Undocumented immigrant faces murder charge in Mollie Tibbitts case

[B2G]

Source: CNN

(CNN) — An undocumented immigrant has been charged with first-degree murder in the presumed death of Mollie Tibbetts, an Iowa college student who went missing on July 18, officials said Tuesday.

The body that officials believe is that of Tibbetts, 20, was found Tuesday, said Rick Rahn, special agent in charge at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. An autopsy is planned for Wednesday.

Authorities said surveillance video helped them determine a suspect. He led them to a cornfield where the woman's remains were found.

The suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, is an undocumented immigrant who authorities believe has been in the area for four to seven years, Rahn said. Charges were filed in the district court in Poweshiek County.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/us/mollie-tibbetts-missing-iowa-student/index.html

[RhodeIslandOne]

1. No wonder

I wondered why this case seemed to be getting so much attention and now it makes sense.

And it stinks to high heaven if you ask me.

[B2G]

2. What does?

Not sure what you mean.

[RhodeIslandOne]

3. Mike Pence visited the family

A chill went up my spine right there.

Top story on FAUX this hour.

Figure it out.

[B2G]

4. I would know because I had CNN on.

I haven't heard that.

[RhodeIslandOne]

5. Read it today.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/08/15/mollie-tibbetts-vice-president-mike-pence-iowa-des-moines-politics-donald-trump-missing-iowa-student/1000389002/

Happened last week.

Not too often the highest office in the land takes interest in things like this.

[mn9driver]

6. Horrible tragedy for this young woman and her family.

But I have the same vibe that you do.

[RhodeIslandOne]

7. I'm saddened too

I hope they caught the right guy.

[B2G]

8. They have him on surveillance cameras.

He admitted he followed her. He led them to her body.

Pretty sure he's the right guy.

[erpowers]

16. Seems A Bit Fishy

It seems authorities are now claiming Mollie Tibbetts' Fitbit fitness device played a role in solving the case. It has been said that the authorities had already searched the field were her body was found. Reporters have asked authorities how the missed the body the first time they searched the field. Authorities claim they were unable to find the body because corn stalks were placed over her body. If the Fitbit had told them were to go why did they not move some of the corn stalks around? Why did they not use search dogs?

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but how do we know the authorities did not find the body weeks ago and then decide to place the blame on an undocumented immigrant? I understand my theory bring up the question of why would they frame a random undocumented immigrant? I do not know. Maybe it really was the boyfriend and the police just did not want the boyfriend to take the fall for the murder. What proof do we have that the boyfriend was really at a construction site when the girlfriend was murdered? Maybe this is meant to give the national Republican Party a boost in the midterm elections.

[john657]

33. What? Are you serious?

Unfuckingbelievable.

[puppet]

43. No one questions it

Last edited Wed Aug 22, 2018, 07:07 AM - Edit history (1)

This stinks because it plays right into Trump's hand.

That guy does not look like a killer at all. He's too timid looking.

They would have of course used dogs. If they searched that field before, the dogs would have smelled it, covered with cornstalks or not.

Most illegal immigrants send money they earn home, and will do anything for their families back home, including sacrificing their lives, or taking the fall for murder, if they believe their family is threatened.

I really think you all should be more skeptical of this. Just look at that poor guy. He didn't do it. What would be his motive?? There was no sexual assault. Sorry, but why would an illegal who has been there 4-7 years, who wants to keep a low profile, just up and kill someone for the hell of it? Too much of this doesn't add up.

[john657]

48. So tell us what exactly does a killer look like?

Ted Bundy didn't look anything like a killer, and yet...............

He confessed, he led the police right to the body, they have video of him following her, seems pretty clear that they have the right guy.

[7962]

31. What? Its not like they new who killed her when the story started.

Come on

[MosheFeingold]

9. Unfortunate

This tragedy will surely be used in 100 campaign ads.

And they will be effective. By all accounts, she was a lovely girl.

[B2G]

10. No winners here for sure. Nt

[Floyd R. Turbo]

11. Sickening. I don't care what the perp's status is, he deserves to rot in prison.

[TexasBushwhacker]

25. While they're at it

Last edited Tue Aug 21, 2018, 08:54 PM - Edit history (1)

why don't they lock up his employer of the last 4 to 7 years. The undocumented workers come here because they know someone will hire them. Until we crack down, HARD, on the employers, more workers will come across the border. That's something that never happens. Punishing employers is looked upon as anti-business.

[john657]

30. Amen to that!!! N/T

[7962]

32. YES!! If they knew hes been here for SEVEN years, why hasnt something been done??

[alp227]

40. Speaking of his employer...

Check this out from the Des Moines Register: Cristhian Rivera, charged in Mollie Tibbetts' death, worked at a farm owned by a prominent Iowa Republican family:

In a statement Tuesday night, Dane Lang, of Yarrabee Farms, said Rivera was an “employee in good standing” and was “shocked to hear” Rivera was implicated.

Dane Lang is related to Craig Lang, the former president of both the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the Iowa Board of Regents and a 2018 Republican candidate for state secretary of agriculture. Documents immediately reviewed by the Des Moines Register listed several owners of Yarrabee Farms, including Dane Lang and Eric Lang, Craig's brother.

In the statement, Dane Lang said Rivera worked for Yarrabee Farms for four years and passed the government’s vetting process. Investigators visited the farm Monday to speak with employees.

[TexasBushwhacker]

57. Either they are lying

or there's something wrong with the governments vetting process.

Now I once was once a bookkeeper for a commercial landscaping company here in Texas. Most of our crew was Latino. Some were citizens but some had green cards. All an employer is REQUIRED to do is have copies of their drivers license, social security card and green card if they have one. The feds have a system called E-verify, but it is OPTIONAL for employers to use it. The only employers who are required to use E-verify are ones working on government contracts.

So that has to change. ALL employers, big and small, should be required to use E-verify to check their current employees and any future ones. Off course, this will make anyone employing landscapers, construction workers, housekeepers and janitors, meat processors, and farm workers to SHIT BRICKS. Anyone pushing for legislation to require E-verify is considered "anti-business".

[Snellius]

12. FOX News has been headlining this story for weeks

A tragic and genuine story. But with FOX, when it doesn't have a political or racial slant, you always have to ask what's the angle. Just a tabloid interest? The video must have been around for awhile, since the attack, so could FOX have had some pre-warning before made public that this was coming? Maybe just need to get a new tinfoil cap.

[B2G]

13. It's been on all news outlets. Nt

[Snellius]

14. Yes but on FOX, online at least, it's been the top featured story you see.

Day after day. Like Drudge, they often use this kind of story -- hurricanes, killer viruses, entertainment scandals -- as diversion cover for other, less ideologically correct stories they would rather their views never see. Follow it enough to know it's where conspiracy machinations are more likely than not.

[B2G]

15. If it were my daughter who was missing

I'd be grateful for that.

[Snellius]

19. I've children as well. Apologies

Apologies for using this story politically so soon.

[B2G]

21. Thank you.

Like I responded to another poster, today is for condolences.

I'm coming at this as a parent, not as a Dem today.

[john657]

28. Amen to that!!!

If it were my child, I couldn't care less who was broadcasting day after day, hour after hour, I'll take help from the devil himself if it would help me find my child.

Condolences to the family in this tragic time for them.

[at140]

17. I have 2 young daughters

so this story hits home and hard.

[Snellius]

20. Apologies for using this story politically so soon.

[at140]

23. Thanks for that.

[Marthe48]

18. trump just bleated that immigration and border will win the mid-term

The right will ignore the loss of the family and use this young woman's senseless death to rally the base. Remember what the right wing did to Michael Dukakis?

R.I.P. Mollie Tibbetts. Peace for the family.

[mn9driver]

24. At this moment, the Fox News headline is:

"Mollie Tibbetts’ suspected killer ID'd as 24-year-old illegal immigrant"

The article takes up the whole landing page except for a banner plugging the Trump rally tonight. You have to scroll down to see the smaller stories about Manafort and Cohen. You can bet Trump will climb on top of this poor young woman's grave tonight and turn it into something political and horrible.

[MadDAsHell]

26. It's Iowa; my guess is the family will be on the undocumented immigrant issue even if Trump isn't.

Last edited Tue Aug 21, 2018, 09:03 PM - Edit history (1)

No family, least of all an Iowa family, is going to be ok with how this went down. This was preventable; I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lawsuit against the federal government for negligent immigration practices.

[Snellius]

42. Did FOX get a tip-off from cops/video that suspect was illegal Hispanic?

And thus played up the story, long before the suspect's ID was made public, thinking this might play perfectly into their Mexicans-are-criminals storyline? And, given that FOX is the unofficial propaganda ministry for the president, did Trump too? It's certainly their MO.

[Power 2 the People]

22. My heart breaks for the family.

She seemed like such a sweet girl.

I'm puzzled how she ended up in the corn field if her fitbit and her laptop both showed she made it home from the run and did some homework online. The police claimed there was no sign of struggle in the home. Very strange. I guess we'll just have to wait for more details.

[BlueStater]

27. Terrific.

I feel horrible that this poor girl was murdered and nauseated that her tragic fate will inevitably be exploited by a pack of digusting, racist assholes pushing an idiotic agenda.

[47of74]

29. The orange idiot and his groupies are probably itching to reenact Kristallnacht tonight

[RobinA]

34. Meanwhile, In Other News

American citizen since forever and all round white guy kills pregnant wife and young daughters... Please. Illegals certainly do not have a corner on murder market. That shit will never fly.

[B2G]

35. I don't recall anyone saying they did. Nt

[RobinA]

46. That Would Be The Implication

if the Right were to use this one situation for campaign rhetoric. I wasn't implying that somebody here said it.

[john657]

37. What a vile comment.

So what if she's in the news everyday?

[justgamma]

38. Here's a little tidbit.

Yarrabee Farms: Suspect in Mollie Tibbetts murder was employee in good standing at Yarrabee Farms The company is owned by the family of Craig Lang, a prominent Republican who previously served as president of the Iowa Farm Bureau. He had been employed there for 4 years.

http://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Yarrabee-Farms-Suspect-in-Mollie-Tibbetts-murder-was-employee-in-good-standing-491419192.html

[MosheFeingold]

49. He allegedly passed the eVerify system

I am curious who helped him do so.

[B2G]

54. Yes, I read that too.

Was wondering how he passed.

[MichMan]

58. Forged documents?

[EX500rider]

66. Borrowed documents is what I read on the BBC.

[MichMan]

67. Borrowed with or without permission ?

[EX500rider]

68. BBC quote: (stolen)

"According to the Washington Post, the suspect used a stolen ID card to pass the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45266948

[Takket]

39. Drumpf will be loving this

Expect a “I told you so” tweet storm to push convictions off the front page

[honest.abe]

44. Employed by a company owned by a big time Republican.

Yarrabee Farms, a family-owned company that operates dairy farms in the rolling hills outside Brooklyn, said that Rivera had been an employee in good standing for four years and that it was shocked to learn he was implicated in the crime.

The company is owned by the family of Craig Lang, a prominent Republican who previously served as president of the Iowa Farm Bureau.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/officials-believe-body-iowa-student-mollie-tibbetts-found-132827935.html

more on this..

Lang also ran for Secretary of Agriculture in Iowa on the GOP ticket this year. No one in the June 5 primary received 35 percent of the vote, but Mike Naig -- and not Lang -- was chosen to run on the Republican ticket in November at a June 16 convention, according to the Des Moines Register.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/farm-suspect-mollie-tibbetts-murder-passed-background-check/story?id=57324017

===================

This is the attraction that will keep drawing immigrants coming to the US illegally, wall or no wall.

[Snellius]

50. The hypocrisy is widespread

Repubs may be the most hypocritical but more than a few businessmen who vote Democratic employ undocumented too. It's a general problem, not just Repubs, and a bit too much to imply a political guilt by association for a tragedy like this.

Always surprised that anti-immigrantionists don't call for the easiest solution: no green card, no work. Lock up the pimps. Why? This country was built on cheap labor.

[honest.abe]

53. Of course, but Democrats dont use the illegal immigrant issue as a political punching bag.

We admit its an issue that needs to be resolved but we also admit that those illegals provide a valuable source of labor.

Republicans will never do that.

[tenderfoot]

60. You'd think that the concerned OP would have mentioned that...

eom

[B2G]

61. That information is not in the article that was posted.

That has come out after the article was published, no I'm not sure what your point is.

[Kingofalldems]

62. Here's confirmation the suspect was employed by a prominent REPUBLICAN:

Link to tweet

[B2G]

63. Yes, I saw that, and I commented on it upthread earlier today.

The company is also stating that he passed e-verify.

Will be interesting to see if that's the case and if so, how.

[LanternWaste]

45. Horrible. Systemic violence against women by men knows no border and never will.

[Steerpike]

47. shit

....

[HopeAgain]

51. So this is now the right-wing cause celeb

Expect the racism, xenophobia and scapegoating to kick into high gear...

[truthisfreedom]

52. GOP farm worker faces murder charge

[Squinch]

55. They're going to try to Willie Horton this poor child's death.

[MosheFeingold]

56. No doubt

And, as noted, it will be effective.

[HopeAgain]

59. They are already doing it.

Gingrich basically said if Cohen is on the front page, Democrats win, if this is on the front page, Republicans win.

[JI7]

65. just look at how trolls on this site followed

[Judi Lynn]

69. Bullseye. They can't resist a chance to try to smear someone less white than they are.

It's beyond their ability to control. They are here to slash and hack at all people of browner skin, and people of progressive values. It couldn't matter less to them that this is a message board designed for progressive people.

[workinclasszero]

64. Man charged in Tibbetts' death worked at Iowa farm linked to prominent Republican

USA TODAY NETWORK Austin Cannon, Des Moines Register Published 7:48 a.m. ET Aug. 22, 2018

DES MOINES – Cristhian Rivera, the man accused in the death of a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, worked for an Iowa farm owned by the brother of a prominent Iowa Republican.

In a statement Tuesday night, Dane Lang, of Yarrabee Farms, said Rivera was an “employee in good standing” and was “shocked to hear” Rivera was implicated in the death of Mollie Tibbetts.

Dane Lang is related to Craig Lang, the former president of both the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the Iowa Board of Regents and a 2018 Republican candidate for state secretary of agriculture. Documents immediately reviewed by the Des Moines Register listed several owners of Yarrabee Farms, including Dane Lang and Eric Lang, Craig's brother.

Rivera, 24, who resides in rural Poweshiek County, Iowa, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the alleged abduction and death of Tibbetts, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

During a news conference Tuesday, authorities said Rivera was employed and lived in the area for four to seven years, but they would not disclose his employer.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211033129


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/22/mollie-tibbetts-undocumented-immigrant-suspect/1060204002/