Sentenced to death at 29 for a murder he didn't commit, 71-year-old man freed by DNA evidence after 41 years

• Douglas Carter was sentenced to death for Eva Olesen’s 1985 murder and has always maintained his innocence.

• Key witnesses later said police pressured them to implicate Carter in the killing.

• New DNA testing excluded Carter from genetic material found on crucial crime-scene evidence.

• A judge released the 71-year-old on bail as he awaits a new trial, while prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death penalty.

• For 41 years, Douglas Stewart Carter lived with the possibility that his life could end behind the walls of a Utah prison.

He was 29 when he was arrested and eventually sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of Eva Olesen, a 53-year-old teacher whose body was found in her Provo home.

Carter has always maintained that he did not kill Olesen and that the confession used against him was obtained after police pressured and threatened him.

Now, at 71, Carter has finally walked out of prison after new DNA testing failed to link him to crucial evidence from the crime scene.

A Utah judge ordered his release on bail on September 28, 2026, after prosecutors said newly analysed DNA evidence excluded Carter as the source of genetic material found on key items connected to the killing. He is required to wear a GPS monitor and is awaiting a new trial. 

The case dates back to February 27, 1985, when Olesen was found dead inside her Provo home. She had been stabbed and shot, with her hands reportedly tied behind her.

Olesen was also the aunt of Provo's police chief at the time, making the killing particularly significant to the local police department. 

Carter was arrested several months later in Nashville, Tennessee, after leaving Utah. Investigators eventually obtained a confession from him, which became a major part of the prosecution's case. Carter has consistently said the confession was false and that he signed it after being subjected to threats and pressure during questioning.

There was also no physical evidence originally tying him to the crime scene.

Instead, prosecutors relied heavily on his confession and testimony from two witnesses, Epifanio and Maria Tovar, who said Carter had made statements implicating himself in Olesen's killing.

But years later, the witnesses changed their accounts. The Tovars told investigators that police had pressured them to implicate Carter and had threatened them with deportation and separation from their son. Court findings also determined that police provided them with financial assistance and that they were instructed to lie about receiving it. 

In 2025, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial after finding that serious misconduct by police officers and a prosecutor had violated Carter's constitutional rights. The court found that favourable evidence had been suppressed and that false testimony had not been corrected during the original proceedings. 

But the case against Carter remained alive. New DNA testing conducted in September 2026 excluded Carter from genetic material found on important pieces of evidence from the crime scene, including blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of the knife used in the killing.

The results did not identify who was responsible for Olesen's murder, but they provided evidence that Carter was not the source of the tested material. 

Following the DNA results, prosecutors withdrew their previous notice seeking the death penalty in Carter's planned retrial.

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The aggravated-murder charge, however, remains pending, meaning Carter has not been formally exonerated and could still face trial again. 

Carter's release came despite objections from Olesen's family, who continue to question his innocence and want the killing properly resolved.

Judge Derek Pullan nevertheless ordered Carter released on bail, saying the new DNA evidence further weakened the case against him, while stopping short of determining that no reasonable jury could ultimately convict him.

After 41 years behind bars, Carter walked out of the Utah County Jail with his son and legal team.

His son, Tyler Anger, was adopted by another family as an infant and only learned years later about his father's imprisonment. He is now helping Carter adjust to life outside prison after more than four decades in custody. 

Carter's release also marks a dramatic change from where his life appeared to be heading when he was first sentenced.

At 71, he is outside prison, living under court restrictions and preparing for another legal battle over a murder he has spent four decades saying he did not commit.

For now, Carter must wear a GPS monitor and avoid contact with Olesen's family while he awaits his new trial, which is expected in 2027.

His attorneys are pushing for the aggravated-murder charge to be dismissed altogether, arguing that the DNA evidence, the recantations by key witnesses and the findings of police and prosecutorial misconduct have fundamentally undermined the case.

After spending most of his adult life behind bars, Carter now faces a different challenge: rebuilding a life at 71 while still fighting to clear his name.