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Sam Penrod reportingBoth the prosecution and defense rested today in the preliminary hearing involving the murder of missing teenager Kiplyn Davis.
Now it's up to the judge to decide if the two suspects will stand trial. Closing arguments in the case begin tomorrow afternoon. Prosecutors contend they have shown probable cause establishing the two suspects were involved in Kiplyn's murder, while the defense attorneys call it a circumstantial case that has no forensic evidence tying their clients to the crime.
The case centers around the disappearance of Kiplyn Davis on May 2, 1995, when she vanished from Spanish Fork High School.
No one has seen the 15-year-old girl since then, and prosecutors have relied on witnesses who have testified that over the years they have heard both Chris Jeppson and Timmy Olsen admit they killed Davis.
Some of those witnesses have had trouble remembering events from nearly 13 years ago, and a few have contradicted themselves on the witness stand over the last week.
Kiplyn's parents maintain their primary goal is to have those responsible to come forward so they can give their daughter a proper burial. Kiplyn's father, Richard Davis, said, "We want to get this done and get on wit the next phase, one way or the other. We'll do whatever the judge says, but we're not going to give up. We're going to continue on no matter what the outcome of this day is."
The two defendants charged with Kiplyn's murder have both been convicted of perjury for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the Davis disappearance.
Timmy Olsen is appealing his sentence of 12 years in federal prison, and Chris Jeppson has not been sentenced yet.
After the judge hears arguments tomorrow, he will then weigh all the evidence and make a decision if two men will stand trial for Kiplyn's murder.
