PROVO — Eva Olesen didn't get to the end of the last row she ever knitted.

Her daughter-in-law suspects she put aside the sweater she was making for her teenage son when the man who killed her came to the door. "I don't know, but I can't imagine Eva stopping mid row unless she was interrupted," Theresa Olesen said.

Theresa Olesen showed the unfinished brown and tan patterned sweater to 4th District Judge Lynn Davis on Thursday while pleading for closure to a case going on its 27th year.

A jury convicted Douglas Stewart Carter of stabbing 57- year-old Eva Olesen to death during a home-invasion robbery Feb. 27, 1985, and sentenced him to death. Jurors relied on Carter's written confession and his bragging to friends Epifanio and Lucia Tovar that he killed a woman. Carter is appealing his conviction based on newly discovered evidence of false testimony and suppressed evidence involving the Tovars.

"I realize Doug Carter doesn't want to die. I'm sure Eva didn't want to die that night," Theresa Olesen said.

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"To his lawyers we ask, stop the pain you are causing. We know Carter has rights, but Eva had rights, too. To Carter we say, you had the chance to avoid the death sentence on Feb. 26. But on Feb. 27, you did enter her house and you did take her life."

Carter, 56, has petitions pending in four courts — state, federal, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Utah Supreme Court. Of the nine inmates on Utah's death row, he is the furthest along in the appeals process. An execution date has not been set.

After hearing arguments from defense lawyer Ken Murray and assistant Utah attorney general Tom Brunker, Davis ruled that Carter's claim of new evidence came too late to be included in his state petition for post-conviction relief. The judge also said he lacks jurisdiction to decide the matter. His ruling, though, does not preclude Carter from raising the issues in another forum.

"I think we have a very strong claim on this evidence," Murray said afterward. "Somewhere down the line someone's going to see that this needs to be addressed."

The Tovars, who were initially scared to talk to police about Carter, testified during trial that other than a $14 check each received, Provo police did not provide them any inducements to take the witness stand. Carter's attorneys say they learned this year that isn't true and contend police told Epifanio Tovar to lie.

In a sworn declaration, the Tovars say police relocated them twice, paid their rent and utilities, and gave gifts to them and toys to their children. Police also sang Christmas carols at their home and brought them a Christmas tree.

The Tovars say they were told the living arrangements were for protection from Carter. They also say police threatened to deport them, file criminal charges and take away their son if they didn't cooperate in the case.

Brunker points out that the defense has not said the payments were made to the Tovars in exchange for their testimony. Also, he said the police officers involved categorically deny the couple was told to lie or deny receiving any benefits.

Carter, he said, admitted in his confession that he told the couple that he killed Eva Olesen.

"He stabbed her eight times in the back, once in the neck, and once in the abdomen. He finally shot her in the back of her head at point-blank range, shooting through a pillow to muffle the sound," Brunker wrote in court documents.

Carter presented no direct evidence at the 1985 trial that his confession was false, including the admission that he told the Tovars about the murder. The Tovars have not recanted their testimony.

Theresa Olesen, 48, said she remembers Lucia Tovar's testimony well.

"She didn't speak English. She didn't even know who Doug Carter was when he came to their house. All she testified is what she saw, that he pointed to the television and laughed and demonstrated how her hands were tied behind her back and how she was stabbed in the back. How does Lucia know how she was killed? She saw him demonstrate it and laugh."

The Olesen family does not want to send an innocent man to death, she said. "But he did take her life. Let's remember that."

In addition to Theresa Olesen, Eva Olesen's sons Gary (Theresa' husband) and Eirik attended Thursday's hearing.

Gary Olesen, 56, said he has taken the past 26 years one day at a time. He said he relives "that horrible night" with every news story about the case. "It's been very hard."

"It's been really painful. A long, ongoing ordeal," said Eirik Olesen, 42.

The sweater has special meaning for Eirik Olesen. His mother was knitting the sweater for him, the youngest of her children who was 15 at the time.

Theresa Olsen has tried over the years to get someone to finish the sweater, but can't find the same yarn. She said she's not sure what she'll do with it now, adding maybe the family will place it at Eva Olesen's gravesite someday.

For now, she and Gary have it at their home in Spanish Fork. "I keep it in a basket just to remind us."

Email:dromboy@ksl.com

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