An Iowa jury has convicted illegal immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera in vicious and evil murder of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts.
Back in 2018, Tibbetts, 20, went out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, and never came back.
Her disappearance kicked off a month-long manhunt and drew national attention, but her body was not found until Rivera led authorities to the Poweshiek County cornfield where it was hidden about a month after she went missing.
Surveillance footage showed a car police connected to Rivera near the area where Tibbetts took her jog.
After a trial of just over two weeks, the jury found Rivera guilty of first degree murder.
Rivera will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is a mandatory sentence upon conviction. He will be held without bond pending a July 15 sentencing hearing.
During jury selection for the trial, prosecutors warned prospective jurors that the trial would include graphic evidence that would be emotionally difficult to see and hear.
"After the verdict, prosecutor Scott Brown said the Tibbetts family was "relieved" and pleased with the decision.
Jurors reached their decision after deliberating for just over seven hours. Excluding the alternates, the jurors ranged in age from 19 to 71. The panel was made up of five females and seven males, of which three were of Hispanic descent and nine were White.
Juror Robert Reed told Fox News the panel was confident in its decision, noting that the charged nature of the case didn't play a role in the outcome.
"I think especially for a lot of us, it was very emotional," he said. "What we really had to do is put all of our emotions to the side. And that's not what it was about.""