Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, has been released on bail after spending 41 years on death row in Utah. The release follows new DNA analysis that prosecutors say does not link him to the 1985 murder of Eva Olesen. Carter, who has always maintained his innocence, was convicted of killing Olesen in 1985.
The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Carter last year, citing misconduct by investigators. A judge granted him bail on Monday, requiring him to wear a GPS monitor, despite objections from Olesen's family.
Olesen, the aunt of a local police chief, was found stabbed and shot to death in her Provo, Utah, home in February 1985. Carter, who had been living in Utah at the time, was suspected by police of killing Olesen during a robbery. He fled Utah but was apprehended in Nashville, Tennessee, where he provided a signed confession that he later claimed was coerced.
Despite the lack of physical evidence linking Carter to the crime scene, he was convicted by a jury. The conviction relied on his confession and the testimony of two witnesses who claimed Carter had bragged about the murder. However, these witnesses later recanted their testimony in 2011, stating they were pressured by police with cash, gifts, and threats of deportation to testify against Carter.
Carter's defense lawyers have argued that witnesses saw a white man fleeing the crime scene and that an investigator suppressed evidence pointing to the victim's husband, Orla Olesen. They allege prosecutors were considering charging the husband but were asked by a police officer to halt proceedings to allow for continued investigation.
Orla Olesen, who died in 2009, had told police he discovered his wife's body. The knife used in the attack was reportedly from their kitchen, found near the victim.
This month's DNA analysis results indicated that Carter could not be matched to blood found on a doorknob or genetic material from the handle of the murder weapon. Theresa Olesen, a daughter-in-law of the victim, voiced concerns at Carter's bond hearing, stating that the DNA results do not definitively prove his absence from the scene and that her family believed he should remain incarcerated while awaiting a new trial.
Neal Hamilton, Carter's defense attorney, called for the case to be dismissed, stating that Carter would have been executed years ago if not for the discovery of misconduct.