PROVO — A revised indictment against the man accused of killing Kiplyn Davis 11 years ago and lying about it to federal officials says that he told at least 28 people about his role in her disappearance, death and burial.
In a superceding indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, Timmy Brent Olsen, 28, is accused of lying to a grand jury 17 times when asked about his knowledge of events surrounding Davis' disappearance.
According to the document, investigators have obtained witness statements refuting his testimony. He testified that he didn't kill Davis and wasn't involved in any way with her disappearance May 2, 1995, from Spanish Fork High School.
According to the indictment, at least 19 people have told investigators that Olsen, who faces first-degree murder charges in 4th District Court, told them he was involved in her disappearance. And prosecutors have lined up at least nine witnesses who say Olsen told them he killed Davis.
Prosecutors also say Olsen lied when he said he hadn't seen Davis for almost three months before she vanished, and when he denied telling friend Scott Brunson to make up an alibi for him the day Davis didn't return home from school.
According to the indictment, Olsen, who has been in federal custody since September, had admitted to four people that "he had been sluffing with or had seen Kiplyn Davis on the day she disappeared."
Brunson has since confirmed that Olsen asked him to provide an alibi for May 2, 1995, the indictment states.
In addition, prosecutors reviewed testimony from several women who said Olsen had hit them or forced them to have sexual intercourse, despite Olsen's emphatic statements that he had never raped or hit a woman. A third witness also said Olsen admitted to him that he had raped Davis, the indictment said.
Olsen is scheduled to begin his trial in federal court on May 1, and the revised indictment is intended to make work easier on the jury.
The document contains no new charges but instead condensed two charges and clarified the presentation of previous testimony.
"It changes the format quite a bit," said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney for Utah. "It puts in what we believe is the perjured testimony."
The document contains verbatim testimony from the grand jury with the alleged lies underlined. Following each conversation, the prosecutors provide detail, backed up with previously heard testimony from various witnesses.
Olsen's attorney, Stephen McCaughey, said he was aware of the indictment from seeing a rough draft last week, and there were no surprises.
Five men have been indicted by a grand jury for their involvement in the case. Brunson and Garry Blackmore have reached plea deals with federal prosecutors in exchange for testimony. Christopher Jeppson still faces perjury charges in federal court, as does Rucker Leifson.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com