The man charged with killing 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts made a formal plea of not guilty on Wednesday.

24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera entered that plea during a formal arraignment in Poweshiek County court.

Prosecutors charged Rivera with first-degree murder in August after he allegedly stabbed Tibbetts to death.

He also waived his right to a speedy trial during the arraignment in Montezuma. That means the trial does not have to take place within a state-mandated 90-day window.

Tibbetts vanished while out for a run in Brooklyn on July 18.

The search for Tibbetts lasted for more than a month and drew national attention.

Police say on August 21 Rivera led them to Tibbetts' body in a cornfield, but he told them he doesn't remember killing her.

An autopsy shows Tibbetts died of several stab wounds.

Both the defense and prosecution agreed to a trial date of April 16, 2019.

Defense attorney Chad Frese says he and his client agreed to waive the speedy trial because it's a complicated case that will take time to prepare.

And while the disappearance and discovery of the body prompted an outcry from many politicians about illegal immigration, Frese doesn't expect that issue to come up at trial.

"Immigration has nothing to do with this case. We aren't going to let this become an issue in this case. Our focus is Cristhian's charge he's facing and the death of this women. Whether or not he's an illegal immigrant or not has nothing to do with the facts of this case," Frese said.

Bahena Rivera's attorney says it's too soon to talk about moving the trial away from Poweshiek County. But that will be a consideration.

He would not answer questions about a trial strategy and whether he was considering an insanity or diminished responsibility defense.

Rivera is currently jailed on a $5 million cash-only bond.</s>Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the man accused of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbets, was arraigned Wednesday on first-degree murder charges at the Poweshiek County District Court in Montezuma, Iowa with his trial set for next April.

Rivera entered a not guilty plea in court, through an interpreter, with a trial date of April 16 in Poweshiek County District Court, which was live streamed by Des Moines Register.com. He remained in custody after the arraignment under a $5 million cash-only bond, set when he was initially arrested last month.

Authorities arrested Rivera, 24, a Mexican national, last month in connection with Tibbets murder, which attracted national attention during her disappearance, KCCI-TV reported. She went missing while on a run in Brooklyn, Iowa in July, the television station stated.

Her body was eventually found in a cornfield, KCCI-TV stated. An award of nearly $400,000 was offered on Tibbetts’ whereabouts when the 20-year-old psychology student went missing on July 18, according to CNN.

Authorities charged that Rivera led them to Tibbetts’ body after telling them he saw and pursued the student on her jog, the network reported.

Rivera claimed, according to police that he blacked out at some point, but was able to take them to Tibbetts body that was covered in corn leaves, per CNN. Rick Rahn, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s special agent, said a motive in the crime was not clear.

“I can’t really speak to you about the motive,” Rahn told CNN. “I can just tell you it seems that he followed her and seemed to be drawn to her on that particular day and for whatever reason he chose to abduct her.”

Tibbetts’ death has taken on a political tone because Rivera has been identified as an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the Iowa area from four to seven years, the network said.

The Trump administration has made illegal immigration one of its top issues since taking office last year and have used such crimes in the past as evidence of stronger measures against those who cross the border illegally.

“You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico,” Trump said at a rally last month in an effort to turn Tibbetts death into a campaign issue, CNN reported. “And you saw what happened to that incredible beautiful young woman. Should have 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 it changed but we have to get more Republicans.”

Iowa U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst joined in targeting Rivera’s immigration status, the network said.

“Too many Iowans have been lost at the hands of criminals who broke our immigration laws,” the senators said, according to CNN. “We cannot allow these tragedies to continue.”

Rob Tibbetts, Mollie Tibbetts’ father, told the Des Moines Register that the family has rejected using her death in the immigration back-and-forth.

“Please leave us out of your debate,” Rob Tibbetts wrote in Register. “At long last, show some decency.”</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa — The farmhand charged in the abduction and stabbing death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera entered his plea Wednesday at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa.

Rivera is charged in the killing of Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who disappeared while out for a run July 18 in Brooklyn, Iowa.

Investigators recovered her body a month later in a cornfield. A medical examiner has said Tibbetts was stabbed to death.

Rivera is a Mexican national who has been accused of being in the country illegally. The 24-year-old worked at a dairy farm a few miles from where Tibbetts disappeared.

He waived his right to be tried within 90 days. Trial is set for April 16.</s>(Reuters) - The accuser killer of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, whose disappearance produced national headlines, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder at a court appearance on Wednesday.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old farm worker from Mexico accused of stabbing 20-year-old Tibbetts, appeared in a black-and-white striped jumpsuit at his arraignment in Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa.

“Mr. Rivera pleads not guilty,” his lawyer Chad Frese told the judge as Rivera listened through black headphones to a translator.

District Court Judge Joel Yates set his trial for April 16. Rivera was ordered held on $5 million bail at a previous court appearance.

Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student, vanished while jogging on July 18, and her body was found about a month later in a field near Brooklyn, Iowa.

Law enforcement officials told reporters that Rivera was in the country illegally. His defense lawyer has said in a court filing that Rivera had legal status.

The case further fueled a national debate over illegal immigration and crime, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying Tibbetts’ death was a result of weak immigration laws.

In an opinion piece for the Des Moines Register earlier this month, Tibbetts’ father, Rob Tibbetts, called on politicians not to “distort” her death to advance views “she believed were profoundly racist.”</s>MONTEZUMA, Ia — The man accused of first-degree murder in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, appeared before District Court Judge Joel Yates at the Poweshiek County Courthouse.

Below is an earlier version of the story. Return for updates on this developing story:

MONTEZUMA, Ia. — The man accused of first-degree murder in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts will be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, will appear before District Court Judge Joel Yates at the Poweshiek County Courthouse.

Police have said Bahena Rivera told them he pursued Tibbetts in his car while she was jogging that night, before parking, getting out of the car and running behind and alongside her.

When Tibbetts told Bahena Rivera she was going to call police, he "panicked and got mad," according to a criminal complaint.

"He then 'blocked' his 'memory' which is what he does when he gets very upset," the complaint states. "And doesn't remember anything after that until he came to at an intersection."

An autopsy found she died of "multiple sharp force injuries."

© Gannett Co., Inc. 2018. All Rights Reserved</s>The accused killer of Iowa jogger Mollie Tibbetts is set to be arraigned Wednesday, one month after he was arrested for allegedly killing the 20-year-old college student.

Tibbetts, a rising sophomore at the University of Iowa, disappeared on July 18 while jogging in her rural farming town of Brooklyn, a close-knit community of about 1,500 residents.

Her disappearance garnered national attention and state and federal investigators were soon asked to join the case.

On Aug. 21, her alleged killer, 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera, was arrested after authorities said he led them to the college student's body in a farm field.

Tibbetts died from multiple sharp force injuries, according to her autopsy.

Rivera is an undocumented immigrant and his arrest renewed debate over America's immigration system.

On the day of Rivera's arrest, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement, “We are angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community, and we will do all we can bring justice to Mollie’s killer."

But Tibbetts' father said his daughter wouldn't want to be the face of an immigration debate and he begged for the family to be allowed to grieve privately.

"Please leave us out of your debate," Rob Tibbetts wrote in a guest column in The Des Moines Register. “I’m tired of my family being abused ... We want Mollie to die with dignity.”</s>The farmhand charged in the abduction and stabbing death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera entered his plea Wednesday at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa.

Rivera is charged in the killing of Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who disappeared while out for a run July 18th in Brooklyn, Iowa.

Investigators recovered her body a month later in a cornfield.

Rivera is a Mexican national who has also been accused of being in the country illegally.

His trial is set for April 16th.</s>A homeless man attacked and killed a top amateur golfer from Spain who was playing a round alone near her university campus in central Iowa, leaving her body in a pond on the course, police said Tuesday.

Collin Daniel Richards, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Celia Barquin Arozamena, a student at Iowa State University. He was ordered jailed Tuesday on a $5 million, cash-only bond.

Barquin was found Monday morning at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames, about 30 miles north of Des Moines. Police were called to the course around 10:20 a.m. to investigate a possible missing female after golfers found a golf bag with no one around it.

Officers found Barquin's body some distance from the bag, with several stab wounds to her upper torso, head and neck, according to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

"It's still very troubling for something like this to happen in broad daylight in a community that is as safe as Ames is," Ames police Cmdr. Geoff Huff said at a news conference Tuesday.

It is the second fatal stabbing of a female student in Iowa in recent months. An immigrant from Mexico is charged in the July 18 kidnapping and stabbing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who vanished while out for a run in the small town of Brooklyn.

Barquin, the 2018 Big 12 champion and Iowa State Female Athlete of the year, had no known prior relationship with Richards, Huff said.

Richards, who faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted, reported in a financial affidavit that he has no job. Paul Rounds, a public defender assigned to represent him, filed paperwork asserting his right to not speak to investigators. Rounds declined comment.

A police dog tracked Barquin's scent to a homeless encampment along a creek near the golf course, where Richards had been living in a tent, the complaint said. Officers found Richards with several fresh scratches on his face consistent with fighting, and a deep laceration in his left hand that he tried to conceal, it said.

An acquaintance of Richards told investigators that the suspect had said in recent days that he had "an urge to rape and kill a woman," the complaint said. A second acquaintance told police that Richards arrived at his home on Monday appearing "disheveled and covered in blood, sand and water." He bathed and left with his clothes in a backpack.

Investigators later recovered two pairs of shorts with blood stains and a knife that Richards allegedly gave to two other people after the slaying, the complaint said. Those two individuals were driving Richards out of town after the slaying, but he asked them to drop him off near the camp so he could get his tent. Officers later encountered and arrested him.

The university said Barquin, a native of Puente San Miguel, Spain, was finishing her civil engineering degree this semester after exhausting her eligibility at Iowa State in 2017-2018. Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement on Twitter that she was "deeply saddened" by Barquin's death.

She was one of the most accomplished players in Cyclone golf history. In April, she became the second women's golfer at Iowa State to earn medalist honors at a conference tournament when claiming the 2018 Big 12 Championship. She did it with a three-shot victory.

Barquin, who was ranked No. 69 nationally by Golfweek, ended her career as a Cyclone with a fourth-straight NCAA Regional appearance and earned All-Big 12 Team honors for the third time — the second player in Iowa State's history to do so.

She was the third Cyclone women's golfer to compete in the U.S. Women's Open Championship, the university said. The team announced Tuesday it was pulling out of the East & West Match Play in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be with friends and family and to grieve their loss.

Head women's golf coach Christie Martens said in a release that Barquin was a well-loved "outstanding representative of our school."

"We will never forget her competitive drive to be the best and her passion for life," Martens said.</s>Iowa State Department of Athletics(AMES, Iowa) — Police charged a man with murder just hours after promising young golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena was found dead on a golf course in Iowa.

Collin Daniel Richards, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the Iowa State University golfer’s death Monday night after police found her body at Coldwater Links golf course in Ames, Iowa.

Barquin Arozamena, 22, a native of Spain, was recently named Iowa State’s female athlete of the year.

The Ames Police Department opened a suspicious death investigation on Monday morning when golfers found a golf bag “with no one around it on the course,” according to a police statement.

Officers responded and located Barquin’s body “some distance away” and determined she had been assaulted, the department said.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the Iowa State University Police Department, assisted in the investigation.

“This is a tragic and senseless loss of a talented young woman and an acclaimed student athlete,” Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen said in a statement Monday. “We mourn with her family and friends in Spain, her teammates here and all who knew her.”

Barquin Arozamena claimed the 2018 Big 12 Championship with a three-shot victory in April, according to the university, which called her one of the most accomplished golfers in the school’s history. She was finishing her civil engineering degree this semester.

“Celia had an infectious smile, a bubbly personality and anyone fortunate enough to know her was blessed,” Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. “Our Cyclone family mourns the tragic loss of Celia, a spectacular student-athlete and ISU ambassador.”

Barquin Arozamena qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in Alabama this summer, one of the LPGA Tour’s majors, but did not make the cut after the first two rounds.

The university’s Athletics Department said it plans to honor her memory at a football game on Saturday. Funeral arrangements are pending.

“First it was the kidnapping and now this, it’s kind of horrifying,” he added, referring to the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts earlier this summer.

Officials with the Ames Police Department did not release many details about the suspect and authorities could not locate a “known address” for him. Richards has a long rap sheet, according to court records. He’s pleaded guilty to charges of domestic abuse, assault, theft and public intoxication in the past, the records show.

The department did not say how it connected Richards to the case and a cause of death has not been determined.</s>MONTEZUMA, Iowa — The farmhand charged in the abduction and stabbing death of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. Cristhian Bahena Rivera is charged in the killing of Tibbetts, a University of Iowa student who disappeared while out for a run July 18 in Brooklyn, Iowa.

Investigators recovered her body a month later in a cornfield. A medical examiner said Tibbetts was stabbed to death.

Rivera entered his plea Wednesday at the Poweshiek County Courthouse in Montezuma, Iowa.

Rivera, 24, worked at a dairy farm a few miles from where Tibbetts disappeared. He is a Mexican national who has been accused of being in the country illegally.

Tibbetts' father, Rob Tibbetts, has urged the public not to bring his daughter's death into the divisive and racially-charged debate over immigration.

"The person who is accused of taking Mollie's life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people," he recently wrote in an opinion piece for the Des Moines Register.

Rivera waived his right to be tried within 90 days. Trial is set for April 16.
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old man charged in the killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, is expected to be arraigned in a Poweshiek County court.