Douglas Stewart C., who spent 41 years in prison in Utah, was released with DNA findings

Douglas Stewart C., who has been in prison on death row in the US state of Utah for 41 years, was released following new DNA findings in the murder file.

The prosecutor's office stated that the re-examined genetic material did not link C. to the murder of Eva Olesen, who was killed in 1985. Thereupon, the court decided to release 71-year-old C. on bail, despite the objections of the victim's family.

C. was found guilty of the murder of Eva Olesen, who lived in Provo.

Olesen was found dead in his home on February 27, 1985, with multiple stab wounds and a bullet fired into the back of his head. It was stated that the woman's hands were tied behind her back and her body was partially undressed.

Olesen's wife reported to the police that she was visiting a friend at the time of the incident and found her husband's lifeless body when she returned home.

“MY CONFESSION WAS TAKEN UNDER PRESSURE”

According to court records, the investigation soon focused on C. The prosecution claimed that the murder was committed during a robbery.

C. was captured in Nashville, Tennessee, in June of the same year. During interrogation by a police officer from Provo, he signed a document confessing to the murder.

However, C. later argued that this confession did not reflect the truth and that he had to accept the accusations because he was repeatedly threatened by the police.

C., who was sentenced to death at the end of the trial, was kept in Utah County Prison for 41 years.

The course of the file changed last year.

The Utah Supreme Court decided to rehear the case on the grounds that the officials committed irregularities during the investigation and prosecution process.

In the new DNA tests performed afterwards, it was determined that the blood samples found on a door handle at the scene and on the handle of the knife said to have been used in the murder did not match C.'s DNA.

Following these findings, the prosecutor's office accepted that the new evidence did not link C. to the murder.

HIS LAWYER WANTS THE CASE TO BE DROPPED COMPLETELY

C.'s lawyer, Neal Hamilton, called on the prosecutor's office and asked for the case to be closed completely.

Hamilton also stated that his client should be officially declared innocent. He said that such a decision could pave the way for compensation to be paid to C. by the state.

The lawyer stated that C. was released without any financial security after 41 years of detention and said, "He has no retirement income, no savings."

Hamilton argued that the police and prosecution deprived his client of the opportunity to rebuild his life.

C.'s son was adopted by another family when he was a baby after his father went to prison, and he only learned years later that his biological father was convicted of murder.