Mexican suspect in Mollie Tibbetts homicide worked under fake name

A Mexican man charged with killing an Iowa college student worked on a dairy farm for years under a false name just a few kilometres from where the young woman was allegedly abducted while running last month, his employer said Wednesday.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera was a good employee who showed up on time to take care of the cows and got along well with his co-workers, said Dane Lang, manager of Yarrabee Farms in Brooklyn, Iowa.

The 24-year-old kept coming to work after Mollie Tibbetts disappeared on July 18and "nobody saw a difference" in his demeanour, Lang said. His colleagues were stunned Tuesday to learn that he was not only the suspect in Tibbetts's death, but that he had a differentname than what he went by on the farm, he said.

"Our employee is not who he said he was," Lang said at a news conference at the farm. "This was shocking to us."

When Rivera was hired in 2014, he presented an out-of-state government-issued photo identification and a matching social security card, he said. That information was run through the Social Security Administration's employment-verification system and checked out, he said.

'Sad and sorry' Trump weighed in

Rivera's defence attorney, Allan Richards, acknowledged Wednesday that his client received his paycheque under a different name and that he was uncertain of his immigration status. He said he was prepared to argue that his client was in the country legally, noting that he came to the U.S. as a minor and had worked and paid taxes for years.

"He showed up every dayand he did his job. He was patted on his back. They turned a blind eye to the reality of documentation," Richards said.

Richards also lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump for publicly declaring his client guilty at arally Tuesday night, when he called the nation's immigration system a disgrace. Richards said his client was a minor when he came to the U.S. with the equivalent of an eighth-grade education and described him as a hard worker with no prior criminal record.

"Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media, which will poison the entire possible pool of jury members," Richards wrote.

Trump noted the arrest at a rally in West Virginia.

"You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly, from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman," Trump told the crowd in Charleston. "Should've never happened. Illegally in our country. We've had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad. The immigration laws are such a disgrace, we're getting them changed, but we have to get more Republicans. We have to get 'em."

Donald Trump spoke about the Mollie Tibbetts murder case at his rally in West Virginia

6 years ago

Duration 0:34

Trump referred to the case in saying, 'The immigration laws are such a disgrace, we're getting them changed'

Investigators say they believe Riveraabducted Tibbetts as she went on an evening jog, killed her and dumped her body in a cornfield. A judge on Wednesday agreed to increase his bond to $5 million US, up from $1 million, after prosecutor Scott Brown noted he was a potential flight risk.

Rivera sat stone-faced through much of the hearing, wearing a striped jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and speaking only briefly through a Spanish-speaking interpreter.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials lodged an immigration detainer for Riveraa move that means the agency has probable cause to believe he is subject to deportation.

'Scary situation'

Richards claimed his client had been recruited to work at the farm and paid taxes for years.

Yarrabee Farms is a small family farming operation that dates back to 1860 and has been owned for six generations by the Lang family, which is prominent in the community, farming circles and Republican politics.

Lang said the farm had received dozens of disturbing phone calls and messages since the employee's arrest, including threats to kill his dog and burn down his buildings.

"This is a scary situation," he said.

Co-owner Craig Lang, a former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau who ran earlier this year for state agriculture secretary, said the farm was co-operating with investigators and had already turned over Rivera's hiring records. He said now was not the time to debate immigration but to grieve the loss of Tibbetts.

Rivera led investigators Tuesday to a body believed to be Tibbetts in a cornfield about 19 kilometressoutheast of Brooklyn, where she was last seen, police said.

Rivera allegedly confessed to following her and then panicking when she threatened to call police. He told authorities that he blacked out and then dumped her bloody body in the secluded location.

Investigators have not released the cause and manner of Tibbetts's death. Authorities released no information following an autopsy conducted Wednesday.