The man suspected of murdering a 20-year-old University of Iowa student shared some new details about the night that resulted in Mollie Tibbetts’ death.

During the trial on Wednesday, murder suspect Cristhian Bahena Rivera testified, answering questions for the prosecution about the disappearance of Tibbetts.

When Tibbetts went missing on July 18, 2018, Bahena Rivera claimed two men with masks appeared in his living room with a knife and gun and forced him to get into his vehicle, a black Chevy Malibu.

Bahena Rivera claimed the men threatened his then-girlfriend and daughter in order to make him follow a jogger, who he now recognizes as Tibbetts. He was ordered to drive past her several times and circle around.

“Before they leave, one of them tells me not to say anything about what had happened,” Bahena Rivera explained. “That they knew Iris [Gamboa, the mother of his daughter] and they knew my daughter, that if I said something, they would take care of them,” he said.

However, Bahena Rivera couldn’t remember the details of Tibbetts’ murder and claimed he “blacked out.”

Bahena Rivera claimed the men opened his trunk and place something heavy in the back. He later saw Tibbetts’ body in the trunk and was told not to say anything about the events of the night.

He was instructed to drive to the cornfield where he took Tibbetts’ body and disposed of it.

Following the incident, Bahena Rivera said he didn’t alert authorities, “because I was scared. ... If I called police, it was something that wouldn’t be good, that wouldn’t seem right.”

Tibbetts’ body wasn’t discovered until Aug. 21, 2018. Bahena Rivera has been charged with first-degree murder, if convicted he could get a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

jogger
A woman jogs along a roadside as temperatures cool off after sunset in Oceanside, California, July 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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