Preliminary results from an autopsy on the body confirmed to be 20-year-old University of Iowa student, Mollie Tibbetts, have been released. The autopsy was performed yesterday (Wednesday) by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny, who determined the manner of death to be homicide resulting from multiple sharp force injuries. The report indicated further examination may result in additional findings. Under Iowa law, autopsy results are confidential, except for the cause and manner of death. Cristhian Behena Rivera, a 24-year-old illegal alien believed to have lived in Poweshiek County for at least four years, has been charged with murder in the first degree for Tibbetts’ death. Her body was discovered Tuesday morning after Rivera reportedly led investigators to where he had hidden it in a cornfield in a rural area of the county. Rivera admits to making contact with Tibbetts while she was running and claims he “blocked his memory” of the incident until realizing he had placed her body in his trunk. He made his first court appearance Wednesday and remains in custody on a $5 million cash-only bond. In Iowa, a first-degree murder conviction carries a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
