Douglas Stewart Carter, a 71-year-old man from Chicago, has been released on bail after spending 41 years on death row in the US. He was convicted of killing Eva Olesen in Utah in 1985, but prosecutors have since said that newly analysed DNA evidence does not link him to the crime. Carter always maintained his innocence, stating that a signed confession was coerced.
Carter was sentenced to death for the killing of Eva Olesen, who was stabbed multiple times and then shot in the back of her head at her home in Provo, Utah. He was living with his mother in Utah at the time of the killing and was suspected by police of committing the crime during a robbery. Carter fled Utah but was eventually found in Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a confession under interrogation.
However, Carter later said that his confession was coerced, and two witnesses who testified against him in court later came forward to say they were told to lie and were given cash and gifts by police. The witnesses also claimed they were threatened with deportation if they did not testify against Carter. Despite there being no physical evidence linking Carter to the crime scene, he was convicted by a jury based on the confession and the testimony of the two witnesses.
In 2011, the witnesses recanted their testimony, and after more than a decade, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing misconduct by investigators. Lawyers representing Carter said witnesses had seen a white man fleeing the scene of the murder and that an investigator had suppressed evidence pointing to the victim's husband, Orla Olesen.
The victim's husband told police he had found his wife dead in their home, and the stab wounds were said to have been caused by a knife from their kitchen, which was discovered near her body. However, this month, prosecutors said that results of a DNA analysis excluded Carter as a possible match to blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of the knife.
Carter's release comes against the wishes of Olesen's family, who expressed concerns about his release during Monday's bond hearing. The family had been hoping for a concrete match from the DNA analysis, and they believe that Carter's release does not mean he was not involved in the crime.
Carter's defence attorney, Neal Hamilton, has called for the case to be dismissed, citing the misconduct by investigators and the lack of evidence linking his client to the crime. Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while on bail and is set to face a new trial.
Key points
- DNA analysis excluded Carter as a possible match to evidence found at the crime scene.
- Carter spent 41 years on death row for a crime he maintained he did not commit.
- The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing misconduct by investigators.
