Cristhian Rivera (KCRG TV photo)
Lawyers for the man charged in last summer’s murder of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts are requesting a change of venue for his trial.
The defense team for 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera filed a motion asking a judge to move the case out of Poweshiek County because of too much media coverage of the case. The 20-year-old Tibbetts was reported missing July 18th after she didn’t return from a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.
Rivera was arrested a month later and charged in her kidnapping and murder. His attorneys seek a venue where the “minority population is substantially represented.”
Authorities say Rivera is from Mexico and was in the country illegally.