2nd deal in Kiplyn case

A second man charged in connection with the disappearance of Kiplyn Davis has struck a deal with federal prosecutors, apparently agreeing to testify that a friend confessed to killing the 15-year-old and asked him for help in moving a body.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court show that a change-of-plea hearing has been set on Jan. 19 for 25-year-old Garry Blackmore, a former Salem resident who was indicted on several counts of lying to an FBI agent and a federal grand jury last August.

According to an indictment, Blackmore denied to a grand jury and to agents that a friend had confided to him that he had killed Davis. Later prosecutors said that friend was fellow suspect Timmy Brent Olsen and that Blackmore was also allegedly asked to find help in moving a female body.

Davis vanished from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995. Given testimony from about 70 witnesses, federal prosecutors now believe that at least five men, maybe more, built a conspiracy of silence after Davis was taken from the school to a nearby canyon, where she was raped and murdered. Prosecutors believe at least two of those men, including Olsen, were responsible for the death.

Ten years after Davis' disappearance, Scott Brunson, Blackmore, Olsen, Christopher Neal Jeppson and David Rucker Leifson were indicted on charges of lying to agents and before a grand jury.

Blackmore, the second man to be indicted in the case, is also the second man to indicate he will admit to allegations and possibly testify for the prosecution in exchange for a reduction in charges.

Last month, Brunson pleaded guilty to two felony counts of lying to an FBI agent and one felony count of perjury before a grand jury. Brunson in open court agreed to testify in federal and in state court that his former friend, Olsen, had asked him to create an alibi for police that Olsen was at Brunson's home helping roof a shed on the day Davis disappeared. Brunson now says that story was made up.

Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said her office did not want to talk about Blackmore's deal until it is actually finalized in court Jan. 19.

"It's another step in the progression of the cases," Rydalch said.

Olsen is scheduled to stand trial in February.

Jeppson's trial, originally set for this month, was continued until June. Leifson also filed a motion Wednesday to have his Jan. 17 trial continued.

---

E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com