Olsen officially charged in Kiplyn death

PROVO — The man accused of killing a Spanish Fork teenager was formally presented with the charges against him Wednesday in 4th District Court.

He was not there, however.

Timmy Brent Olsen, 28, who has been held by federal officials since being charged in U.S. District Court with perjury, sent his attorney with a signed note that waived an in-person appearance

Olsen's perjury trial is scheduled to begin July 10. Federal officials have refused to transport Olsen for his murder case in 4th District Court.

Olsen was charged in January in connection with the death and disappearance of 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis, who disappeared from Spanish Fork High School in May 1995.

During the hearing Wednesday, Judge Lynn Davis formally notified Olsen, through his attorney Dana Facemyer, of the first-degree murder charge and the maximum sentencing penalties, a step that allows the case to move forward.

"This case has gone nowhere because he (had) not had (his first court appearance)," Facemyer said. "Today . . . the case has begun."

A first-degree murder charge means the possibility of five years to life in prison. In response to the murder of Lori Hacking by her husband, Mark, who was sentence to five years to life in prison, lawmakers passed a bill that raised the mandatory sentence for a first-degree murder conviction from 5 years to 15 years to life.

But because Olsen allegedly committed the crime in 1995, if he is found guilty, he can't be sentenced to something greater than what the penalty would have been back then, or five years to life.

The next step in the case is a preliminary hearing. At that hearing, prosecutors will present evidence in an effort to convince a judge there is enough reason to go to trial.

A preliminary hearing usually takes a few hours. Sometimes there is only one or two witnesses and judge will decide in less than 30 minutes that there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial.

However, because of the large number of witnesses in this case, prosecutors requested a five-day preliminary hearing in October.

A mountain of evidence is also another indicator of the case's significant history.

Facemyer said he received evidence from the Utah County Attorney's Office but hadn't yet read it all. He held up a CD as he spoke — containing hundreds of pages of interviews, documents and other investigative finds.