Delaware County Daily Times - Sept 15, 2000 Article #1

Rivera flinches as his ex-fiancee takes stand

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Friday, September 15, 2000

Author: MATT ZAGER ; Of the Times Staff

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- Yesterday's pre-trial hearing for Robert Rivera became tense when the mother of his child, Jennifer Helton, said she gave a picture of Rivera engaged in a sexual act to detectives.

Rivera stood up, put his hands behind his back and demanded to be removed from the courtroom, moments after Helton, his former fiancee, testified that she had turned the picture over to the county Criminal Investigations Division.

Judge Charles C. Keeler removed Rivera and he returned minutes later.

After he returned, Deputy District Attorney John Reilly Jr. ended his questioning of Helton.

Rivera sat quietly through the rest of the proceedings.

He had appeared forlorn through much of Helton's testimony.

She was questioned about greeting cards and letters Rivera had sent to her from prison. Many were addressed to Helton and his missing daughter, Katelyn .

Rivera sat with his head down while Helton spent several minutes reading the cards and letters out loud.

"I've been hearing so many different things about what they are going to do with Katelyn when they find her," one letter said. Rivera said in many of the cards that he still loved Helton and their daughter he is accused of abducting and killing.

He enclosed a picture of Linvilla Orchard with one of the letters, and Helton said they had taken Katelyn there many times.

Helton said Rivera had made about 44 phone calls to her house and she had spoken to him 10 to 15 times.

She had also visited him in prison for an hour, when she said he told her, "( Katelyn 's) closer than you think. She's not in Maryland, she's definitely not in Maryland."

Defense attorney G. Guy Smith questioned Helton about her conversation with an FBI agent before she met Rivera in prison.

Smith is trying to bar testimony of persons who talked to Rivera on behalf of investigators when Rivera hadn't been read his rights.

Helton said the FBI agent had not told her what to ask Rivera , but did say they could talk about what was said after she met with Rivera .