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Sam Penrod reporting A Utah County judge ruled late this afternoon that two men charged with killing missing teenager Kiplyn Davis will stand trial, but he also expressed concern about a lack of evidence.
The judge ruled that even without a body, any eyewitnesses to the crime, or forensic evidence, there is enough evidence against the two men for them to stand trial. However, it takes a low standard of evidence to go to trial, and a jury has to find evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict.
Still, Kiplyn's family considers today's ruling a victory. "We're thankful for what happened today, that we've got the chance now to go before a jury and plead our case and plead Kiplyn's case on what happened. And what we're really hoping for is that finally somebody will tell us where she is. That's our big goal, we just want to bring Kiplyn home. We want to bring closure to what we started 13 years ago," said Kiplyn's father, Richard Davis.
While the evidence presented during this hearing was much more directed against Timmy Olsen, the judge did offer some concerns about the case against Chris Jeppson. Jeppson's attorney left court confident his client could avoid being convicted by a jury.
"It is very clear that it's only the extremely low evidentiary standard of this hearing that caused the judge to bind it over. We believe it is extremely clear from the evidence, and from the course of the proceedings, and from the judge's ruling and comments, that there is absolutely no way that Chris Jeppson could be convicted beyond a reasonable doubt, given the state of the government's case," attorney Scott Williams said.
Detectives continue to investigate Kiplyn's disappearance.
The attorneys will meet at the end of the month to schedule when the murder trial will begin.
