A 4th District Court jury was expected to begin deliberating Thursday afternoon to decide the fate of a man convicted of killing a Provo woman while burglarizing her home in 1985.
A 10-woman, two-man jury will decide whether Douglas Stewart Carter, 36, should get the death penalty or life in prison for murdering Eva Olesen, 57, on Feb. 27, 1985. Olesen was stabbed 10 times and shot once in the back of the head with a .38-caliber pistol.Carter was found guilty of the crime and guilty of aggravated burglary by a jury on Dec. 18, 1985. The same jury later sentenced Carter to death. However, the Utah Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the jury was improperly instructed according to Utah law and ordered a new sentencing for Carter.
Carter was expected to plead for his life Thursday morning in a statement to jurors. Attorneys then were expected to give closing arguments and present the case to jurors. For Carter to again get the death sentence, all 12 jurors must agree on the verdict.
Wednesday, Carter's mother, Willa Lewis, formerly of Provo who now lives in Chicago, asked that her son's life be spared. She said her son was normally a shy and withdrawn person and his actions on Feb. 27, 1985, were not characteristic of his normal behavior.
"That's not the Douglas Carter that I know and I don't want him to die," Lewis said.
Carter's brother, Brad, and his oldest sister, Jacqueline Stover, both testified that Carter's withdrawn personality made it difficult for him to handle racism problems. He first encountered racism at his last home in Chicago and later when he moved to Utah in 1981 to live with his mother. The racism problems worsened when Carter got a job in Provo, began dating a white woman, fathered a child with the woman and later married her. The mixed-race relationship subjected Carter, his wife and his mother to stares and criticism, Brad Carter said."My mom and Doug had a difficult time not internalizing those stares," Brad Carter said.
Robert J. Howell, a local psychologist, said he administered several tests to Carter in September 1990 and again in December 1991. He said Carter does not show signs of being anti-social, but believes he does suffer some brain damage. On cross examination, however, Howell said he has no evidence to show Carter's ability to know right from wrong was impaired when he killed Olesen.
Before resting their case, prosecutors read jurors part of the transcript of Carter's trial. Deputy County Attorney Jim Taylor read testimony of Epifanio and Lucia Tovar, Carter's friends, who said Carter bragged about killing Olesen and demonstrated to them how he did it. Epifanio said he confronted Carter about newspaper reports that Olesen may have been raped. Carter told Epifanio that he was going to rape Olesen but didn't because she was having a period, the testimony said.
Provo Police Capt. George Pierpont said Carter confessed to him after being arrested in Nashville, Tenn. Carter confessed to chasing Olesen through the house, robbing her and then stabbing her several times with a kitchen knife. Carter then went through the house looking for money and only decided to shoot Olesen when he heard her moaning minutes later, Pierpont said.