Mollie Tibbetts’ murderer sentenced to life in prison

The man convicted of murdering University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ABC News reports.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, was found guilty of first-degree murder in May. Authorities say he abducted Tibbetts while she was on a run in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, three years ago. Weeks after her disappearance, Bahena Rivera led police to her body, which he had placed in a cornfield.

Poweshiek County District Court Judge Joel Yates handed down the sentence, which included an order of $150,000 in restitution to Tibbett’s family.

“Mr. Bahena Rivera, you and you alone forever changed the lives of those who loved Mollie Tibbetts,” Yates reportedly said.

A victim advocate read a victim’s impact statement written by Tibbett’s mother, Laura Calderwood, prior to the sentencing.

“I come here to give a voice to our daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin and friend, Mollie Cecilia Tibbetts,” Calderwood wrote. “Mollie was a young woman who simply wanted to go for a quiet run on the evening of July 18 (2018) and you chose to violently and sadistically end that life.”

She added, “Because of your act, Mollie’s father, Rob, will never get to walk his only daughter down the aisle. Because of your act, Mr. Rivera, I will never get to see my daughter become a mother.”

Bahena Rivera, a 27-year-old undocumented farmworker from Mexico, and his attorneys declined to comment to ABC News.

The sentencing comes weeks after Yates denied Bahena Rivera’s request for a new trial.

“In reviewing the evidence and testimony provided at trial, the court finds the verdict was not contrary to the weight of the evidence,” Yates wrote in his early August decision, according to the Associated Press.