A defense expert says a confession by the suspect in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts is not reliable because he was sleep deprived and susceptible to coercion. Brian Leslie, a consultant with expertise in interrogation techniques, reviewed video of an 11-hour interrogation of Cristhian Bahena Rivera in August 2018.

He noted that Rivera denied involvement in the disappearance and death of Tibbetts until near the end, around 4 a.m., after he had been falling in and out of sleep. He says he would “not take a lot of what was said as credible.” Leslie testified on the second day of a hearing on Rivera’s motion to suppress statements made during that interrogation.  Judge Joel Yates said Thursday he would take the matter under advisement and rule as quickly as possible.

Relatives of the man suspected of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts say they rushed to a sheriff’s office after learning he was being questioned and waited for hours without getting to speak with him. Alejandra Cervantes Valle testified Thursday that she asked a police officer whether the family needed to call a lawyer for her nephew, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, during the August 2018 interrogation.

Valle says the officer told her that was unnecessary because they would be done in 15 minutes. The family left two hours later without any update. Police say Rivera later led officers to a cornfield where they say he hid Tibbetts’s body beneath a pile of leaves.

Judge Joel Yates ruled Thursday that he will not allow lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera to submit a written affidavit from their client unless he agrees to submit to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Lawyers for Rivera, who is charged with murder, say they won’t allow him to testify. Yates rejected the affidavit. Rivera says in the affidavit that he was unaware of certain rights and scared to invoke others.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Eight months after flooding began along the lower Missouri River, the amount of water being released from dams upriver will start to be reduced later this month.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the amount of water being released from the Gavins Point dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will start to gradually be reduced on Nov. 23 as part of its plan to cut releases for winter.

The amount of water being released into the river has been at 80,000 cubic feet per second — more than twice what is typical — for months. By mid-December, that will be reduced to 22,000 cubic feet per second.

The river has remained high ever since the spring flooding because the amount of rain and melting snow flowing into the river was near record levels this year.

Montgomery County conducted its second post-election audit Thursday, under a new law designed to monitor and protect election processes. According to Auditor Stephanie Burke, the audit was successful.

Iowa law allows the Secretary of State choose, at random, one precinct in each Iowa county to be audited. County auditors must then supervise a hand count of the ballots from that precinct and compare the results to the voting machine count from election night.

In Montgomery County, the Secretary of State chose Precinct 7, which votes at the Villisca Community Building. 161 ballots were cast on election night and the results matched to the hand count done on Thursday. Burke said “The hand count shows that our machines are accurately counting ballots. All voters deserve to have confidence that their vote has been counted properly.”

Two precinct election officials, representing the two major political parties, conducted the count under the supervision of Elections Clerk, Beth Peterson, and Auditor Stephanie Burke. As required in the law, the Auditor’s Office notified the county chairs of both of the two major political parties. The process was witnessed by a representative of the Montgomery County Democrats.

Questions about the post-election audit and other election matters may be directed to the Montgomery County Auditor’s office at 712-623-5127.

Officials with the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency said today (Thursday), clean-up crews continue to work at the site of Wednesday morning’s train derailment near the Boxelder Avenue bridge. Boxelder Ave is still closed and should be reopened early Friday morning. While the rail should be fixed and open for traffic yet tonight or early tomorrow, cleanup crews will still be at the site over the next several days or weeks to cleanup the remaining damaged cars and coal. Officials said approximately 20-to 30-coal BNSF cars derailed at around 4-a.m., Wednesday. No injuries were reported.

(Photos from the Montgomery County EMA Facebook page)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a gay pastor in Iowa City will request a leave of absence as part of a settlement of complaints that her sexual orientation violates United Methodist Church law. The Rev. Anna Blaedel had been director of the Wesley Center at the University of Iowa but stepped down in May because of a church complaint filed in 2018. She’s been the subject of three complaints since she publicly disclosed in 2016 that she was gay.

Blaedel has since been working 10-15 hours a week leading the center’s Table Tuesday program, in which college students gather to discuss spirituality and social justice. The Rev. Tyler Schwaller has been representing Blaedel, and he told The Gazette that Blaedel will retain her pastoral credentials. Blaedel has declined to comment. Delegates at a United Methodist Church conference in St. Louis voted in February to strengthen a ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.

Sheriff’s officials in Mills County report four recent arrests. On Wednesday, 25-year old Amber Nicole Ross, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail, on a warrant for Violation for Probation. Her bond was set at $20,000. 45-year old Stacey Lynn Barrett, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving While Barred, Wednesday (bond set at $2,000), and 58-year old Darrell Adam Klahn, of Omaha, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, and Driving Under Suspension. His bond was set at $1,300.

On Tuesday, 36-year old William Joseph Bullock, of Omaha, was arrested in Mills County, for Eluding, Driving While Revoked, and preventing apprehension. His bond was set at $8,000.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation have issued a follow-up to an incident on May 30th, that damaged a bridge in downtown Sioux City. Following the initial analysis on the fire-damaged, northbound bridge over Perry Creek, the Iowa DOT has determined to establish two northbound Interstate 29 lanes through downtown. Much of the work to establish the two-lane configuration will occur during the weekend. The contractor will then work toward establishing two southbound lanes through the area with a target completion time of 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22.

Earlier, the DOT said heat from fire that began in a homeless camp, damaged the bridge to the point where some of the concrete pulled away from the structure. Authorities said they believe the fire was likely started by people using propane.