A 71-year-old man who was convicted of killing a police chief’s aunt and spent decades on death row was released Monday after prosecutors said newly analyzed DNA evidence did not link him to the crime.
\n\nA Utah judge ordered Douglas Stewart Carter be let out on bail late Monday over objections from the victim’s family. Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while he awaits a new trial in the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen.
\n\nThe state Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing misconduct by investigators. Carter has maintained his innocence and says a signed confession was coerced.
\n\nNo physical evidence linked him to the crime scene. But the jury convicted Carter, a Black man, based on the confession and the testimony of two witnesses who said he bragged about killing Olesen, who was white. Those witnesses later recanted.
\n\nA DNA analysis received Sept. 22 excluded Carter as a possible match to blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of a knife used to stab Olesen, who was also shot.
\n\nJudge Derek Pullan said those results further undermined the case against Carter, but a reasonable jury still could conclude that he…
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