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Secrecy surrounding the 1995 disappearance of a Spanish Fork teen began to lift Thursday as a former classmate admitted providing a fake alibi for a buddy long considered a central suspect in the case.

Scott Brunson entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to one count of perjury and two counts of making false statements to authorities investigating what happened to Kiplyn Davis.

He acknowledged he lied about Timmy Brent Olsen's whereabouts when he claimed Olsen was helping him shingle a shed on May 2, 1995, the day Kiplyn left Spanish Fork High School and was never seen again by her family.

"We view this as the first break in what we believe will be the crumbling of the wall of silence," said Richard Lambert, head of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

As part of a plea deal, the 28-year-old Brunson has agreed to testify against Olsen and other defendants charged with lying in the case. His cooperation could shave time off the 15-year maximum prison term he faces when sentenced March 28 by Judge Ted Stewart, but he will not walk away scot-free.

"Mr. Brunson is going to prison for the lies he told," prosecutor Carlos Esqueda said.

Kiplyn's parents wish Brunson had ended their agony right away.

"My biggest concern is when he was asked for an alibi, why didn't he say 'why?' " father Richard Davis said. "He could have made a difference 10 1/2 years ago. I hope he understands what he's done to us."

Brunson and Olsen are two of five men accused of perjury in the investigation of what happened to Kiplyn, a 15-year-old sophomore who at first was considered a runaway by police. The case later became a kidnapping probe, but the trail was cold.

Police officers and FBI agents continued to investigate but nothing led them to Kiplyn, who now is presumed dead.

In spring 2003, U.S. Attorney Paul Warner agreed to a request by the girl's parents to convene a federal grand jury to investigate.

Beginning in April, five indictments have been issued one by one, accusing four former classmates of Kiplyn and a friend from nearby Salem of lying to the FBI or the grand jury about what they had said about the disappearance. Prosecutors allege that Olsen made statements to more than 20 people, at times even boasting he had killed the teen.

In addition to Brunson and Olsen, a 28-year-old mechanic who lives in Spanish Fork, the other defendants are:

* David Rucker Leifson, 28, of Bountiful. He is accused of lying when he denied confronting Olsen about rumors circulating a year after Kiplyn's disappearance. Leifson allegedly was angry that Olsen was implicating him.

* Christopher Neal Jeppson, 28, of West Jordan. He allegedly lied when he said Olsen twice visited him as he spent 12 hours the day of Kiplyn's disappearance preparing the school's auditorium for a show. Another count alleges he lied when he denied saying or hearing someone else say something about disposing of the girl's body.

* Garry Blackmore, 26, of Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Blackmore is charged with lying when he said he had never heard a friend say anything about what happened to Kiplyn. In court, a prosecutor alleged Blackmore lied when he said that he and another man never asked a third person for help moving a body two years after the girl disappeared.

The men, except for Brunson, are scheduled for separate trials in January.

Any future kidnapping or homicide charges would have to come from state prosecutors. The Utah County District Attorney's Office will assess what to do after the perjury trials are over.

Richard Davis on Thursday repeated a plea for anyone with information on the location of his daughter's remains to come forward and encouraged parents to talk to their children about what they've heard.

Lambert said Brunson's family members were instrumental in bringing about the plea bargain. That kind of encouragement "makes all the difference," he said.