Utah judge to rule if Douglas Carter will be released on bail after 41 years behind bars

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Douglas Carter may be released on bail after 41 years in prison and much of it on death row, a judge will make a ruling by the end of Monday.
His conviction was overturned due to evidence of misconduct, and recently a DNA test showed he was excluded from DNA samples from the crime scene.
Prosecutors announced on Wednesday they were no longer seeking the death penalty, and did not contest his release. The victim's family did contest his release.

PROVO — Douglas Carter has been behind bars for 41 years, with much of that time spent on death row. He has a chance at being released on bail after his conviction was overturned because DNA evidence did not point to him.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan said he will issue a written ruling Monday by the end of the day.

The judge denied Carter's request for bail earlier this month, but in the hearing that led to that decision, prosecutors and the family of the woman he is accused of killing argued against his release.

Last Wednesday, prosecutors announced they would not be seeking the death penalty in his next trial on the same charge, aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. The state also asked the judge to consider releasing him ahead of his trial.

This change in stance came after a DNA report excluded Carter from multiple samples collected at the crime scene.

Carter, 71, is accused of killing Eva Olesen, 57, in her Provo home in 1985. He was found guilty and sentenced to death later that year.

In 2022, Pullan reversed his conviction and sentence after his attorneys presented evidence of prosecutor and officer misconduct — witnesses had come forward to say they had been bribed and threatened. The Utah Supreme Court affirmed that ruling in 2025, sending the case back to the 4th District Court for another trial.

The trial is currently scheduled for eight weeks beginning July 26, 2027.

Olesen's family is still asking the court to keep Carter behind bars while he awaits the new trial.

"To know he is out of jail wandering freely and capable of heinous acts puts the Olesen family in a vulnerable position. The security of knowing he will be confined while waiting trial is a guarantee for the victims that he will not be free to harm others and will stand trial," her son, Peter Olesen, said.

Eva Olesen's daughter-in-law, Theresa Olesen, spoke at Monday's hearing and said she believes it is best for Carter to remain in jail.

"We reiterate that the current findings do not exonerate Carter. Over 40 years ago, procedures did not happen as carefully as they do now. My feelings and concerns about the possibility of this release have not changed," she said.

She also said social media posts from Carter's family have caused them further distress, and that it is hard to see people who were not at Carter's trial make accusations about what happened there. Theresa Olesen said although they were hoping for a "concrete match" placing Carter at the crime scene, not getting that match doesn't mean he was not there.

"We still do not believe that he is completely innocent. There are other factors," she said. "We just want justice for Eva."

Prosecutors pointed to a signed confession from Carter and a missing gun that shoots the same ammunition as a gun owned by Carter's wife, which was also not recovered, and said he is not exonerated.

Carter's attorney Neal Hamilton has argued that Carter was threatened into making the confession. Pullan will soon decide whether that confession can be shown to any jurors at trial.

In Monday's hearing, Hamilton cited an FBI expert who said the murderer's blood would likely have been at the crime scene. He was emotional as he asked for Carter's release.

"We now know for a certainty that evidence is not from Doug Carter. He is not the murderer," he said. "We ask the court to set that innocent person free today."

Hamilton said they would agree to a GPS monitor, even paying for it himself because Carter could not, and would agree to a protective order requiring him to have no contact with any Olesen family members. He said they would have him enrolled in a re-entry program and arrange support for him.

Carter's son and daughter-in-law said at an earlier hearing that they would support him, and that they talk to him regularly.

Deputy Utah County attorney Erwin Petilos did not say he agreed or disagreed with releasing him on bail at this point.

"There were DNA results that did not include the defendant, so at this point the state is reassessing the remaining evidence in the case, and with that in mind, the state believed that a reassessment of the bail was necessary and fair," he said.

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