Marni Marie Glista was a dedicated and respected sergeant in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. At 21 years old, the young woman had a promising career and her whole life ahead of her. That future was stolen in a brutal act of violence in the late summer of 2000, an attack that was part of a string of horrific crimes that terrorized communities in Georgia and South Carolina.
Her death would ultimately unmask a serial killer who hid his monstrous actions behind the facade of a family man.
On September 4, 2000, Marni was viciously attacked inside her own home in west Augusta. The alarm was raised the next morning, September 5, when her husband, who was deployed in Kuwait, could not reach her and called her commanding officer. When she failed to report for duty, authorities were sent to her home. They found Marni unconscious, having been bound, raped, sodomized, and strangled with her own bathrobe. She was rushed to the hospital but had sustained catastrophic injuries. Marni remained on life support for five days before she died on September 9, 2000.
For weeks, the violent crime that ended the young sergeant's life remained unsolved, leaving the community on edge. The break in the case came from the incredible bravery of a survivor. On October 10, 2000, a man later identified as Reinaldo Javier Rivera attacked 18-year-old Chrisilee Barton after luring her by posing as a modeling scout. Barton fought for her life and survived the assault. Her detailed description of her attacker allowed police to create a composite sketch that led directly to Rivera, a North Augusta resident.
Following his arrest on October 12, Rivera began to confess to a horrifying series of crimes. He not only admitted to the attack on Barton but also confessed to the rape and murder of Marni Glista. His confessions did not stop there. He admitted to killing 17-year-old Tabitha Leigh Bosdell in June 2000, 17-year-old Tiffaney Shereese Wilson in December 1999, and 17-year-old Melissa Faye Dingess in July 1999. Rivera, who became known as "The Model Scout Serial Killer," led investigators to the remains of some of his victims, closing several agonizing missing persons cases.
Reinaldo Rivera's trial began in January 2004, focusing on the Georgia crimes: the murder of Marni Glista and the attack on Chrisilee Barton. The evidence against him was overwhelming, bolstered by his own detailed confessions. The jury found him guilty of 14 counts, including malice murder, three counts of rape, four counts of aggravated sodomy, four counts of aggravated assault, burglary, and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.
During the sentencing phase, in a chilling address to the jury, Rivera stated that he would kill again if he were ever given the chance and asked for the death penalty. "My ultimate purpose is to impose the penalty of death, so that I never have the slightest chance of ever being free," he told the court. "I couldn't stop before and I still can't stop." On January 26, 2004, the jury returned the verdict he requested, sentencing him to death for the murder of Sergeant Marni Glista. He later received an additional seven life sentences plus 105 years for his other crimes in the Augusta area.
Rivera, a former U.S. Navy serviceman and a married father, had presented a normal face to the world while secretly preying on young women. His campaign of terror ended because one victim survived and had the strength to help bring him to justice. Marni Glista was remembered for her dedicated service to her country, a life of commitment and purpose cut tragically short. Reinaldo Rivera remains on death row in Georgia, his appeals exhausted.
