Crimeatorium
Verdict: The State of Iowa vs Cristhian Bahena Rivera | The Murder of Mollie Tibbetts
Tue, 14 Jan 2025
Defense closing statement, prosecution rebuttal closing, and verdict. Before we begin, I want to take a moment to reflect on the life of Mollie Tibbetts, a young woman whose light touched everyone she met. Mollie Cecelia Tibbetts was born on May 8, 1998, in San Francisco, California, and raised in both San Francisco and Brooklyn, Iowa. She graduated from BGM High School in 2017 and was pursuing a degree in psychology at the University of Iowa, driven by her dream of becoming a child psychologist to help children struggling with mental health issues.Mollie loved life, and it showed in everything she did. She excelled in writing and speech, sharing her thoughts on complex topics like mental health and self-esteem. She made friends everywhere she went, and children adored her. She worked at a summer camp where her laughter and warmth left a lasting impression. She was a runner, a dancer, an actor, and a singer. But above all, Mollie was a young woman filled with kindness, ambition, and an undeniable joy for life.In July 2018, Mollie disappeared while on an evening jog near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, sparking a massive search effort that united the community and drew nationwide attention. Sadly, her body was discovered weeks later.This episode covers the court trial in full, edited for length and clarity.Contact:[email protected] Blog for updates and insights:https://crimeatorium.com/blogSupport:Donations are appreciated, if you would like to help support the show, use the link below and buy me a burrito and a Diet Pepsi:http://Ko-fi.com/crimeatoriumFor $3 a month, you can support this show on Patreon, in return you will receive ad free, early, and bonus episodeshttps://www.patreon.com/crimeatoriumIf you like the podcast, please share it on social media and with friends, and take a minute to leave a review for Crimeatorium on Spotify, Podchaser or Apple Podcasts.https://www.crimeatorium.com/rate/Music:im Kulig (timkulig.com)Titles: Crimeatorium IntroLicensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0997280/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1Thank you for listening!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/crimeatorium9009/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Full Episode
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 innocent victim here. No doubt about it. This young woman was a spectacular young woman. She was destined to 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. We 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 Molly Tibbetts is tragic. Absolutely tragic. And the reason I mentioned that. It's because the loss of someone like that can evoke a lot of emotion. 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. It'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, and 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 case and 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. You 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 at you about it. I'm just cautioning you because that's what justice is. Justice is have they done their job and proven Christian Bahena guilty. beyond a reasonable 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 the middle been proven?
Like I said, Maui Tibbets deserves justice, but so does Christian Bahena. He 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 you understand where we were in July 2018. A lot of time has passed since July 2018. We've lived through a pandemic.
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