It’s been more than three decades since Douglas Lovell raped a 39-year-old woman and then, in an attempt to stop her from testifying, killed her.
But Lovell, one of Utah’s eight death row inmates, is nowhere near an execution date.
And an evidentiary hearing that starts Monday could pave the way for yet another chance for Lovell to avoid a lethal injection.
During this evidentiary hearing that will stretch through the month of August, several controversial topics in Utah are expected to be discussed — the death penalty, the state’s public defender system and the possible interference in the case from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.