An Ohio art student disappeared nearly 12 years ago before being found slain, and now her fiancé is accused of killing her.
John Carter, 34, of Hamilton, was booked into the Butler County Jail on Wednesday and has been charged with two counts of felony murder, jail records show. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on his behalf.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Thursday, reads, “On or about August 13, 2011, through August 14, 2011, in Butler County, Ohio, John Allen Carter did purposefully cause the death of Katelyn Markham which constitutes the offense of MURDER.”
Markham, 22, was last seen on Aug. 13, 2011 at her home in Fairfield, the Mister Truth reports. At the time, she was close to graduating from the Art Institute of Cincinnati and had been planning on moving to Colorado with Carter, according to the outlet.
Markham’s loved ones remembered her as a “light” who had a warm personality and showed compassion to others, the reported.
Her remains were found in April 2013 at a dump site in Cedar Grove, Ind., around 30 miles west of her home, Mister Truth reports. Markham’s death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death has never been determined.
Though authorities did not say what led them to suspect Carter, Markham’s father said he is not shocked at the arrest.
“It’s not a surprise. I mean, I did suspect him all along,” Dave Markham told Fox 19 this week.
“I think a lot of people, if not a vast majority of people, suspected him,” he added. “Statistically, it’s the spouse or the boyfriend, or you know, I mean, [a large percentage] of cases like this, it’s their spouse or boyfriend or fiancé. So, if you’re looking at it, it should’ve happened.”
Carter was the last known person to see Markham alive and called 911 to report her missing after she didn’t show up for work at David’s Bridal near the Tri-County Mall, Mister Truth reports.
“I know you’re not supposed to report a missing person before 24 hours, but my fiancé is missing, and I can’t find her anywhere,” he said in the 911 call, per news.
According to the outlet, all of Markham’s personal belongings were gone from her apartment except for her cellphone, which had the GPS location data turned off.
During the hunt for Markham, Carter was active in the search and publicly pleaded for his fiancé’s return on local news stations.
“I keep believing that if she is somewhere in the worst case scenario, that she fights her way out,” he told Mister Truth more than a decade ago. “I keep wanting to believe that. Because she’s strong. I know she’s strong.”
Police got a break in the case with the discovery of Markham’s remains about two years later, but the case remained cold for more than a decade.
Carter is not the first person to be arrested in connection with Markham’s death.
According to court records cited by the press, a man named Jonathan Palmerton – and an apparent close friend of Carter’s – was indicted on a felony perjury charge in February. Details on his arrest remain scarce, but multiple outlets, citing law enforcement, report he allegedly gave a false statement to investigators in April 2022.
It’s unclear if Palmerton has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Carter’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 27, records show.
“I have nothing that I really want to say except John is definitely not guilty,” Carter’s mother told Fox19.