2nd plea in Kiplyn case

A suspect in the disappearance and possible murder of 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis now says he was privy to a murder confession by another man charged in the case, further cracking the wall of silence surrounding the 10-year-old mystery.

Garry Blackmore appeared in U.S. District Court to plead guilty to one count of lying to an FBI agent and one count of perjury before a federal grand jury.

According to a federal indictment filed against Blackmore last August, Blackmore had repeatedly denied discussing Davis' disappearance with a person referred to as an unreported party.

In particular, Blackmore now admits that during a road trip to Wendover, a friend confessed to Blackmore that he had killed Davis after she vanished from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995. Given information released about the case, that friend is believed to be Timmy Brent Olsen.

The unscheduled hearing took place Tuesday morning, and a federal judge immediately placed the plea information under seal until Blackmore is sentenced on March 22.

U.S. attorney for Utah spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said her office was not at liberty to talk about the case due to the seal order.

However, Blackmore is the second suspect to strike a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Last month, Scott Brunson agreed to testify against Olsen. Brunson now claims Olsen asked to cover for him by creating a false alibi for law enforcement, telling police that Olsen was at Brunson's home helping roof a shed on the day Davis disappeared.

Federal prosecutors have said a wall of secrecy has surrounded the case, with many people in the Spanish Fork community threatened and intimidated into silence for almost a decade.

It is not known, but assumed, that Blackmore has also agreed to testify about the murder confession outlined in the indictment.

Blackmore, 25, and a former resident of Salem, was a resident of Alberta, Canada, when he was indicted last August. He has been held in federal custody since that time.

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E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com