DNA evidence clears man after 41 years on US death row

Douglas Stewart Carter, who spent 41 years on death row in the United States, has been released on bail after prosecutors said newly analysed DNA evidence did not link him to the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen in Utah. A judge granted Carter bail on Monday despite objections from Olesen’s family. Carter must wear a GPS monitor while awaiting a new trial.

The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing misconduct by investigators. Olesen was stabbed several times and shot in the back of the head at her home in Provo in February 1985. Carter, originally from Chicago, was living with his mother in Utah at the time.

Police suspected him of killing Olesen during a robbery. Carter maintained his innocence and said a confession signed during police interrogation had been coerced. He was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, after leaving Utah, and was convicted largely on the confession and testimony from two witnesses who said he had boasted about the killing.

No physical evidence initially connected him to the crime scene. The two witnesses later said they had been told to lie, given cash and gifts, and threatened with deportation if they refused to testify, according to court documents. Carter’s lawyers also alleged that evidence pointing to Olesen’s husband, Orla Olesen, had been suppressed.

Orla Olesen died in 2009. Prosecutors said DNA from blood on a doorknob and genetic material from the knife handle excluded Carter as a possible match. Olesen’s daughter-in-law, Theresa Olesen, said the family had serious concerns about his release and that the result did not prove he was absent.

Carter’s lawyer, Neal Hamilton, called for the case to be dismissed, saying Carter might have been executed years ago had the alleged misconduct not been uncovered.