Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, was released from a Utah prison Monday after spending more than four decades incarcerated, including decades on death row, following DNA analysis that excluded him from a 1985 murder conviction.
Carter was convicted in the death of Eva Olesen, the aunt of a police chief, who was found dead in her home on February 27, 1985. Olesen was discovered partially undressed with her hands bound behind her back. She had been stabbed and shot.
A judge granted Carter release on bail while the case awaits a new trial. He was arrested in 1985 following Olesen's death. The Utah state Supreme Court ordered a new trial in 2025, citing prosecutorial misconduct by investigators.
DNA analysis completed this month did not identify Carter as a source of genetic material found on a doorknob and on the knife handle used in the crime. Carter has maintained his innocence and stated that a signed confession was obtained under coercion. No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene.
Despite the absence of material evidence, a jury convicted Carter based on his confession and testimony from two witnesses who claimed he, a Black man, had boasted about killing Olesen, a white woman. Both witnesses later recanted their testimony.