A ban sought on Kiplyn's name at trial

A suspect charged with perjury in connection to the disappearance and apparent slaying of 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis is asking that Davis' name be banned from the courtroom when he stands trial next July.

An attorney for Christopher Neal Jeppson claims Davis' name and the circumstances surrounding her tragic disappearance are too well-known among the public and would prejudice a jury against his client.

"Admission of references would unduly and unnecessarily prejudice Mr. Jeppson during his trial for perjury by inflaming the jurors' emotions," wrote defense attorney Scott Williams.

Federal prosecutors claim Jeppson lied when he told investigators that he, David Rucker Leifson and Timmy Brent Olsen, who is the prime suspect in Davis' disappearance, were at the Spanish Fork High School's auditorium setting up for a play and throwing a football on May 2, 1995, the day Davis disappeared.

Prosecutors say that story was a fabrication because a community choir concert took place in the auditorium that night and that none of the three was seen there.

Davis vanished from Spanish Fork High School sometime during the lunch hour. She left her purse and other belongings in her locker.

For almost a decade, rumors spread that she was kidnapped, raped and buried somewhere in Spanish Fork Canyon, but the rumors never led to an arrest.

Federal prosecutors then filed perjury charges against five men in 2005, claiming the men had maintained a conspiracy of silence surrounding Davis' disappearance.

A federal jury found Olsen guilty of lying about what he knows about Davis, and last November he was sentenced to serve 12 1/2 years in federal prison for perjury. During the trial, witnesses testified overhearing Olsen brag about having killed Davis and buried her body. Olsen now faces trial for murder in state court.

Davis' body has never been found, and her parents have held out hope of having her returned to them so they can lay her to rest.

Leifson is scheduled to stand trial next week. Through his comments, Olsen has placed Leifson with him and Davis on the day she vanished.

Two other men, Garry Blackmore and Scott Brunson, agreed to testify in the case and in the pending murder trial against Olsen in exchange for a lesser penalty. Both have pleaded guilty.

Both Jeppson and Leifson face up to five years for each perjury count. Jeppson faces nine counts and Leifson faces six.

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E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com