US Man Freed After 41 Years on Death Row as DNA Evidence Clears Him
A Utah judge granted bail on Monday to Douglas Stewart Carter after prosecutors said newly analysed DNA evidence did not link him to a 1985 murder. Carter, then 71, spent 41 years on death row for the killing of Eva Olesen in Provo.
Prosecutors said tests received on 22 September excluded Carter as a match to blood found on a doorknob. They also excluded him as a match to genetic material on the handle of a knife used to stab Olesen, who was also shot. The gun was never recovered.
The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year. The court cited misconduct by investigators. Carter had long said a confession he signed in Nashville, Tennessee, was coerced. No physical evidence originally tied him to the scene.
A jury convicted him on the confession and testimony from two witnesses who later said police paid them, gave gifts and threatened deportation.
Judge Derek Pullan granted release despite objections from Olesen’s relatives. Carter must wear a GPS monitor and avoid contact with the family while he awaits a new trial. Prosecutors withdrew their plan to seek the death penalty.
Theresa Olesen, Eva Olesen’s daughter-in-law, told the bond hearing that the family had “serious concerns” about release. “By golly we were hoping for a concrete match,” she said of the DNA analysis. “It doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.”
Defence lawyer Neal Hamilton urged prosecutors to drop the case. “If the state of Utah had their way, he would have been executed 15, 20 years ago before we discovered the misconduct,” Hamilton told the Associated Press. In a statement he also said, “The State stole 41 years of his life.” Carter still faces an aggravated murder charge.
