Sword and Scale - Episode 207
Episode Date: March 21, 2022Weeks go by in the search for missing jogger Mollie Tibbetts. An interagency taskforce has searched to no avail. Finally, a break in the case leads authorities to a dairy farm outside of the ...small Iowa town of Brooklyn and to a person of interest. After an 11 plus hour interrogation Cristhian Behana Rivera confesses but in court his defense team argues sleep deprivation and casts serious doubt on Mollie’s boyfriend Dalton Jack. Dalton Jack seems pretty suspicious when you look back on his actions after his girlfriend and soon to be fiancé, Mollie Tibbetts, went missing in 2018. He joined the army and skipped town shortly after and three years later in the trial for her murder he can’t recall the slightest of details from that time. But the trial would reveal many things about that time that no one could expect not even Dalton.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.
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There weren't two other guys.
That's a figment of his imagination, all of the credible evidence.
In this case, all of it points at him.
all of it points at him.
Hello and welcome to season nine, episode 207 of Sword and Scale,
a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Well, thank you for joining us. Before we get started, I want to remind you, once again, in case you haven't heard it yet,
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only way we can make a living at this, cause of cancel culture.
Join today, we'll see you there, but for now, let's get started. Our world today seems to be divided into many sides.
Pick a topic.
Voting rights, systemic racism, immigration policy, police accountability, LGBTQ rights.
It doesn't really matter the topic of discussion.
There will always be different sides to argue.
Surely you've heard of the old adage, there are three sides to every argument, yours,
mine, and the truth. In this week's episode, we look at the many
sides of a tragedy out of the Midwest and try to determine if the truth is relative, or
if the world really is as simple as right and wrong and good versus evil.
In the heart of our country is the state of Iowa, known for its expanse of rolling planes. It has a rich history and predates its purchase from the French and its incorporation into
the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Since, it has become the state with the largest production of corn and a key state during
election season.
Historically, the way Iowa votes indicates the political direction of the country as a whole.
Lost in the southeastern quadrant of the state is the town of Brooklyn,
sometimes known as the community of flags.
Flying a flag from every state and a 20 by 38-foot flag of the United
States on an 80-foot flagpole, Brooklyn is a small community of under 1500 people,
with a seemingly great understanding of the role they play in the country and the world.
During the spring of 2021, a hundred miles away in Davenport, Iowa, a trial was under way
that affected the town and the country.
Staying may call it's next witness.
Staying next witness is Dalton Jack.
Do you swear or affirm the testimony about to kill?
It will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of how you got.
May I proceed when you're ready, Mr. Brown?
Mr. Jack, good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Can you please state your name for the record?
I am Dalton Jack.
And currently, Mr. Jack, how are you employed?
I'm employed by the United States Military Army.
This is Dalton Jack, now 22 years old, and a sergeant in the Army. He finds himself on the stand in a murder trial.
How long is it again since you've been in the Army? I've been in the Army for almost
three years now. What was the date you joined in November 6, 2018?
After graduating from Brooklyn High School, he spent a little time in college before he decided it
just wasn't for him.
Afterwards, he began working as a laborer for a local civil construction company repairing bridges all over the state of Iowa.
So did you ever go back to Jasper Construction to work?
Yes.
What was the decision to go to the Army based upon?
I wanted to pretty much leave for a while. Four months before Dalton joined the US Army,
a tragedy befell a small town he grew up in, prompting him to leave.
So, three months after Molly's discovery, right?
Correct.
I grew up there, she grew up there.
That's where we kind of built our relationship.
Now she was gone.
So you were heartbroken.
Yes.
Molly was your true love.
Right?
I would say so, yes.
You were planned on marrying this woman, right?
Yes.
And you were devoted to Molly, right?
Yes.
Because people described it as a true love story, right?
Yes. Is that how you felt about her? Yes. Because people described it as a true love story, right? Yes. Is that how you felt about her? Yes.
His girlfriend had been abducted and murdered. Devoted Dalton testified that on the day of his true
love's disappearance, he was out of town on a job repairing a bridge in Dubuque, Iowa, some two hours away. That night, he and the crew sat around and drank some beers.
That's not always the story you've given to the police though, is it?
I don't know.
Well, did you not tell the police in a previous interview that you spent the night in your
room watching movies?
That was what I was...
Yes.
Okay, you recall giving that statement? Yes. Okay. When
did you give that statement to police? I don't know the exact time or date that I gave that statement.
If you could see this attorney's face, every time Dalton says I don't know or I don't recall,
he gets a little more pissed. When someone goes missing, authorities start
investigating within their inner circle first, so Dalton was interviewed several
times. The last of which occurred on July 27th 2018, nine days after Molly went
missing. You also told officers on that same interview, information that you'd withheld before, right?
Correct.
And that information that you'd withheld before was that you'd had a relationship with a woman other than Molly, right?
Correct.
What about Jackson's outside?
Oh, the rule.
Who was that woman?
I was Jordan Lamb.
Would you tell officers the reason you withheld that woman? I was Jordan Lam. Would you tell officers the reason you
withheld that information?
I didn't deem it necessary.
You didn't deem it necessary.
I didn't think that it was pertinent to the case.
Didn't think it was pertinent to tell law enforcement officers
that you having an affair on your true love
was not pertinent to the case, right?
I was 19 years old.
So what?
Being 19 is not an excuse for omitting information
from the police during the investigation of the disappearance,
especially if it's your girlfriend that disappeared.
Is he saying his age is the reason
his affair couldn't be pertinent?
Okay, sure.
It's not like affairs or even high school college age Is the reason his affair couldn't be pertinent? Okay, sure.
It's not like affairs or even high school college age defares have ever provided anyone
with a motive for kidnapping and murder or anything like that.
He must not listen to amazing award-winning true crime podcasts such as this.
Or was he trying to lump in this decision with his underage drinking and cheating on
his girlfriend with a minor as foolish youth?
Dalton doesn't realize this but he's painting himself as unreliable,
untruthful, and untrustworthy.
Molly knew.
When did Molly know?
Molly knew when she confronted me about it.
And how did Molly find out that you were having sexual relations with Jordan Lamb?
She went through my phone. Obviously. She went through your phone? Correct. When? I was asleep. When I was just before or after Jordan Lamb busted you by telling Molly
that was daring. That's the reason she went through my phone. Ah, small towns. Everyone knows everyone, and nothing is really secret.
You start a snapchatting, right?
That sounds about right.
All?
Am I right or am I wrong?
Yes, you're right.
You start sending her snapchets.
Why do you start sending her snapchets?
Why does anybody do anything as well?
I'm asking you that question. I don't know.
You have no idea why you start sending a woman snapchets?
Correct.
Well, you wanted to get with her, right?
I imagine that would be yes.
Okay? I don't want you to imagine.
I want you to tell me why you did.
Yes.
You wanted to strike up a relationship with Jordan Lam, didn't you?
Yes.
And this was in February, I'll strike that.
This was late 2017, early 2018, right?
Yes.
So it wasn't 2016, like you just told me.
I told you that, I don't remember the dates.
OK, but now you do, right?
Correct.
And you know that now because you've been confronted, but now you do, right? Correct. And you know that now,
because you've been confronted
with these dates by officers, right?
Yes.
And you were confronted with these dates by Molly, right?
Yes.
So you do remember the dates, right now, don't you?
Yes.
Two minutes ago, you didn't remember the dates, right?
It's hard to imagine Dalton can't remember these dates,
or at least approximate ones.
When they be etched into your mind, it seems as though he's just not trying that hard
to recall.
After all, the seemingly perfect relationship between him and Molly wasn't all it appeared
to be, as he had been unfaithful to his so-called true love. Three days, three days before Molly ends up missing. She
told you that she was upset and sad because of your relationship with Jordan, right? Yes.
As early as a month before Molly was abducted, you two were talking about breaking up, right?
I didn't recall that, and yes.
Okay.
So things weren't all rosy between you and Molly in the last 30 days before her abduction,
were they?
No.
And you didn't like the fact that if Molly was going to be leaving you and maybe going
with someone else, that bothered you.
Not a bother, anybody, but yes. leaving you and maybe going with someone else. That bothered you.
Not a bother, anybody, but yes. Yeah.
And it wasn't the first time that bothered you
because you two were supposed to move in together
in October of 2017.
Correct.
And when she told you she was gonna move in with friends,
that got you angry as well.
Yes.
You didn't want her moving in with friends.
You wanted her moving in with you.
I was upset that she went back on the plan
that I had been going with for the last year and a half after that.
I didn't have to be angry.
Correct.
Right?
Yes.
Hmm.
Another possible motive.
Tell me about the temper of the 16, 17-year-old Dalton Jack.
It was not good.
It was short-used.
Like the fight?
Yes.
In fact, one time you choked a man out, right?
I'm not Jack.
This is improper character evidence, specific instances of conduct.
This is not relevant.
It sustained on that ground.
The objection to the question was sustained, but that doesn't
mean it wasn't true, and that doesn't mean the jury didn't hear it. Before he was
legally considered an adult, Dalton choked a man to the point of unconsciousness. It
isn't hard creating doubt around Dalton. His relationship with Molly wasn't as perfect
as it seemed. When they were supposed to move in together, Molly changed her mind, which angered Dalton,
and he was known for his temper. There was also the fact that he had cheated on Molly
with a younger girl, and she caught him. But there was a girl even before Jordan Lamb.
When Dalton and Molly first started dating, she wasn't the only person he was seeing.
And if dating two girls at the same time or trying to get some on the side weren't enough
evidence to doubt his character, there was also an ex-girlfriend and her strange text message.
Emily Fenter when she texted you, that's what she did, she texted you, right?
She called me.
She texted me and called me. Yes. What she texted you, she asked you a very specific question, didn't she?
I don't recall. She asked you,
because she called you, don't, right? Yes.
And she said,
Dole is Molly alive, didn't she?
I don't know.
You don't know?
I don't recall the text messages.
Is Molly alive?
What a strange question to ask someone, especially if their girlfriend just went missing, and
you're the ex-girlfriend.
It begs the follow-up question, does she know something we don't?
Perhaps she's an extremely callous person without empathy for what Dalton is going through,
and it's a serious question.
Except, she is someone that knows Dalton well, so maybe she knows he had something to do
with it.
Either way, it's more disturbing that Dalton seemingly has no recollection of this text
or anything, apparently.
What is your understanding of the time of day on the 18th that Molly was likely abducted?
Our normal running time is what I assumed.
Okay, so no one's told you you haven't done any investigation as to what time of day Molly
was abducting.
Exactly.
Every detail of the case, I've wanted to admit it from me
because I don't want to know.
You don't want to know?
No.
He isn't acting like a heartbroken boyfriend, is he?
Doesn't the guy even care at all?
Did you not go back and try to recreate the day
that your love of your life goes missing
and an attempt to maybe figure out how she was
Wunged up missing from the moment that it started. I knew that I was not a
Investigator of any sort
Okay, but even for your own piece of mind you didn't go back and try to recreate this my own piece of mind came by trying to get her back
I retrace my steps meticulously if I can't find my phone
I retrace my steps meticulously if I can't find my phone. So it's reasonable to assume that if someone's loved one went missing, that they would
pour over every detail, leading to their disappearance, in an attempt to figure out or at least
understand how they went missing.
Dalton said he didn't do any of that.
What have you done to prepare yourself for testimony today, sir?
I got a flight yesterday yesterday so very little.
Okay. I'm getting a lot of, I don't recall a lot of you, right?
Yes. And you want the man who did this,
brought the justice, right? Yes. And you haven't
thought about this and ported over in your mind to have every detail remembered.
When I was asked if I wanted to be here voluntarily.
I said absolutely not. So you do want to come get testimony to get justice for your love of your
life. No. You wouldn't be here to fight for. No. Okay. It doesn't seem to be going well,
as everything he says or ever said gets nitpicked apart. It doesn't look good that Dalton had a
reputation of having a temper, or that he left town and joined the army near
months after the love of his life was abducted and murdered. The young couple
had several instances of conflict nearly ending with a breakup. Most of the
conflict stems from Dalton's infidelity. During the beginning of their
budding relationship Dalton two-timed Molly, and later he tried
to get with an underage girl on the side.
He didn't deny omitting his affairs from his initial interviews with police following
her disappearance, but he explained it away as youthful naivete.
The night you went missing, it claimed to be in Dubuque, but had several varying accounts
of what he was actually doing there, and exactly when. Now in the stand giving his account
under oath, he can't remember key details and admits he wasn't there voluntarily. If
he had a choice, he wouldn't be there at all. Dalton Jack certainly seems suspicious, kind of callous, and kind of a jerk.
But is he the one actually guilty of murder? In May of 2021, Dalton Jack found himself reliving the worst moment of his life in front
of a room of strangers.
At this point, it had been nearly three years since the love of his life and soon to be
fiance went missing.
After leaving town, joining the army, and trying to put it all behind him, his recollection
of events wasn't what it used to be.
Answering questions on the stand to the best of his memory, wasn't going well, as it
revealed conflict in his relationship over a couple of affairs, leading to a record of
domestic confrontations and potential motives for murder.
Sure, Dalton may look bad under the scrutiny of attorneys and court, but to truly understand
the tragedy that struck the small town in the middle of Corn Riddle, but to truly understand the tragedy that struck the
small town in the middle of Corn Riddle, Iowa, you have to go back to the beginning.
During the summer of 2018, Dalton and his girlfriend, Molly Tibbets, were essentially
living together and planning out the rest of their lives.
She had just finished her first year of college, hoping to become a child psychologist.
An interest she had carried from her youth,
along with her magnetic personality.
She was a beautiful young woman who had a great life ahead of her,
but she was also someone who was smiled.
And I think she was very energetic,
and that energy was contagious.
Her personality just takes your grabs in
and you just feel like you just want to talk to Molly.
Best friends and local priests alike,
thought of Molly as having a contagious energy
and a personality that just grabbed your attention.
She never lit up a room simply by entering,
but she did warm people's hearts with her smile,
her laugh, and her genuine interest in others.
Not shy and extremely gregarious laugh,
and just a lover of life, very curious.
Is she like to deflect attention from herself,
but she was really had a genius
for creating attention around other people?
And you could see it.
And if she was in a
crowded room, she wasn't the loud one that was telling all the stories and jokes.
That was my job. Her was to go up to people and get really close to them. I mean,
physically close and look at them and ask them about themselves, but be genuinely
interested and then ask follow-up up questions and when they would say something funny,
genuinely laugh because she really felt the humor and so she could make a connection with everybody in a room and
make everyone in that room feel as though they were the most important person in her life and they genuinely were.
That was Molly's genius, was her ability and all the kids at school will say that.
That was Molly's genius, was her ability, and all the kids at school will say that.
Molly had an ability to just zero in on somebody
and make them feel good about themselves.
Molly's genius showed an everything she did,
but was most evident in her high school speech class.
She's very smart, very caring.
It's kind of cool to see her speeches and look over them and see just the compassion
that was there with her message.
During her senior year, she delivered an inspirational speech to her classmates about believing in
yourself and finding what you're good at. I found out that my talent was vegan. I talked all the time, I decided to make people listen.
But everyone has their own talent.
Whether it's a sport, you're good at air, you're good at dance,
or if you're a great writer, or even if you're just a good person,
that's one of the best things you can be good at.
And I think that's the most wonderful thing about a person.
So just because you're not good at a sport or whatever it is
that you think you need to be good at because it's what everyone does,
you don't have to be like them, you have to go find your own thing.
And found her thing she did, and it wasn't track and feel that she thought.
All through high school, she devoted herself to running track.
To say she was passionate about it, is an understatement.
Running was more part of her, synonymous.
But as college neared, she realized it wasn't her whole future,
and she started to focus on child psychology.
The summer after high school, she got a job
at the local hospital in the Child Day Camp.
A job she returned to, following her freshman year of college.
We are considered interns because we're seasonal.
And she did sell the similar things I do, took care of children,
took care of the skin, knees, helped set up snack,
do activities with the kids, go on field trips,
just supervise the children, band children.
Even there, she made a subconscious impact.
She's so light and cheerful and bubbly,
she's just always laughing and I just,
I really connected with her.
And her father's wedding in June of that year,
a new personality trait emerged.
I got married June 3rd and she came out
to California for the wedding.
She was my best man and she was every bit the best man.
And so at one point, the whole family went out on a big boat
and one of her uncles and I decided to jump in the lake
and swim across to this huge rock that was about 25 feet up
above the water and dive in.
And she jumped in right behind me and said,
I'm your best man, I'm going with you.
I didn't really want her to.
I didn't think we'd actually go through it.
And it was very scary, but she did it.
She jumped in, screamed at the top of her lungs.
So, add brave to everything else.
2018 was to be a big year for Molly.
She was the best man at her dad's wedding and the
maid of honor in another wedding scheduled for August.
Dalton's brother Blake and his fiancee Allie were having a destination wedding in the
Dominican Republic. On this trip Dalton planned to ask Molly to marry him.
I'm thinking of that August, that's thend deadline, where I want to get that little
girl and Dalton and Blake and Allie on a plane and, you know, go enjoy yourselves in
the Dominican.
She's supposed to be the maid of honor.
But that would never happen.
Two weeks before their flight to the Dominican Republic, Molly went out for her nightly run and never returned.
It wouldn't be until the following day that anyone realized Molly was gone.
I've received a call from one of her co-workers at the daycare, and she said that Molly had not called or showed up for work.
She was always on time, but it was very unlikely.
She was there all the time
unless she knew she had commitments.
Molly was always responsible and on time.
This no-call no-show at work immediately
got her co-workers attention.
One co-worker called Dalton to see if he knew where she was,
or why she didn't show. But he had no clue where Molly was. He was two hours away and debuked for
work. Blake, his older brother, was also out of town, as was Ali, Blake's fiance. This left Molly
home alone. And I looked at my phone, I noticed that I had texted her
good morning that morning and she hadn't opened it.
So I got ahold of all her friends and family.
With an abnormal lack of communication
between Dalton and Molly,
you got worried and called anyone he could think of
that was close enough to go check on her.
He called me right as I was wrapping up with work for the day
and just asked me to, when I got home to check on Molly and see what was going on
Especially hadn't been at work and that work called him to see where
Of course she was at I was worried just that I didn't have any inkling of what happened
But I was kind of worried that she wasn't answering her phone and didn't have contact
There was a big storm the day before like a tornado that went through Marshal town
So we didn't know if maybe it's something that had something to do with it. That was
honestly my first thought was that maybe she got caught in the storm or something. When you don't
know, you speculate. And in Blake's mind, the whole situation likely had an innocent explanation.
Never, did he expect the worst case scenario? So I got home and as I'm pulling into town, two of her friends were driving around and
kind of flagged me down and just asked me if I'd seen her and I said I hadn't seen her
but I'm going to the house right now to check on her.
At that point I was still assuming that she'd probably just be there or whatever.
I didn't know it.
Blake went home and walked in the unlocked front door. The dogs were there,
and nothing was out of place, but there was no Molly. He and her friends tried to canvas the nearby
area, asking neighbors if they had seen anything, but without any luck. At some point, after kind of,
you know, doing our best to track her down, we decided to just call on enforcement.
The Palachee County Sheriff's Office
sent Deputy Simpson to the Jack Residence.
I was called to the house of Blake Jack,
I believe it was 622 West Des Moines Street in Brooklyn, Iowa,
for a missing person.
I would guess six people there,
other than Blake Jack and his girlfriend at the
time, Allie.
They were starting to be a little bit of a commotion because they were worried about
their friend.
Already, a crowd was gathering at the Jack Residence.
In a town of fewer than 1,500 people news travels fast. Dalton had already left Dubuque and hurried home to help find Molly.
There's like a crowd on the lawn and then the uh an officer was already there taking
statements from people.
Dalton arrived at a commotion of worry in his front yard.
A group of her closest friends was just as bewildered as he was.
Me and my brother actually went out that night and we drove around for a long time and
then we were just kind of checking everywhere that we can do.
Brooklyn has a small population and it is only one and a quarter of square miles in size.
It should have been easy to find Molly if her disappearance was the result of something
simple, like staying with a friend, her phone dying, or over-sleeping for work, except none of those scenarios were
what happened.
Poweshik County, on the other hand, was vast, covering nearly 600 square miles.
Molly was nowhere to be found, and the more they called and looked around, the more they
came up empty handed.
Rather than dwell on the gruesome possibilities, her family made finding Molly their only mission.
Molly's father dropped everything in Fluta, Iowa to help in the search.
This is not about our emotions, it's not about our feelings.
We can have emotions later, we're in a fight, and we're going to fight for Molly.
We get up in the morning, we drive to some community, we pass out flyers, we go store by
store by store.
It may not seem important to you, but it might be the thing that brings Molly back.
While the Molly movement was growing under the determination of her father and the community,
the police were building a last-known timeline for Molly.
She had a handful of routes that she would normally run.
There's only so much that can be pieced together
from her last day.
Molly shared a car with her brother,
so he dropped her off at Dalton's house that day,
and she was supposed to be going to her mother's
for dinner that night.
There was some digital evidence of when she last used her computer and of course social media
correspondence timestamps, but it only really told them what they already knew.
She was on the grid until she went for her run. And then, radio silence.
The authorities asked the public for help.
We're in small town Iowa here and this community knows who belongs here, who doesn't,
maybe it's a vehicle they saw, a person they saw.
They asked for help from the community because their investigation was going nowhere.
There's nothing that has jumped out to us at this point.
With the knowledge of Molly being missing, the locals and neighboring communities were on edge,
with the thought that a potential kidnapper was living amongst them.
I won't be feel safe walking by myself. I'll have to make sure my boyfriend or somebody's with me
in all times. Unfortunately, that's the way this world is now. It seems like, you know, there's so
many crazy things out there, you just don't know.
I've heard people turn in suspicious activity.
I'm emerging a 13 year old daughter of my own, and I don't like it. I just don't like it.
I'm very timid with my grandkids going out of my sight and our 13 and 12. The local authorities would end up calling the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations,
or DCI, and eventually, the FBI.
The search for Molly would grow seemingly exponentially, but the leads were few and far between.
Their fear was that they could be looking in the wrong place.
With Interstate 80, four or five miles south of the town here, you can be anywhere in
this country in a day and a half to two days, so we're very thankful if the national
media has picked up the story.
The national media picked up on the story pretty quickly, missing a white girl syndrome
they call it.
But the reason the story spreads so quickly is because of the effort of her loved ones,
and not the color of her skin.
I think it's because people see in Mali their own daughters, their own girlfriend, their
own sister.
I think it's struck a chord with people that, you know, this could be happening to me
right now, to my family.
And with the story building momentum, the family took every opportunity to keep the search
for their daughter at the forefront of everyone's mind.
The only reason to do these interviews is to keep the story in the public conscience so
that somebody will come forward.
The national public could feel the hardship they were enduring.
We're talking about it earlier. I don't get really a full night's sleep in the way that I just
keep waking up during the night all the time and you know it's not easy. I'm sure
Rob doesn't just doesn't sleep. It's alright though, it just feels like you're fighting.
You don't want to go home and sleep, you just feel like you're wasting time.
And so until this is over we just keep running.
Nobody cares about our feelings, nobody cares about our sleep, at least of all us.
And so we want answers and we want to find
our girl.
With still no word on any progress in the official investigation, they held on to hope and
made plans for when she would eventually come home.
We just talked about it for the last hour.
What would you say?
Just how we thought she'd come home. Yeah.
Most of us just talk about what we're going to do when she gets back.
One of our brothers said yesterday that we're going to make her watch every one of these
interviews back to back.
You know, slap the magnets we got on her car and make her wear a t-shirt.
And go pull every one of those flyers out of every store in the state of Iowa.
After Molly's movement plastered missing posters throughout the state and the media broadcasted
the search nationwide, the family garnered more and more support, but there still wasn't any
news from the investigation into her disappearance. Our hearts go out to the Tibbet's family in the
Brooklyn community, not knowing what has happened
to a loved one who has gone missing as a terrible experience
and every day without them is more painful.
We've appreciated their cooperation
during a very difficult time and have assured them
our primary focus isn't finding Molly.
By the time this press conference was held,
it had been over a week since Molly went missing.
Despite 30 to 40 investigators searching on any given day, they still didn't have an
update.
What we do know is Molly Tittitz was seen jogging on the evening of July 18th while she was
in Brooklyn and dog sitting for her boyfriend.
She was reported missing when she did not show up for work on July 19th.
I can say that we have a timeline that we're confident in. The timeline they were confident in
came from her Fitbit history of past runs and a couple of sightings.
Sometime in the evening of July 18th, as it started to cool down outside,
July 18th, as it started to cool down outside, Molly dawned her black spandex shorts, her bright pink sports bra, and strapped her cell phone to her arm.
She headed east through the north part of town, passed this man's house.
I've seen her, you know, it would probably be three, four times a week. She'd jog down the street, up the hill,
and it was just nothing of it until I heard somebody
was messing and then they like really hit me.
And it's like I haven't seen that runner since that.
It's gut-runching to know that, you know,
I could have my daughter out here
and I go inside for a minute and she'd gone.
You just do not expect it from a town like this.
Molly's route took her east on 385th Avenue,
leaving town and entering the endless farmland.
This is where her lifelong hairdresser spotted her.
She was going up a hill as I was going to pass her.
She was on the hill, So I was very cautious.
I was watching for her, and I was afraid a car might pop
over the hill.
So I was cautious for myself, too, and the vehicle.
She recognized Molly instantly.
But on her way back to town, noticed her absence.
Usually, when you see somebody running out there, you know, you expect to see
them on the way back to town and I know I can confirm that I did not see her running
back on my way back to town. Beyond those two sightings, Molly's whereabouts were a mystery.
You have to look at the investigation that's coming in and being evaluated as the totality
of the investigation. Timelines are important. Understanding Molly and who she is is
important. Understanding who is in the area of Brooklyn on the evening of July 18th
is important. They are all important. All I'm saying is we don't know where Molly's
at right now and I am not going to draw any conclusions about the circumstances
of her disappearance.
Other than it is not consistent with her past.
We can't tell you why Molly's missing.
With the lack of information from the authorities,
rumors began to spread around the community.
To the best of my knowledge, I believe she did make it home from the run and was in Dalton's home.
It was totally speculation.
I think someone went to the house that Molly knew or that Molly trusted and she left with
them willingly and now they're in over their head and they don't know what to do.
One of the biggest was that Dalton somehow did it.
I don't know if anything that I say will get that out of some people's mind that I had nothing to do with it.
Perhaps the most frightening theory was that someone simply exited the interstate, drove through town and picked her up at random.
And now she was being sold into sex trafficking. What's an interstate town? Anybody can come in at any time.
So I don't know.
I'm just trying not to think of that scenario.
Those closest to her chose to wait and hear the truth,
rather than worry about the various rumors.
I try not to read any of those rumors or anything like that,
because we just don't know.
You can't believe everything that you see.
Like until something from the police is put out, you cannot believe what you see.
As tips started to pour in from all over the state and further,
the authorities took every rumor or tip and investigated until they were sure it was or wasn't important.
Certainly there are a number of rumors that are circulating here within the community
and we're trying to squash those rumors as much as possible or validate them as much as possible.
With the idea that Molly was abducted on her running route being the leading theory,
residents from across the state were reminded that this could happen to anyone at any time, especially avid runners.
As a runner, I think it definitely, you know, it just like highlights that you never really truly know what's going to happen.
So it is important to take precautions. You get hollered at a lot when you're running, especially in the summer when you're wearing less clothing, because it's really hot out.
It might not be like you're being attacked directly or anything, but where people might
cat call you or anything like that and you just feel your heightened senses and you feel
that adrenaline rush and you're a little nervous.
I think it's one of those things where you think it's never going to happen to you, but
then you hear about these stories and everyone kind of gets a little more tense.
As the search for Molly stretched into two weeks and with Molly's story, a dominant presence
in the paper on TV and social media, her family, ever fighting, started a reward fund that
would be given to crime stoppers to persuade the community to keep calling in tips.
We have set up a Bring Molly Tibits Home Safe reward fund at first date bank here in
Brooklyn, Iowa.
We believe that Molly is still alive.
And if someone has abducted her,
we are pleading with you to please release her.
As of 10 o'clock this morning,
we have raised $172,000.
With such a large reward,
they urged the community to call in
anything suspicious, even if they thought it couldn't possibly be connected to Molly's disappearance.
The community live now, creating collateral t-shirts and buttons and pins and yard signs and magnets that go on cars with that number, with that tip number on and so we can only fight that way and so that's what we're doing. We wake up
every day at two, three in the morning to fight and Laura's fighting, the boys are fighting,
Dalton's fighting, everybody in this community is fighting to get her back. People are reluctant
to come forward with information because they think it's irrelevant or it's trivial, nothing is
irrelevant, nothing is trivial and the authorities have pulled us as much. They have the resources to sort out what's right and what's wrong.
After that, the investigation burst into action.
A nearby hog farm was searched for clues.
Pigs eat anything, even human flesh and bone, and a drove of pigs could devour an entire adult male in a matter of minutes.
The search didn't turn up anything, but it did cast light on a nearby resident, a man by the name
of Wayne Cheney. That's bull. I don't they how they think I have anything to do with it
Cheney lived within walking distance of the hog farm
But also had previously pled guilty to stalking charges twice in his past
once in 2009 and once in 2014
With a guy like that living nearby you have to check him out simply because reasons
like that living nearby, you have to check them out simply because reasons.
Oration our time.
I'm done.
You said the FBI took you down to the fire station, right?
I mean, I guess not one.
The FBI, I don't know who the two guys were,
but they took me to the fire station Tuesday.
Okay.
And they asked just quite a couple hours,
they questioned me.
Just about like what you saw out here
or actually like where you been or I mean,
where was that, what kind of questions?
I don't even remember what they asked me.
They wanted me to do a polygraph chest or something
and I said no, I'm not doing it.
I have nothing to do with it.
So I don't think I need to take no tam test.
It is just a waste of time, I thought.
Well, ultimately,
Janie would be clear of any involvement with Molly's disappearance.
And as another week crossed off the calendar,
the reward for information grew to over $300,000.
This prompted the DCI to launch findingmolly.ioa.gov as another avenue for the public to give information.
Individuals who commit violent crimes often display behavior that is recognized by those with whom they live, work, attend school, or are in otherwise close relationships with. They will recognize the change and may even question them about it,
but will not relate the change to that person's involvement in a crime.
Please contact us if you have noticed one or more of the following changes
in a person with whom you're associated since Wednesday July 18.
Change in normal routine, which might include missing school work or routine engagements without plausible explanation.
A vehicle unexpectedly taken to a repair shop or sold or disposed of.
Unexpected or intensive cleaning of a vehicle, possibly at an unusual time of day or night.
Unexplain lack of contact or inability to get in touch with someone you knew the evening
of July 18th into the morning of July 19th.
Altering physical appearance.
Growth or removal of facial hair.
Change in cut or color of their hair.
Displays of anxiety.
Nervousness.
Stress. Or irritability.
Unexplained injuries.
Changes in consumption of alcohol, drugs, cigarettes.
Changes in sleep patterns.
Interest in the status of the investigation, including close attention to media coverage
or an unwillingness to discuss the investigation.
The authorities held another press conference asking the public for help and giving an excellent
description of what someone involved might act like. But what this really says is that they still
didn't have a clue where Molly was or what happened to her. Regardless, the incoming tips swelled due to the website.
A lot of activity immediately to the point where the administrative office for the
state government had to stand up an additional server.
The website would garner over 200 more tips, and after four weeks of investigation, the joint task force would receive
over 1,500 tips, run down around 4,000 leads, and conduct 500-plus interviews, none of which
got them any closer to Molly.
Then, after weeks of searching, officers got a call from a resident who said he lived
near Molly's running route and had surveillance cameras that might have caught something. This guy just happened to be working for a company that installed security cameras and
had installed a set on his home mere months prior. just matter when she dropped pass. Okay, just solve her. Yes, okay.
The resident had four cameras in 30 days of footage
for each.
It was divided between four people,
and it took some time to comb through it all.
While I'm reviewing it, agent George,
he came up and he had asked me what I was looking at.
As I'm reviewing the cameras,
I show him what I'm looking for.
I turned actually to say something to him and he said I think I saw something
there I thought he was kidding at first but I went back on the cameras and then
sure enough we saw what looked to be like a jogger going through that frame
suddenly in the distance there was a blip just a few frames long that looked like a woman jogging.
This solidified the route they already thought Molly was running, but it also revealed something else.
A late model black Chevy Malibu.
It had chrome side mirrors, so at the outside of the mirror was chrome. The door handles to the
vehicle were chrome. Then it appeared to have chrome mag rims on the vehicle as
well. It was significant just being in the area. So it was just someone we really
felt we needed to identify whoever the driver was of that vehicle to see if they
saw something, if they knew who Molly was or passed them,
or whatever. We just wanted to know who was driving that vehicle.
What at first was thought to be a possible witness became more suspicious when all four
camera angles were compared.
The big thing for me was when those four individuals who were viewing tape gave me their logs I created a spreadsheet
just on Excel and with time and data according to the timestamp and after the runner went
past at 745-33 the next four entries in that log once I compiled it were a black Chevy
Malapid.
The vehicle passed through numerous times after seeing
the runner pass through the video just within from the time the runner went through until 807,
there was 14 vehicles seen on those cameras. Six of those were the Malibu.
The Malibu was another lead to run down, but it is a common vehicle. And without
the plate number, they had to hope the chrome accents would make it stand out.
It was driving north on Highway 63, and I was going underneath the Interstate 80 overpass.
And as I went under the overpass, I saw a black Chevy Malibu with chrome mirror covers.
The sheriff's deputy decided to follow the car and run the plates to see where it would go.
As we drove into Malcolm, which is less than a mile from Interstate 80,
the vehicle turned west onto second street.
So I followed it and it turned north into an alley.
And I lost sight of it for a second, but as I turned north into an alley.
And I lost sight of it for a second,
but as I turned north into the alley,
I saw that it was parked.
So I parked in the alley, I got out,
and the driver was already out of the vehicle.
So I said, hey, can I talk to you for a second
and you turn around.
And I tried to communicate with him.
It became pretty obvious quickly
that he didn't speak English,
but there happened to be some elder gentleman
in the yard nearby that walked over
and said he could help us communicate.
The registered owner of the vehicle
was not the man that stepped out.
He seemed calm and not nervous.
And he said he had heard that there was a girl
missing from Brooklyn, but didn't have any knowledge.
On that day, they would let the driver go.
But on the following Monday, a team of investigators would show up at his place of employment.
We went to his place of employment at the Arabi farms to do a, I guess, he'd call out a
focused canvas to gain a little more information about him and the car and who else might be
associated with him in the car.
This second contact with the driver ended with him being taken in for an official interview.
The following day, one day shy of five weeks since Molly went missing, the authorities made an announcement.
Hey, body was discovered early this morning in a farm field southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa.
The identity has nothing confirmed, however, we believe it to be the body of
Molly Tibbets. A first-degree murder charge was filed today in connection with
the disappearance of Molly Tibbets. A complaint in affidavit named Christian
Bahina Rivera, age 24, who resides in rural Poweshit County and has been charged with murder
in the first degree.
We have confirmed with Homeland Security Investigations that he is an illegal alien and we believe
he has been in this area now for four to seven years.
After five weeks of searching and the Molly movement fighting to find her, it was finally found.
Just when it seemed like this terrible nightmare would end, for the family and community of
Molly Tibbets, it took a bit of a strange turn.
The body of 20-year-old Molly Tibbets was found in a cornfield after she was stabbed to
death by an invader from Mexico. A group from Idaho called Road to Power that has a neo-Nazi-themed podcast was responsible
for the 827 Robocalls that were made two days after Molly's funeral to residents of Brooklyn.
The message went on to say that Christian was a biological hybrid
of white and savage Aztec ancestors who kill with knives. The Aztec hybrids known as
mestizos are low IQ, bottom feeding savages, and is why the country they infest are crime-ridden failures.
That's now America's fate, too, unless we re-found America as whites only and get rid of
them now.
Every last one.
That was a quote, by the way.
I probably should have said that sooner.
In any case, with the announcement of an arrest and the fact that he was an illegal alien working in the US under an assumed name,
a political narrative arose and shifted Molly's story into something else.
You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredible
beautiful young woman.
Should it never happen?
Remember, this was 2018 when immigrant hate was on the rise.
Even President Trump latched onto this story to further his agenda.
But of course, there is always more than one side
to every story. On one hand, an illegal immigrant abducted and murdered an innocent girl
for no apparent reason. But on the other hand, some believed the lengthy investigation
by multiple organizations developed nothing for weeks, so they pointed the finger at a non-citizen completely off their radar
that didn't speak enough English to defend himself, just to close the case.
But neither of those sides was the whole truth,
and the truth would eventually, inevitably, come out and show itself. 5 weeks after Molly Tibbetts disappeared during her routine evening run in the small town
of Brooklyn, an arrest was made.
After weeks of investigation, a chance discovery would lead investigators to a black Chevy Malibu, and its driver, Christian
Bahena Rivera.
We conducted a lengthy interview with Mr. Rivera, and during that interview he tells us that
he sees Molly running and was able to come upon her approach her, and while he was interfacing with her he actually tells us that he ran
alongside of her or behind her and then at one point he tells us that Molly grabbed the hold of her
phone and said you need to leave me alone I'm gonna call the police and then she took off running
he and turned chased her down and then he tells us that at some point in time he blacks out. And
then he comes to near an intersection in which we believe he then plays Molly.
During questioning, Christian eventually confessed and led the investigators to her body in
a cornfield. Three years later, Christian found himself on trial for murder, watching as
the prosecution laid out their case.
And he admitted that he had seen Molly the night she disappeared.
He admitted that he found her attractive,
that she was hot in his words.
And he admitted after he saw her the first time he circled back
to take a second look.
He admitted that he followed her and he got out of his car.
He admitted to jogging to catch up with her that he wanted to get close to
her. He admitted that Molly didn't want to have anything to do with him, that she threatened
to call the police and he admitted he became angry at that time. He admitted to fighting
with her. And then he says the next thing that he remembers, he's driving in his car, the Malibu, and he notices Molly's earbuds,
and he remembers that Molly is in his trunk.
He admits taking Molly's body out of the trunk.
He admits seeing blood on Molly's body and neck.
He admits putting Molly over his shoulder.
When he described the body as someone who would fainted.
He admitted taking Molly into the field, placing her face up, and putting cornstocks on her
body, and then leaving.
Law enforcement searched the field off of 460th Avenue, and they found a body decomposed beyond all recognition,
wearing multi-colored neon-running shoes.
Body was examined and determined that Molly had been stabbed
anywhere from seven to 12 times.
In the chest, near the ribs, in the neck, and in the skull.
The defendant's vehicle was searched, the Chevy Malibu, and blood was found on the trunk liner
and in the trunk. Analysis was done to that blood, DNA analysis, and it was matched to the DNA
taken from the body. It was Molly's blood in the defendant's Chevy Malibu. Evidence led authorities
to Christian, but his confession landed him in court. With evidence and a confession being very strong factors in a trial, the defense
tried to cast out anywhere they could, especially at Dalton Jack, her boyfriend.
Now, it's your testimony, Mr. Jack, that you had nothing to do with Molly Tibis abduction.
Is that why I am to understand? Yes. You had nothing to do with Molly Tibbist death, right? Correct
You loved her too much. Is that right?
That and I wouldn't harm her or any innocent person, but yes
you recall
the
Snapchat message conversation with Jordan Lamb
Where you told her you wanted to get with her?
No, I do not you don't recall saying the Jordan Lamb, were you told her you wanted to get with her? No, I did not.
You don't recall saying to Jordan Lamb
that if you do get together with her,
that you had to be quiet,
because you weren't going to jail,
because she was under 18.
Have you ever told anyone at any time on this planet
that you black out when you get angry?
I don't recall.
But you recall you were in Dubuque on that night, right?
Yes.
Clear as a bell.
Yes.
What were you drunk?
I don't recall that either, but I would imagine that I was drinking yes there.
Do you have anything wrong with your memory organically?
No.
Do you have any illness?
I've had multiple concussions. Okay, is that affecting your memory?
Do you think? I don't know. No, okay. Is any doctor diagnosed you with any
reason that you can't recall things? No. The second time Dalton was called the testify,
wasn't any better than the first. He couldn't even recall if he previously couldn't recall.
better than the first. He couldn't even recall if he previously couldn't recall. Any attempt by the defense to catch Dalton in a lie or contradiction was met with, I don't recall.
They tried to cast doubt on Dalton, but I don't think any stuck. At least, they still had
a card up their sleeve. On the sixth day of the trial, the defense called Christian to the stand,
and revealed an alternative theory as to what happened to Molly. Keep in mind that Christian
is speaking Spanish and has two interpreters relaying the questions and answers.
And you were interrogated for 11 plus hours, is that right?
Correct.
Did you tell law enforcement the truth that night?
Not at all.
Molly Tibbets was in the trunk of your car, isn't that right?
Yes.
And you did not tell them what really happened. Isn't that right?
Correct.
Let's talk about what happened that night.
In an attempt to drop a bombshell on the court,
Christian claimed that not only did he not black out, but that he was kidnapped by two masked men.
So that the smaller one is the one with the knife, is that right?
Christian claims two masked men were in his house when he emerged from taking a shower, and those
men made him drive into town.
When you were in town, describe these men and anything that they were doing in the vehicle.
Just that when we were coming into town, they tried to kneel down, crouch down as much as I could in the seats.
He claimed they ordered him in circles, and that they were talking about a jogger.
After following the jogger out of town, they made him stop behind and out of sight of
the jogger.
The guy with the knife got out and walked towards the direction of the jogger while the other
guy stayed in the back seat.
Well, when the time is starting going by, he has started kind of whispering in the back.
Did you hear him say anything?
Well, you could hear a lot of the things, but I guess what I heard him saying is, come on, Jack.
He claimed that eventually, the one with a knife, possibly named Jack, he said, came
back and directed Christian to drive further up the road.
About 300 yards up, they ordered him to stop, and the men got out of the car and put
something in the trunk. Christian then claims he was directed to drive further into the county,
deep into the corn fields. When they told him to stop,
they got out of the car and disappeared into the blue yonder,
leaving Christian with a fresh body in his trunk. What a story, huh?
Before they leave, one of them tells me not to say anything
about what had happened, that they knew Iris and that they knew my daughter, that if I
said something, they would take care of them. Well, I stay there a couple of minutes thinking
what to do, and then I just decided to take the body out. If this story is true, it's likely that Christian wouldn't have ever told anyone what happened,
especially not police.
Being in a legal immigrant, he avoided law enforcement at all costs.
But when he checked his trunk and found the body of Molly, he just knew no one would believe he wasn't involved. So he picked
up her limp body and dumped her in the field, haphazardly, covering her with fallen stocks
of corn. Why didn't you call the police, sir? Because I was scared. At some point in time, the investigators asked you to try to take them to Molly Tibbetts.
Is that right?
Yes.
Why did you agree to do that at that point in time?
Well, for one, because I was already very tired and I wanted it to stop. And most importantly, because they told me to put myself
in the family's position and to think of her
that if she was my daughter, what would I have done?
This fantastic story that Christian told
didn't make any sense.
Molly had no known enemies or even people
that simply didn't like her.
Sure, she in Dalton had arguments, but nothing that warranted murder.
And he's a kid, right?
What do you do if you're not getting along with your girlfriend?
You break up with her.
Right, you don't take her out in the country and stab her to death.
Does that make sense to you? Goodness.
Why would anyone want her dead?
Let alone conspire to murder her and frame a random person
with the crime. He says that men are the two men that showed up at his house or his trailer are
covered head to toe. He can't idea him, right? He covers them completely. This is the middle of July.
And then not only do they appear out of nowhere, then they vanish into thin air once they get out to the field.
It's simply not believable.
These Phantom men think about this, leave the only eyewitness to a murder. These, they are attacking Molly Tibbets on the road.
That's what he said to you, whenever he testified,
and they stabbed her and they put her in the trunk.
Why not kill him?
Why not take him out?
There's no connection between these two.
They leave the only eyewitness with a vehicle
according to him.
They leave these Phantom men, leave him with a cell phone. Why would they do that? Why would they
even involve him? Why not just take out Christian, Bahena, Rivera, right there with Molly?
They've got a gun, they've got a knife, take him out, pile his body into the cornfield. Why not
do that? Why do they need him in the first place? It makes no sense. He's not thinking about
that. You know why it doesn't make sense? Because it's not true.
In the end, neither the defense's narrative nor the far-fetched story about these two
masked men convinced the jury that there was any reasonable doubt that Christian murdered
Mollie Tibbets.
We, the jury, find an defendant, Christian, Bihina, Rivera, guilty of the crime of murder
and the first degree.
This is where the story abruptly changes.
While waiting for the sentencing hearing against Christian Bethena Rivera, new information
came to light that could affect the outcome of his entire trial.
After Christian Bahena testified, Two people came forward. One person's name was Arnie
Mackie. He's like, do you know the typical case? I said, no, I've only been here
a month. I don't know. I said, no, he's like, yeah, he's like, I killed him. I. And then he said, he says, you know, the guy that's being charged for it right now, I said,
no, I don't.
He's like, we said him on.
He's like, was a sex trafficking case gone wrong?
And I stabbed her to death.
And put her in a tart, being my black friend that doesn't speak English that good and said
along.
Arnie Mackie after listening to Christian Bahaina Rivera test by a trial realized that
Mr. Bahaina Rivera's statements corroborated a statement by another inmate that he resided with at the
Kiyaka County jail. And within hours, another witness, that witness's name is Lindsay
Boss. Lindsay Boss also indicates that the same man, Gavin Jones, that she was his girlfriend
and that Gavin Jones admitted to killing Molly Tibbets.
So the information we have is we have these two people coming forward identifying Gavin Jones.
Gavin Jones indicating that he was a sex trafficker for a 50-year-old man.
The defense surmised who this 50-year-old sex trafficker was from another woman's report of abduction and escape.
Christian's defense team was connecting dots that didn't necessarily go together.
This woman that alleged to have been in this trap house also involving a 50-year-old man James Lowe,
she was abducted in May of 2018.
So just two months prior to the Molly Tibhibits investigation. All of the facts that
misfreeze laid out that
somehow connect James
Lowe or Gavin Jones or
these other folks to this
case. No evidence
supports it. None
zero. There's nothing
there. All you have to do
is look at the defendant
statement that he gave it trial.
The only thing that matches is that Molly Tibbets was involved and that at least two other
guys with ski masks and sweaters and dark pants were the ones that showed up abducted and killed her.
That's it.
There's nothing else about a trap house.
Molly's body being wrapped in plastic, being stashed at a secondary location.
That she was tied or bound. There's no physical evidence that was found that connects any of that.
There's evidence here that 10 kids in this area have gone missing. We've provided that.
There's something rotten in this area. This is a small area.
Ten kids are missing.
That's not coincidental.
Regardless of the fact that this new information was reliant on the word of drug addicts and convicted criminals,
a hearing was scheduled to address the motion for a new trial.
And the connection between the new evidence and the case was pretty flimsy.
He stated that one of Sarah's friends named Sam had told him that Sarah had told her
that Sarah had seen Molly at a trap house in New Sharon. So, again, to make sure I understand what he was saying, Scott Carter had talked to Sam
who heard from Sarah that she had seen Molly Tibbets in a trap house in New Sharon,
correct?
That is correct.
Do I follow that correctly?
I believe so, yes.
All right.
So, it's third-hand information but that'd be true. Yes.
They seem to be trying to create a huge interstate sex trafficking conspiracy that somehow connected
with a current investigation. The prosecution and even the judge found it a little tiresome.
Are you aware that two people came forward and said that they were sex
traffic by James Lowe? Judge, I'm going to jack there's been no tie at all
through any witness, any document, any pleading between this investigation
that Miss Freeze is asking, Agent Beleddin about, and the disappearance and death of Molly Tibbett's,
Zero, it has no relevance here.
At this point in time,
I'll sustain that objection
because the points of olive one,
there is no connection from what we've talked about here today
between Mr. Low and what brings us here today.
Well, Your Honor, that's what we're doing today,
is we're tying them together.
Go ahead and get there then.
You're not aware that there was a search warrant that was done involving what was believed
to be sex trafficking in Indianapolis.
I'm going to say the same objection.
I know this is partly documents that are the exhibit, but there's simply no relevance
here.
What is the sex trafficking investigation in Indiana or any tips in Indiana have to
do with this case?
Absolutely nothing.
So we object to relevance and going over this.
So waste of time.
And there were several loose connections being made.
Well, Miss Freeze, again, I thought the direction you said we were going here is there was going to be some connection
to Tame Accounting here and the in being law enforcement there.
Gavin Jones identified a Tame Accounting deputy
or a Tame Accounting police officer as being involved.
So ask about that.
Miss Freeze, I want to get to where we need to go with this.
And that is what we're here on.
And I'm not finding it.
I can't connect the dots unless I present a case.
Judge, there's no evidence the defense has given the court either in a pleading or anything that James Lowe is
involved in sex trafficking. The investigation they keep referring to in
Mahasca County, he wasn't even charged with anything relating to sex
trafficking. It is is preposterous that Mr. Brown says there's no evidence of
sex trafficking. Mr. Brown gets up in front of Jury's and sexual abuse cases all the time.
No.
Oh, I miss freezes.
Again, I'm going to give you a little more leeway here,
but we need to get to where we need to go here.
And we're spending too much time on savior,
Harold, and then we are on this case. And so I want to get there.
Whatever they were trying to prove or connect to Molly's abduction and murder,
it was based on the word of several people and the assumption they were telling the truth.
Their whole case relied on ifs, if this guy or if this woman was telling the truth.
If the other guy was actually a sex trafficker.
If sex trafficking even existed in the world, all of these ifs had to be connected loosely
to create this overall grand conspiracy about what actually happened to Molly.
Wouldn't you agree, sir, that if you had that information in that month
that Molly Tibbets was missing, that that would be relevant information? Well, I suppose it would
depend when I got that information. If I got that information after Christian Rivera confessed and
took us to the body and we were able to corroborate his entire confession
that I probably wouldn't disregard at that.
Molly Tibbets was abducted.
East of Brooklyn, Iowa, correct?
Correct.
Transported to a location.
Yes.
And at some point was stabbed and murdered.
Yes.
Yes.
That's what the evidence shows in this case, correct?
That is correct.
Any connection at all through your investigation to Gavin Jones, Dustin Hanson, James Lowe,
or any one else other than Christian Rivera?
No, Christian Rivera murdered Molly Tivitz.
That's all.
Thank you.
Ultimately, it was determined that the connections the defense tried to make were baseless. While a conspiracy theorist can make unlogical leaps between facts without any correlation,
this was a court of law, and they only deal in facts.
The motion for a new trial was denied, and the judge sentenced Christian to life in prison.
Molly's memory lives on in Brooklyn.
During the trial, five runners ran 62 miles across Iowa and raised $18,000 that they donated
to the Mollie Tibbet's fund in her honor and for the University of Iowa's Stead Family Children's
Hospital for Mental Health Awareness. Mollie's mom tries to live up to her daughter's ideals every day.
to her daughter's ideals every day. I want people to remember that Molly lived life to its fullest.
She wants us all to go on living our best potential life.
She even took in a young immigrant boy that just wanted to finish high school.
Yes, I took in Ulysses and because his parents left town because they were getting harassing
phone calls and they didn't feel safe.
And Ulysses wanted to finish his senior year in Brooklyn.
So he got to finish his football career, basketball career. He's doing track right now and he has now been
accepted at Iowa Central in Fort Dodge where he's going to play basketball with them and he
gets, he wants to go into culinary arts and they have a program there. So it was so worth it just
to let him not interrupt his dreams. I mean, it was tragic enough and then to have that,
you know, laid on his plate was just unthinkable. Whether you believe the political narrative of
evil Mexicans or the story about the masked man or the interstate's sex trafficking conspiracy
or even the idea that authorities just wanted to close the case and picked a random
guy they thought no one would care about. The truth remains that Christian was the only one who
knew where Molly was and led police there. There are many sides to every story, and then there's the truth. And then, there's the truth.
And then, there's the truth.
And then, there's the truth.
And then, there's the truth.
And then, there's the truth.
And then, there's the truth. That does it for this episode of Sword and Scale. Thank you for joining us.
Before you go, here are some running safety tips for all you runners out there.
First of all, run with a buddy.
Keep your headphone volume low so that you can hear approaching people and cars.
Running gets traffic, so you see all the approaching cars coming.
Or you notice anyone that's slowing down or turning around
after they pass you.
Alter or vary your route as often as possible.
Let someone you trust know when you leave, where you're running, and when you should be
back.
Carry your phone and identification.
Try a fitness watch.
Make sure the GPS is set on and share it with a close family member. Trust your instincts about a person or area, where reflective material.
Get a little can of mace. They're basically like three bucks at Walmart.
And if it's not pepper spray, carry some other device or something for soft defense.
Depending on where you are, you might want to invest a little 22 that you
hide away. Also, this is important. If confronted, don't leave the area. Don't let them take
you anywhere because you're not going to survive it. Put up a fight right then and there
because that's your last chance. Never go to the secondary location.
And pay close attention to the characteristics of strangers.
Call police if anything happens that seems out of the ordinary or suspicious.
Have a great run, ladies, and stay safe. 1. Draw the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line the line of the line the line of the line of the line the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line the line of the line the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of I'm a little bit more I'm a little bit more I'm a little bit more
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