it. It supports the sexual motive. These guys didn't have that.Dalton Jack didn't have that. It's consistent with the defendant's statement to Pamela Romero,
01:06:36that he found her attractive, that he had found her hot. That's why he encountered her on theroadside. All right. The defendant's testimony here is unbelievable. Mr. Freeze has touched onsome of this with regard to Iris Gamboa, to the daughter. Let's look at that. Why would he createa new story? Okay. Why would he do that? He had the opportunity, by the way, to sit here in thiscase, to view the evidence, to think about the evidence. He knows DNA puts him or puts Molly inthe trunk of his vehicle. He now knows that. He did not know that at the time of the interviewwith Pamela Romero. He now knows multiple videos place him near Molly within seconds of runningthrough the area whenever she was on boundary. We see his car within about 25 or 30 seconds after
01:07:26that. He knows after sitting through all this evidence, he's under a pretty big rock, right?And he's got to come up with something else. He's got to come up with a story to describe or explainaway why he led the officers to the body, right? So what's he come up with? What's the context ofthis? He's now seen all the evidence against him. His statement with Romero ended with himcharged with murder, right? He tried to give them a story. He told them what happened,right? Which is probably a lot closer to the truth, but now he knows that got him charged.He finds out later, as Mr. Freeze pointed out, that the DNA didn't come in until later, that Molly's blood is in the trunk.He has had access to all the evidence in this case.
01:08:15He has had access to the video.He knows his car puts him there.So he knows all that.That's the context here that we're dealing with.The defendant's testimony that two men killed Molly is totally unsupported by any other evidence in the case.Totally.He says that the two men that showed up at his house or his trailer are covered head to toe.He can't ID them, right?
01:08:46He covers them completely.This is the middle of July, right?And he says they're in sweaters and pants with stocking hats that cover their face.He can't identify them, right?Is that believable?The other thing that might identify these men is the vehicle that they were driving.He never puts them in a car.They just randomly select him out of thin air, and they appear out of nowhere to select him as the person.
01:09:17And then what?They hang out at the trailer for a while.he's not real specific about that and then not only do they appear out of nowhere then theyvanish into thin air once they get out to the field and he can't identify them it's simplynot believable these phantom men think about this leave the only eyewitness to a murderthey are attacking molly tibbets on the road that's what he said to you whenever he testifiedand they stabbed her and they put her in the trunk why not kill him why not takehim out there's no connection between these two they leave the only eyewitness
01:09:57with the vehicle according to him they leave these phantom men leave him with acell phone that's what he said actually to I think he says Molly's cell phone isin the trunk as well so they just vanished out of thin air walk away in acornfield after killing this young woman and they leave him with transportation and a cell phonethat makes no sense at all why would they do that why would they even involve him why not just takeout christian bahena rivera right there with molly they've got a gun they've got a knifetake him out pile his body into the cornfield why not do that why do they need him in the firstplace. It makes no sense. He's not thinking about that. You know why it doesn't make sense? Because
01:10:45it's not true. It's not true. He conveniently throws in the name Jack. Did you catch thatyesterday whenever he was testifying? One of the guys I think is in the back seat and one of theguys says, come on, Jack. So the one guy that they're pointing the finger at, the chief one,happens to have that last name. He throws that in. You got to ask yourself if that makes anysense at all? Or is he just trying to point the finger at Dalton Jack to say that's who it wasthat was there and that took Molly on the roadside? They have spent parts of two days inthis trial trying to identify Dalton Jack as the person with the motive and the opportunityto kill Molly. Dalton Jack is alibied, ladies and gentlemen. He did not do this. He didn't.
01:11:37he's working in Dubuque so now his boss is going to come in here and make up records andand not be truthful with you for what why would he do that why I mean Dalton Jack is alibied he'sworking he's working on a bridge he got off at seven he went back to the motel he grew up withhis co-workers, Dalton Jack is alibi. Dalton Jack did not do this. If other men killed Molly,which is what the defense has put on here, what purpose would it serve then to include thefollowing statements here? We've already talked about this in my first close, but what would itserve to include the following in these statements to the police? That Molly had rebuked him,that molly had you didn't want anything to do with him that molly had threatened to call the police
01:12:31and that he was angry how does that fit in with the what he claims is the real narrative thatthese two unknown men that were masked grabbed her and made him take her to the cornfield itdoesn't fit there's no reason to to offer it he's trying to offer a reason to the officersas to why that happened. These statements only fit with nobody else present and with what theevidence was whenever he testified first that there were not two other men in the car and thathe acted alone. There is no evidence here that he told Iris Gamboa anything about a threat,right? He testified here. The reason why he didn't tell the officers about the two men thatcame to his trailer that he can't identify is because they had threatened Iris and they had
01:13:22threatened his daughter. Iris Gamboa testified. Did you hear any testimony from her? She's calledby the defense. Any testimony from her that, oh yeah, he told me? He told me what happened? He wasfearful for my safety. He was fearful for our daughter's safety. He didn't say a word about it.There's no evidence in this case that he took any steps to protect his child or Iris. Iris nevertestified about a threat. So ask yourself, why? And my suggestion is, it didn't happen. There wasno threat. There were no two men. He's made these men up. He's trying to get out from underneaththat very big rock. He had a chance in this case to tell the police about the two men. He chose notto do that. If you're taking any of his statements as true than he testified to yesterday,
01:14:12the sheriff's office is a well-protected place he had a chance to tell theofficers that he was even encouraged at multiple times by officer Romero isthere more is there more right she keeps coming back to him right he has plentyof opportunity to do it and he chooses not to do that why did he choose not todo that he claims to protect his daughter and his his girlfriend who hehad his daughter with the best place to get that protection would be from the police and he didn'tdo it you know why he didn't do it because it did not happen that way that's what it provesall right these are the elements of murder in the first degree each of these elements has been
01:14:56proven beyond a reasonable doubt all of the evidence here points to one person and that isthe defendant, Christian Bahena Rivera. No one else had a reason to kill Molly Tibbetts.His reason is not a good one. Like I said before, when would it ever be a good idea or you wouldever, ever have a good reason to kill somebody in this way? But that's what happened. And he told usthat's what happened. He was angry. He was rejected and he got angry at her and he killed her. That'swhat cost Molly Tibbetts her life. The video, the confession, and the physical evidencein this case tell the story. There should be no reasonable doubt in your mind. Lookingat all this evidence, you must be firmly convinced. I would encourage you to use your common sense.
01:15:58at this case. Judge it with your backgrounds. Look at it. Evaluate it. We welcome that. Use yourcommon sense whenever you look at this. And at the end of the day, right, at the end of all of that,ask yourself, are you firmly convinced? Are you firmly convinced that Christian Behenia Riveramurdered Molly Tibbetts? The evidence in this case, there's a mountain of it. It is overwhelming.And it leads you to the only conclusion.You follow it, follow it down the path.All of the evidence in this case.Christian Bahena Rivera took this young woman's life.
01:16:42This is Molly.He took her.He committed the murder.Why?Why would this happen?Because he's angry?Because he wants to have some sort of relationship with her?Because he finds her hot or attractive?
01:16:56Goodness.That's what happened.molly's no longer on this planet because of the defendant all of the evidence here points to oneverdict the defendant christian bahena rivera is guilty of murder in the first degree that's whatyour verdict should be after your deliberations in this case christian bahena rivera is guiltyof the first degree murder of molly tibbets that is your verdict thank you at this time mr bahenaI'm going to ask that you rise along with your attorneys, please.And I would ask that the court attendant read the jury's verdict.
01:17:35We, the jury, find the defendant, Christian Bahena Rivera, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree.Today is the date and time set for sentencing in this matter.Mr. Brown, do you know of any legal reason why we should not proceed to sentencing here today?No, Your Honor.Do either one of the freezes know any reason why we should not proceed to sentencing here today?No, Your Honor. Mr. Bahena-Rivera, let me ask you, do you know of any reason why we shouldnot proceed with your sentencing here today? No. We'll begin then with the state regardingthe matter of sentence and punishment. Mr. Brown, do you have anything you'd like to say
01:18:11and or victim impact statement? Judge, it's my understanding that victim impact statement shouldcome after allocution of the defendant. Is that correct? Sure. All right. As far as a recommendationon behalf of the state, I know the court is aware that this has been a very long haul,In this case, it's been a little bit over three years since Molly was found in August of 2018,and a little bit longer than that when her life was taken by the defendant.The jury here convicted the defendant of the crime of murder in the first degree.As the court is aware, there is no discretion in sentencing.Mr. Bahana-Rivera is going to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
01:18:52And I would tell the court that based upon the facts and circumstances of this case, it is very well deserved.The facts and circumstances in this case, as the court knows, you sat through the trial, you know what the evidence is in this case, were overwhelming as it relates to the defendant.And quite honestly, Judge, there's a victim impact statement from the mother of Molly Tibbets, Laura Calderwood,that if the court needs any further justification for why that sentence is warranted in the stateof Iowa, she'd look no further than that victim impact statement that she provided to the courtthat will be read a little bit later. So we would ask the court impose that mandatory sentence uponthe defendant. We would also ask that you order an amount of $150,000 pursuant to Iowa Code Section903b since this crime involved the death of molly tibbets and that the file is quite thick in this
01:19:47case i don't know if there's been other pecuniary damage statements that have been filed but ifthere are we would ask that you enter an order at that amount and also if you can leave it openan additional 30 days for us to finalize any other amounts that the court may order as it relates toto any pecuniary damages that would be warranted pursuant to statute.So with that, Judge, we would ask that you impose that sentenceand, again, indicate to the court that we feel that it is very well justified.Thank you.Thank you, Mr. Brown.
01:20:20Mr. Fries, on behalf of Mr. Bahena-Rivera, anything you wish to say at this time?Your Honor, given the mandatory nature of the sentence, we have nothing to say.Thank you.Mr. Bahena-Rivera, you're not required to say anything to me,but I want to afford you the opportunity.Do you have anything you wish to say to me prior to my announcing what I'm going to do here today?No, thank you.With that then, we may proceed to the victim impact statement.
01:20:42Judge, we have just one victim impact statement.It's from Laura Calderwood, who is the mother of Molly Tibbetts.It will be read by Sarah Arms, who is the victim witness coordinator in my office.Mr. Rivera, I come here today not because I feel the need to address you.However, I come here to give a voice to our daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin, and friend, Molly Cecilia Tibbetts.Molly was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the evening of July 18th, and you chose to violently and statistically end that life.I want to address the chain of events you set off on the morning of August 18th afteryou led authorities to Molly's remains in a cornfield.
01:21:41Do you know what it's like, Mr. Rivera, to be woken up by your youngest son, Scott, tellingyou the Sheriff needs to talk to us?Scott and I stood in the entrance of our home where Sheriffs Tom Kriegel and Matt Mushmanstood with tears in their eyes it took them a minute to find the words to saywe hoped for a different results however we found molly's remains todayi thanked them for their service and they left because there was still a lot of work to be donei led scott whose eyes were brimming with tears to the living room and sat him down on the couchscott i said i am so sorry i'm going to call aunt billy over to the house to be with you
01:22:31because mom has a lot of work to do next i needed to tell my son jake jake was in his apartment iniowa city and i did not want him to hear that his sister was not coming home on the news knowing mysister Kim was headed to Iowa City for work I called her and said Kim theyfound Molly's remains this morning and I need you to pick Jacob and bring himhome. It was a race against the clock to notify all the people who cared sodeeply for Molly that she was not coming home. It was very important to notify thepeople who cared deeply about Molly so they did not hear this on the news.Imagine what it's like to call Molly's father, Rob, who resides in Fresno, California, and say, Rob, I am so sorry to have to tell you this, but they found Molly's remains this morning, and I need you to come back to Iowa.
01:23:33Can you imagine, Mr. Rivera, as a father, having Paulina's mother taken away from you and to have to tell your daughter that she will never come home?however the most difficult person to tell was molly's grandmother and my mother judy calderwoodjudy truly believed her granddaughter would be found alive because who could harm such a beautifulvibrant young woman so full of life and promise who could harm judy's precious granddaughterlet alone brutally murder her and dump her body in a cornfield this washeartbreaking news that needed to be delivered in person I entered mymother's home and she greeted me with a big smile and asked if I wanted a cup ofcoffee there certainly was no easy way to tell her the news however it had to
01:24:34be done before her phone started ringing with loved ones sending theircondolences. I very quietly and softly said, Mom, I have some bad news. They found Molly's body thismorning, but we know where she is now. Judy Calderwood's unwavering faith had been brutallyshattered by your senseless act of violence. Can you imagine Mr. Rivera sitting across the tablefrom your Madre and telling her Paulina is never coming home? I am aware that youknow Ulysses Felix Sandoval and his family. Uly, as I call him, was aclassmate and a friend of my son Scott. Do you know Uly was at the pressconference where authorities announced that you, Christian Bahena-Rivera, had
01:25:30had been charged with the murder of Molly Tibbetts,Yulee immediately started crying,but knew that he needed to call his madrebefore she heard it on the news.The Felix Sandoval family was devastated.How could this young man they fed and fosteredbe responsible for such a heinous crime?Do you know, Mr. Rivera,
01:25:55that Yulee's parents had to leave Brooklynbecause they were receiving death threats?Do you know Yuli lived in our homefor his last year of high schoolso he could finish his senior year and play sports?However, Yuli's parents did not get to experiencehis senior year with him because of your senseless act.Because of your act, your then employer, Craig Lane,
01:26:21lost all his employees because those workerswere afraid of what would happen to them. Because of your act, Dalton Jack will never get to giveMolly the engagement ring he had purchased for her. Because of your act, Molly's father Rob willnever get to walk his only daughter down the aisle. Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never getto see my daughter become a mother. I do hope one day Paulina has opportunity tobecome a mother but how will she ever explain to her children who theirgrandfather is. This is the legacy you left behind for your only child Mr.Rivera. I don't know whose situation is worse. Based on the jury's guilty verdict
01:27:16entered on the 28th day of May, 2021, it is the finding of this court that the defendant is guiltyand has now ordered a judge to decree that the defendant is guilty of the crime of murderin the first degree. Mr. Bahena-Rivera, I want to inform you that I've considered all the sentencingoptions provided for in chapters 901 and 907 of the Iowa Code, and my judgment relative tosentence is based on that which provides maximum opportunity for your rehabilitation, at the sametime protect the community from further offenses by you and others. Mr. Bahino-Rivera, you and youalone forever change the lives of those who love Molly Timmons. And for that, you and you alonewill receive the following sentence. It is the order and judgment of this court acting pursuant
01:28:09to the provisions of Section 902 of the Code of Iowa that the defendant be, he is herebycommitted to the custody of Iowa Department of Crimes for a lifetime sentence with noeligibility for parole.It is further ordered that the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale, Iowais designated as a reception center to which the defendant is to be delivered by the sheriffof Powesheet County or his designee.court further orders as follows the defendant shall pay $150,000 to theheirs at law of Molly Tibbetts pursuant to Iowa Code section 81 you are required
01:28:52to submit a DNA sample pursuant to the request of the state the state is given30 days from today's state date to file any restitution statements or clarifyany that have been filed and once that is filed should there be any the defensewill then have 15 days to file any objections again should there be any.Mr. Bahena Vera, I've selected this particular sentence for you afterconsidering the nature of the offense committed by you, the harm to the victimand the victim's family, your need for rehabilitation and the necessity forfor protecting the community from further offenses by you and others.
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