In Utah, Douglas Stuart Carter will be released on bail after a DNA mismatch

Douglas Stuart Carter, a resident of the U.S. state of Utah, will be released on bail after DNA analysis did not match previously examined samples found at the crime scene. This was reported by TASS with reference to CBS News (USA).

According to CBS News, Carter was accused of murdering U.S. citizen Eva Olesen, the aunt of the police chief of the city of Provo, Utah, USA, and was sentenced to death by a jury in 1985. The channel writes that the verdict was based on Carter’s confession and the testimony of two witnesses who claimed that the defendant told them about the murder, although there was no physical evidence of his presence at the crime scene.

Later, both witnesses recanted their testimony. In 2025, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new investigation because of misconduct by investigators.

Carter himself claims that he was forced to confess to the murder under threats. Eva Olesen’s daughter-in-law said that the family hopes the investigation will continue, and in her view the DNA mismatch still does not prove that the convicted man was not at the crime scene.