DAVENPORT – The unanimous verdict: For Cristhian Behena Rivera, in the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts:
Guilty.
The charge: First degree murder.
Will it bring closure to the Tibbetts family and others in Poweshiek County?
A Davenport jury needed just a day to return a unanimous verdict about 2 p.m. on Friday, May 28.
Sentencing was set for July 15. The conviction could result in life imprisonment with no chance for parole.
Rivera’s lawyers have indicated they will appeal.
Mollie Tibbetts was stabbed to death the evening of July 18, 2018, while out jogging in Brooklyn, her hometown.
Tibbetts was a 20-year-old University of Iowa student who was aiming toward a degree in child psychology. She literally touched hundreds of lives, leaving a positive impact everywhere.
She was missing for a time, setting off a massive manhunt.
The rest of the story has been documented by national as well as area and local media.
Will the family ever be able to reach peace?
A Fox News television commentator said Friday, “there’s no winner in this. There can’t be.”
The family might ask itself, “What would Mollie want?”
There just might be a clear answer there.
Mollie was a teacher. She still is.