HATTIESBURG, Miss. (Court TV) — A man was sentenced to life in prison after admitting to killing his girlfriend, whose body was found in her car.
Bricen Rivers, 25, pleaded guilty on Friday to capital murder; he had previously been indicted on charges of capital murder, taking possession of a motor vehicle and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Lauren Johansen.
Johansen was killed just days after Rivers had bonded out of jail in Nashville, Tennessee, on charges that he had assaulted her. In the assault case, the couple had been on vacation in Nashville when Rivers was found lying on top of the victim in a parked car. An 11-minute recording on Johansen’s phone revealed that Rivers had accused Johansen of having sex with another man before assaulting her. The recording featured Rivers taunting Johansen, who was heard gasping and crying.
Days after that assault, Rivers called Johansen from jail and gave her instructions about what to say to police; Johansen told officers she did not want to press charges…