A man who spent 41 years on Utah’s death row was released this week.
The reason for Douglas Stewart Carter’s release? Prosecutors said newly analyzed DNA evidence doesn’t match him, The Associated Press reported.
He was convicted of killing Eva Olesen in 1985. Her family objected to his being released on bail. Olesen was shot and stabbed.
The Utah Supreme Court ruled that investigators committed misconduct. Carter said he was innocent and that his signed confession was coerced.
Despite no physical evidence connecting him to the crime scene, a jury convicted Carter based on the confession and testimony from two witnesses who claimed he bragged about Olesen’s death. The witnesses eventually recanted their testimony, claiming in 2011 that they had been told to lie in court and received cash and gifts from police, the AP reported.
Olesen was the aunt of the Provo police chief at the time, KUTV reported.
Police have previously said the money given to the witnesses was for witness protection, the news station reported.
Carter’s defense said that witnesses saw a white man leaving the scene of Olesen’s death. Carter is Black. At one point, Eva Olesen’s husband, Orla Olesen, was a suspect. The defense said that police were close to filing charges against him but a lieutenant asked prosecutors not to file so he could continue investigating, the AP reported. Carter became a suspect in the crime shortly afterward, court documents showed.
Investigators found blood on a doorknob and genetic material on a knife handle, but recent DNA tests excluded him as a match.
Judge Derek Pullan said the results undermined the case against Carter, but a jury could still determine that he killed the woman, the AP reported.
Carter is now awaiting a new trial and will have to wear a GPS monitor.
He will live in an extended-stay hotel near his son, who was adopted as a baby by another family. Carter also will undergo therapy to cope with his four decades in prison.
Carter still faces an aggravated murder charge in the case, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The death penalty, however, has been dropped, KUTV reported.
Eva Olesen’s family wanted Carter to remain in custody until prosecutors could decide their next steps.
“We still do not believe he is completely innocent,” Theresa Olesen said, according to the newspaper. “Hopefully the investigation will continue. We just want justice for Eva. And if he had any part of it, we want that to be known.”
His attorney has asked prosecutors to drop the case and is also asking the Utah Attorney General’s Office to support a factual innocence petition, which could allow Carter to receive compensation from the state. The money, according to his attorney, would help his client support himself.
The defense also wants an independent investigation into Carter’s prosecution and the work of the police lieutenant who was in charge of the case.
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