A Utah judge ordered Douglas Stewart Carter released on bail Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, after new DNA testing excluded him as a match to biological evidence found at the scene of a 1985 killing. Carter, 71, had spent decades on death row for the murder of Eva Olesen, an 80-year-old Provo woman stabbed and shot in her home. Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan granted the release despite objections from Olesen’s family, and Carter now awaits a new trial.
The Latest DNA Test Results In The Carter Case
Prosecutors received the DNA analysis on Sept. 22, 2026, according to court records cited by the Associated Press, CNN and CBS News. The testing excluded Carter as a possible contributor to blood found on a doorknob at the crime scene and to genetic material recovered from the handle of the knife used in the killing.
Carter’s DNA has been part of the FBI’s national database since 1995, and prosecutors ran the crime-scene evidence against that database twice, according to Utah County prosecutor Chad Hamilton. Neither search returned a match. Hamilton told reporters, “By golly we were hoping for a concrete match. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.”
Prosecutors declined to say whether they are using the DNA profile to search for other possible suspects.
Background On Eva Olesen’s 1985 Killing
Olesen was killed on Feb. 27, 1985. She was found partially undressed with her hands tied behind her back, and she had been stabbed and shot. Her husband, Orla Olesen, a painting contractor who died in 2009, told police he discovered her body in their home. Eva Olesen was the aunt of Provo’s police chief at the time.
Carter, a Chicago native who was living with his mother in Utah when Olesen was killed, was suspected of killing her during a robbery. He was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to death, then sentenced to death again after a 1992 retrial. Carter has said he falsely confessed after police repeatedly threatened him, and his defense called no witnesses at trial.
In 2011, investigators tracked down two witnesses from Carter’s original trial who were living in Mexico. The witnesses said they had been coached to lie on the stand and received cash and gifts from police, and that officers and prosecutors threatened them and their son with deportation if they did not implicate Carter.
The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing what it called “multiple instances of intentional misconduct” by police and a prosecutor in the case.
What Officials And The Family Have Said
Utah County prosecutors withdrew their notice to seek the death penalty the week before Carter’s release. Judge Pullan has scheduled a two-month retrial for 2027.
Carter’s attorney, Edward Brass, pushed back on the idea that his client’s freedom resolves the case simply. “It’s not just as simple as, ‘Let’s let him go,'” Brass said. “He’s being released with 41 years of state-induced trauma and the effect it will have on him is very real.” Brass also said, “If the state of Utah had their way he would have been executed 15, 20 years ago before we discovered the misconduct.”
Theresa Olesen, Eva Olesen’s daughter-in-law, told the court during Monday’s bond hearing that the family had “serious concerns” about Carter’s release and argued he should remain in jail. She said, “We just want justice for Eva. And if he had any part of it we want that to be known.”
What Remains Unresolved
The DNA exclusion does not identify who left the blood on the doorknob or the genetic material on the knife handle, and prosecutors have not said whether that evidence points to another suspect. No one else has been named as a suspect in court records provided by the news organizations covering the case. The misconduct findings against the original police and prosecutor have not been tied to any disciplinary action in the available court records.
What’s Next
Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while he awaits trial. Judge Pullan has set the new trial for 2027, with proceedings expected to run two months. Readers following other wrongful-conviction cases can see parallels in the case of Curtis Flowers, freed after his conviction was overturned, and in ongoing coverage of the Matthew Farwell trial. Total Apex Entertainment will continue to follow developments as the 2027 retrial date approaches, drawing on reporting from the Associated Press, CNN and CBS News.
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