Jury selection under way in trial of illegal immigrant

May 18, 2021 Carley Shaffer US 0

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is escorted into the Poweshiek County Courthouse for his initial court appearance, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Montezuma, Iowa. Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared July 18 from Brooklyn, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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UPDATED 1:01 PM PT – Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Jury selection for a case involving an illegal immigrant charged in killing an Iowa college student is under way. On Monday, attorneys spoke with a pool of more than 180 potential jurors as the defense raised concerns over issues of fairness.

Mexican national Christian Bahena Rivera, 26, is accused of stabbing Mollie Tibbetts while she was out for a jog in 2018. Hundreds of law enforcement officials and members of the community scoured the area for five weeks in search of the 20-year-old’s body before Rivera eventually led police to her remains.

In this September 2016 photo provided by Kim Calderwood, Mollie Tibbetts poses for a picture during homecoming festivities at BGM High School in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the man charged with killing Tibbetts while she was out for a run in July 2018, will stand trial for first-degree murder on Monday, May 17, 2021, in Davenport, Iowa. (Kim Calderwood via AP)

In this September 2016 photo provided by Kim Calderwood, Mollie Tibbetts poses for a picture during homecoming festivities. (Kim Calderwood via AP)

President Donald Trump sounded off on the crime ahead of the 2018 midterm elections when he called for immigration reform. The trial had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was moved to a different county at the request of defense attorneys. The trial is expected to last two weeks.