BREAKING NEWS: Mollie Tibbetts' killer is DENIED request for retrial after defense attorneys argue she was kidnapped in a sex trafficking ring

A judge on Monday rejected a convicted man's request for a new trial in the 2018 killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, after defense attorneys tried to link her death to a sex trafficking ring.

Judge Joel Yates' ruling cleared the way for sentencing to proceed on August 30 in the trial of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 27, who was convicted in May of first-degree murder in Tibbetts' death.  

He reportedly stabbed Tibbetts to death in Powesheik County, Iowa, in July 2018. She vanished while out for a jog in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. 

He was convicted after surveillance photo captured his Chevy pass by Tibbetts during her final jog. 

Bahena Rivera was further implicated in the killing after the student's blood was found in his car - and he later agreed to lead cops to Tibbetts' body in a corn field, around a month after she vanished.  

The former farmhand, who came to the U.S. illegally as a teenager, now faces a sentence of life in prison.

He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 15, but earlier that month, Yates had agreed to hear arguments for a new trial. 

Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted in May of first-degree murder in Mollie Tibbets' death

She was first reported missing after she did not return home from a run

The defense sought a new trial, claiming Tibbett's death was related to another woman's report of being kidnapped and sexually assaulted in the summer of 2018, and the recent disappearance of 11-year-old boy Xavior Harrelson who went missing in the same county.

They claim Tibbetts may have been abducted as part of an Iowa sex trafficking ring headed up by 50-year-old James Lowe - the former live-in boyfriend of Harrelson's mom. 

Prosecutors noted Lowe, a suspected methamphetamine dealer, had been investigated in both abduction cases but hasn't been charged in either, and say he has no tie to Tibbetts at all. 

Bahena Rivera was arrested in 2018, after reportedly telling investigators where her body was buried

Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Trent Vileta claimed they had the right man in custody, and rejected claims Tibbetts was caught up in a sex-trafficking ring =

Lawyers also presented testimony from two new witnesses who claim Gavin Jones, a 21-year-old local man, had confessed to being Tibbetts's true killer.  

One of those witnesses, inmate Arne Maki, testified las week that Jones told him of his involvement last year when they were both held at the Keokuk County Jail. 

The defense say Arne Maki, who is currently an inmate, told investigators that a 21-year-old fellow inmate with a history of violence against women claimed responsibility for killing Tibbetts 

Jones said he and another man stabbed Tibbetts after she was held at a sex trafficking 'trap house' where they were staying and framed Bahena Rivera for the death, Maki testified. 

An older man in charge of the house had ordered her killed, Maki said.

Maki said he came forward after seeing news clips about Bahena Rivera's testimony in which he said two other men were responsible for the crime. 

Maki, 46, said he was getting no benefit for his testimony, saying he wanted to 'do the right thing.'

'I just want to say one thing, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Tibbetts family,' Maki said, after his testimony concluded.

Defense lawyers requested a new trial based on that and other newly discovered information, and Yates agreed to postpone sentencing while he considered their request.

Jones, though, has denied any involvement and Prosecutor Bart Klaver noted that Jones was in a rehabilitation facility in the summer of 2018 and then in an assisted living facility under state supervision. 

They also noted that Tibbetts was not cut up and wrapped in plastic, as Maki testified that Jones had told him. 

Prosecutors told jurors that an autopsy found that she had been stabbed seven to 12 times in the chest, ribs, neck, and skull, and that she died from sharp force injuries

Bahena Rivera, a dairy farm worker, claimed in his testimony that two masked men were responsible for the killing and had forced him to drive them around and dispose of Tibbetts' body at gunpoint. Tibbetts' partially naked and decomposing body was found dumped in this cornfield in 2018

In court, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent Trent Vileta further noted that Bahena Rivera partially confessed to stalking Tibbetts while she was out for a run, killing her and dumping her body in a cornfield, where he led investigators after a lengthy interrogation in August 2018.  

During the trial, Bahena Rivera claimed two masked men kidnapped him at gunpoint from his trailer, forced him to drive to where Tibbetts was running on a rural road, killed her, put her body in his trunk and made him dispose of it. 

He didn´t tell investigators about the two men earlier, he claimed, because they had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and young daughter.  

Bahena Rivera's arrest in 2018 inflamed the debate over illegal immigration with then-President Donald Trump calling him a killer who exploited lax immigration laws and Iowa's governor calling him a predator. 

The trial was moved roughly 100 miles from Poweshiek County to Scott County after defense lawyers said residents around Brooklyn, which has a population of 1,700, had strong opinions about their client's guilt.