Utah prosecutors will no longer seek the death penalty against Douglas Stewart Carter at his retrial after newly analysed DNA evidence excluded him from material recovered at the scene of a 1985 murder.
Carter, 71, has spent decades on death row over the killing of Eva Olesen in Provo. He was convicted in 1985, but Utah’s Supreme Court ordered a new trial in May 2025 after finding that police and prosecutors had withheld evidence and allowed false testimony to stand.
A filing by Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray said DNA from blood found on a doorknob and material recovered from the handle of the knife used to stab Olesen did not match Carter. The filing said the result did not, by itself, exonerate him, but was sufficient reason to withdraw the state’s notice that it intended to pursue capital punishment.
Prosecutors have also asked for a fresh hearing on whether Carter should remain in custody while the case is reconsidered. A bond hearing has been scheduled for Monday, September 28.
Carter’s lawyer, Neal Hamilton, said his client had consistently denied killing Olesen and urged prosecutors to dismiss the charge altogether. He said the DNA findings indicated that the person responsible for the killing had not been identified.
Utah murder retrial follows findings of police misconduct
There was no physical evidence linking Carter to the crime scene when he was originally convicted. The prosecution instead relied on a signed confession and testimony from a couple who said Carter had boasted about killing Olesen.
Carter maintained that the confession had been forced. The two witnesses later alleged that police and prosecutors threatened them with deportation, offered financial assistance and coached them to give evidence implicating him.
The Utah Supreme Court said the state had suppressed evidence favourable to Carter, that an investigator had helped suborn perjury and that a prosecutor had failed to correct false testimony. The justices concluded that the violations had affected both the guilty verdict and the death sentence.
Olesen was found dead at her Provo home with her hands tied behind her back. Her husband, Orla Olesen, who died in 2009, told police that he had discovered her body.
Carter remains charged with aggravated murder. His eight-week retrial is scheduled to begin on July 26, 2027, although the judge who set the timetable is due to retire before the proceedings start.
