Trial begins for suspect in case of Mollie Tibbetts, Iowa woman slain while on a jog

Video evidence, DNA analysis and a partial confession will be critical to proving a farm laborer stabbed a University of Iowa student to death while she was out for a run in 2018, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

Poweshiek County Attorney Bart Klaver said in his opening statement that he will ask them to find Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. He said a homeowner's surveillance video will show Bahena Rivera's black Chevy Malibu appearing to circle Tibbets as she ran on July 18, 2018, in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Klaver said Bahena Rivera, now 26, later told police that he drove past her and turned around to get a second look because he thought she was "hot."