SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 11, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Timmy Brent Olsen, the man convicted of manslaughter in the 1995 death of Spanish Fork teen Kiplyn Davis, had a parole hearing on Tuesday, and said he still does not remember where he buried the girl’s body.
Olsen, 43, took a plea deal in 2011, which changed the charge against him from first-degree murder to manslaughter. Olsen was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which means he should be out in 2026 barring an early release.
His first parole hearing was to determine if early release was a possibility.
Again, the heartbroken parents of the Spanish Fork teen attended Olsen’s court date, again hoping Olsen would provide the location of their daughter’s remains. Again, Olsen’s attorney said he had already given officials all the information he has and cannot remember the location of the body, which he previously testified he had buried despite denying he killed the teen.
Olsen shared no new information at the hearing, and a bill signed into law by Gov. Spencer J. Cox this year means early release is unlikely.
On Tuesday, Cox signed HB 379, which “prevents an offender convicted of a homicide where the victim’s remains have not been recovered from being paroled unless the offender has cooperated with efforts to locate the remains,” the bill’s summary says.
Many aware of the case have speculated the bill was drawn up specifically with Olsen in mind. And Olsen’s attorney on Wednesday released a statement saying the new law is unfair.
“The new law that was passed is somewhat unfair because there is no way for Timothy to ‘prove’ that he does not have additional knowledge of the whereabouts of Kiplyn Davis’ body, other than the information he provided to authorities years ago,” says the statement, provided to Gephardt Daily by attorney Carolyn E. Howard.
“Other than Timothy’s sworn testimony that he gave at the Parole hearing as to his lack of knowledge as to the location of Kiplyn Davis’ body outside the information he provided to the authorities years ago, Timothy is without a way in which to ‘prove’ he is telling the truth. As such, it is entirely up to the Board of Pardons as to whether they believe Timothy is being forthright about the remains of Kiplyn Davis’ body as to Timothy’s lack of knowledge.
“As such, we do not anticipate that the Board of Pardons will accept Timothy’s statement that he does not know the location of Kiplyn Davis’ body, albeit Timothy is being truthful. We feel the new law is unjust and that such a law is essentially a strict liability law that punishes Timothy if he does not have knowledge of the location of Kiplyn Davis’ body.”
Howard said her client “answered the questions truthfully” at the parole hearing.
“He has no motive to lie. He fully understood at the hearing that without knowledge of Kiplyn Davis’ body, he would serve the remainder of his sentence.”
Olsen has previously traveled to a site with law enforcement officials who performed a search. No remains were found.
“Timothy sympathizes with the Davis family and does not wish them any further pain or harm,” Howard said. “He has no reason to be dishonest and simply stated at the hearing multiple times, that he has provided all the information he has to authorities years ago, and that he does not know any additional information as to the location of Kiplyn Davis’ body.”
The Board of Pardons has not yet announced its decision. Gephardt Daily will have more information as the story develops.
