Carter was released on bail from the Utah County Jail with a GPS monitor. A release on bail is not an acquittal.

Release on bail, with a GPS monitor, is a custody condition. It is not a dismissal, and a DNA exclusion is not an acquittal. On Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan ordered Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, released on bail from the Utah County Jail. FOX 13 Utah reported that he left jail at 7:45 p.m. KUTV reported that he walked out, that he must wear a GPS monitor, and that he is still facing charges. The Associated Press reported that a DNA analysis received Sept. 22 excluded him as a possible match to blood on a doorknob and to genetic material on a knife handle. Prosecutors withdrew the death notice before the hearing. The aggravated murder charge remains pending.

The Monday hearing was the release. The Associated Press reported that Judge Derek Pullan said the DNA results further undermined the case against Carter, and that a reasonable jury still could conclude that he killed Eva Olesen. Pullan ordered a GPS monitor and no contact with the Olesen family, the Associated Press and KUTV reported. KUTV reported that the monitor was purchased by his attorney. The victim's family objected. FOX 13 Utah reported that Theresa Olesen, Eva Olesen's daughter-in-law, told the judge the current findings do not exonerate Carter. Deputy Utah County Attorney Erwin Petilos told the court the state was reassessing the remaining evidence and that a bail reassessment was necessary and fair, FOX 13 Utah reported. CNN, the New York Post, and ABC4 Utah also reported the Monday release.

The defense asked for more than bail. KUTV and ABC4 Utah reported that defense attorney Neal Hamilton called on the state to dismiss the charges. FOX 13 Utah reported that Hamilton said outside court he wanted the case thrown out, and that Utah County prosecutors have until November to decide whether to pursue a retrial. A request to dismiss is not a dismissal. KSL previously reported a July 2027 trial setting, and earlier Associated Press reporting described the retrial as eight weeks. The Associated Press reported Monday that Judge Pullan had scheduled a two-month retrial for 2027. Those are the reported calendar. They are not a judgment.

Olesen was stabbed and shot in her Provo home in 1985, and Carter was sentenced to death. That conviction was later vacated. KUTV reported that a judge granted a new trial in 2022 and that the Utah Supreme Court upheld the ruling in 2025. The Associated Press reported that the court cited misconduct by investigators, that Carter says a signed confession was coerced, and that two witnesses later recanted. That is the reported history of a vacated case. It is not a new verdict. Withdrawing the death notice, and walking out of the Utah County Jail on bail, leave the aggravated murder charge in place. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.