Douglas Carter, 71, walked out of the Utah County Jail late Monday after a judge ordered him released on bail, more than 40 years after his arrest in the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen in her Provo home, according to AP and KSL. Olesen was 57, KSL reported. His conviction was overturned, but he has not been exonerated: he remains charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and no jury has yet decided the case at his new trial.
What the judge decided — and did not
Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan issued the bail order around 5 p.m. Monday, KSL reported. Carter must wear a GPS monitor, find employment, avoid contact with the victim’s family directly or through relatives, keep an 11 p.m. curfew and work with a reentry program, per KSL. No bail dollar amount has been reported.
Pullan’s order was narrow. He wrote that a DNA report received Sept. 22 “does much to erode” the evidence he had relied on earlier in September to deny bail, KSL reported. The report excluded Carter as a source of blood on a doorknob and genetic material on the handle of the knife used in the killing, according to AP.
But the judge also found that a reasonable jury still could conclude that he killed Olesen, AP reported, and that questions of witness credibility belong to a jury, not a judge, according to KSL. Under 1985 law, without the death penalty, a conviction would mean life in prison with the possibility of parole, KSL reported. Pullan noted Carter has already served 40 years without disciplinary issues, and that a life sentence “would be unlikely” to add more prison time beyond that, KSL reported. Pullan said he could not find that Carter would be a danger to the victim’s family, and that, with the death penalty dropped and 40 years already served, his incentive to flee is now “substantially reduced,” KSL reported.
The case prosecutors say still stands
Prosecutors dropped their pursuit of the death penalty last week, according to AP; KSL dated the decision to “last Wednesday,” Sept. 23. Erwin Petilos, whom KSL identifies as deputy Utah County attorney, told the judge Monday that reassessing bail was “necessary and fair” as the state continues reviewing the remaining evidence, both outlets reported.
Prosecutors point to Carter’s signed confession, given during a 1985 interrogation in Nashville, AP reported, and to a missing gun that fires the same ammunition as one owned by Carter’s wife — also never recovered, according to KSL. No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene, AP reported; he was convicted on the confession and the testimony of two witnesses who later recanted. They say the DNA results do not exonerate him. Carter has said the confession was coerced.
Theresa Olesen, a daughter-in-law of the victim, said the family had “serious concerns” about the release, according to AP. “We reiterate that the current findings do not exonerate Carter,” she said, KSL reported. “By golly we were hoping for a concrete match,” she said at Monday’s hearing, according to AP. “It doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.” She added: “We just want justice for Eva.”
Carter’s attorney, Neal Hamilton, said in a statement that his client was arrested 15,085 days ago — about 41 years, KSL reported. Hamilton told the court Monday, according to KSL: “We now know for a certainty that evidence is not from Doug Carter. He is not the murderer.” “We ask the court to set that innocent person free today,” he said.
Pullan, for his part, said the Olesen family has “carried the burden of her violent death for 40 years” and “understandably struggles,” according to KSL.
What happens next
Pullan is expected to rule soon on whether Carter’s confession can be shown to jurors at trial, KSL reported. A retrial is scheduled to begin July 26, 2027, and run about eight weeks, KSL reported. Prosecutors have not said whether they are using the DNA results to search for other possible suspects, AP reported.
Timeline
- Feb. 27, 1985: Eva Olesen, 57, is killed in her Provo home. (AP, KSL)
- June 1985: Carter is arrested in Nashville and signs a confession during interrogation by a Provo detective; he later says it was coerced. (AP)
- 1985: Carter is convicted and sentenced to death; his defense called no witnesses at trial. (AP)
- 1992: A retrial ends with Carter again sentenced to death. (AP)
- 2011: The two trial witnesses, located in Mexico, say they were told to lie and were given cash and gifts by police. (AP)
- 2022: Judge Pullan reverses Carter’s conviction and sentence, citing misconduct. (KSL)
- 2025: The Utah Supreme Court affirms that reversal, citing “multiple instances of intentional misconduct” by police and a prosecutor, and orders a new trial. (AP)
- Sept. 22, 2026: New DNA results exclude Carter from key crime-scene samples. (AP)
- Sept. 23, 2026: Prosecutors drop pursuit of the death penalty. (KSL)
- Sept. 28, 2026: Carter is released on bail. (AP, KSL)