From Deseret News archives:
Close friend says Jeppson joked about killing Kiplyn
"He can be very cold, a hypocrite, puts girls on a list, experience under his belt, holds grudges," she read on the witness stand during the second day of a preliminary hearing for Jeppson, who is charged with murder.
Jeppson's attorney then asked that in fairness, she read the good side, too.
"He is a good father, he loves the gospel and is a worthy priesthood holder, he can keep a secret, he always smells good, we make each other laugh."
Knudson met Jeppson in 2001, six years after Jeppson was labeled the last person seen with 15-year-old Kiplyn Davis on May 2, 1995.
Kiplyn is presumed dead, though her body has never been found.
Jeppson and schoolmate Timmy Brent Olsen have been charged in 4th District Court with her murder, and Tuesday's testimony during the preliminary hearing was a bit more personal.
Knudson testified that she and Jeppson quickly became close friends and eventually developed an intimate sexual relationship.
One night, after kissing and cuddling, the two began to play a game, where one person would ask the other to tell them something personal about them.
"He said, 'I killed Kiplyn Davis,' then he said 'just joking."' Then he said 'We dumped her body in Spanish Fork Canyon."'
"I felt sick," Knudson said. "(I said) please tell me you're just joking and he said, 'I'm just joking."'
"Did he ever laugh about it?" asked Richard Lambert, special deputy Utah County attorney from the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah.
"He wasn't laughing when he told me he was joking, no," Knudson said.
But if something made her so sick, why wouldn't the avid journaler write about it in her diary? asked defense attorney Scott Williams, who represents Jeppson.
The only thing Knudson wrote was: "'P.S. the joke about the dead girl? Not funny.' Then I put a frown," she said.
"Certainly you didn't take it serious?" Williams asked.
"Yeah, I took it serious," she said.
"(But) you characterized it as a joke, a not-funny joke," Williams said, and Knudson agreed.
FBI agent Carlos Villar, who spent several hours on the stand, also testified about intimate relationships.
He testified that during an interview, Olsen had told him that he and Kiplyn would kiss and engage in heavy petting but not sex. While talking with Jeppson, Villar said Jeppson indicated he and Kiplyn would hug and kiss and talk about her boy problems.
Villar said he became interested in these two men because of inconsistencies in their interviews after Kiplyn's disappearance.
