- The state argues it should solely investigate leftover evidence after a 1985 murder.
- Defense claims DNA results exonerate Carter, challenging the validity of his confession.
- Prosecutors oppose defense’s request for forensic genealogy testing, citing evidence preservation.
SALT LAKE CITY — For more than four decades, Provo police and Utah County prosecutors have insisted that the man who killed Eva Olesen in 1985 left his DNA at the crime scene.
So when DNA tests on all the remaining evidence, including the murder weapon and the victim’s clothing, determined there was no DNA from the man convicted of the murder, it seemed possible the wrong man had spent more than four decades on death row and investigators needed to reopen the case. In fact, prosecutors even said at an August hearing that they expected the new DNA evidence to be ‘dispositive of the case.’
But the case wasn’t dismissed. In fact, while prosecutors did abandon their quest to seek the death penalty, they still insist they’re prosecuting the right man.
Leftover evidence?
Prosecutors point to other evidence in the case, including Carter’s confession, which his attorneys asked a judge to throw out at that same August hearing…