SALT LAKE CITY — Eva Olesen's son said he was devastated to learn of a judge's decision to vacate the death sentence the man accused of killing her.
"Here we go again. It’s been just continually, we’ve been in and out of courts. He’s had many, many appeals and hearings and my mother didn’t get one," Gary Olesen told FOX 13 News.
Douglas Carter was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty for killing Olesen back in 1985 in what police said at the time was a home invasion robbery in Provo. Carter has challenged his conviction, claiming that police bribed witnesses and that his own confession to the murder was coerced. Police at the time insisted any funds used for a pair of key witnesses were for witness protection.
In 2019, the Utah Supreme Court sent Carter's case back to a lower court, finding problems with how police and prosecutors handled the case. Last week, 4th District Court Judge Derek Pullan vacated the death sentence.
"When viewed cumulatively in the context of these failures to disclose false testimony, there is a reasonable probability that the State’s failure to disclose the financial benefits and threats would result in a different outcome. Taken together and in light or the entire record, the four failures to disclose proved by Carter undermine this Court’s confidence in the verdict," he wrote in a ruling.
The Olesen family called the ruling "disheartening."
"We've waited 37 years to have justice done. We’re still waiting for it," said Eva's daughter-in-law, Theresa Olesen.
The judge stayed the decision pending an expected appeal by the Utah Attorney General's Office. On Monday, the agency provided a formal notice it would appeal — meaning Carter remains on death row for now.
"The office has full confidence that both Carter’s conviction and death sentence will be reinstated on appeal, especially in light of the fact that Carter confessed to committing this murder," the agency said in a statement to FOX 13 News.
Reacting to the decision, Carter's defense attorney said there were problems with the case.
"For 37 years the State of Utah has imprisoned Mr. Carter on death row based on an unconstitutional conviction and sentence secured through perjured testimony and secret payoffs to witnesses. These actions undermine the integrity of Utah’s justice system and its use of the death penalty.”
Theresa Olesen said Carter admitted to killing Eva.
"He admitted it. He has never denied it. Never denied it," she said. "I believe in the appellate process, I believe people should not be innocently charged with things, of course, but the police in 1985 did their very best to see they got the right person and wanted justice to be served."
The case will again return to the Utah Supreme Court. Meanwhile, there is a separate federal appeals process still playing out. The Olesens said they would like people to remember the victim of the murder — Eva.
"She was a very caring person. She was a homemaker, so she stayed home a lot and cared for our family," Gary said, adding: "She was a good neighbor, she was always helping somebody."
"She didn’t deserve this," Theresa said. "She didn’t deserve it at all."
