Douglas Carter Freed After 37 Years on Utah Death Row as DNA Excludes Him
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Douglas Carter Freed After 37 Years on Utah Death Row as DNA Excludes Him
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 29
Summary
Douglas Carter, 71, walked out of a Utah County jail Monday after a judge released him without bail, ending 37 years on Utah’s death row.
New DNA testing drove the release: prosecutors said Carter’s DNA did not match six pieces of evidence from Eva Olesen’s 1985 murder scene, including blood on a doorknob and DNA on the knife handle.
The case had already unraveled in 2022, when a court overturned Carter’s conviction after finding serious misconduct by the lead prosecutor, lead investigator and another police officer; Carter had long said his confession was coerced.
Carter still faces a murder charge, but prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death penalty last week and said they will decide by Nov. 10 whether to retry the case.