He is free after posting $1 million bond, and the four-week trial is scheduled to begin June 24 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
The motions deadline extension was not opposed by prosecutors. As of Friday afternoon, it had not been signed by the judge, but both sides said verbal conversations had taken place with Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey.
And it appeared the extension is agreeable because as of 3 p.m. Friday there have been no filings in the case since Dec. 21, which was discovery by the prosecution.
Defense attorney Chris Pagan told the Journal-News: “The deadline extended due to new discovery.”
That means the filing deadline and date of the a status report hearing — Jan. 16 — will be the same day, if there is a formal hearing. Carter has not been in court since April.
“It is understandable that having just received materials that’s subject to a motion to suppress that they would need a short additional time for review,” said Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.
Prosecutors have turned over five rounds of discovery to Carter’s defense team. That includes hundreds of items, some obtained as recently as last summer and fall.
On Dec. 21, more discovery was filed that included subpoenas for cell phone records, a TikTok video, Carter’s jail booking video, screenshots of text messages between “K.W.” and prosecutor’s investigator Paul Newton, Yahoo service records for Carter and response to a subpoena for Carter’s bank records, according to court documents obtained by the Journal-News
Gmoser declined comment on the most recent discovery. Carter’s defense attorney Chris Pagan did not respond to a request for comment.
In November, the prosecution turned over discovery to Carter’s defense team that included 33 items.
Included in the November discovery are screenshots of text messages and Facebook social media messages identified by initials to prosecutor’s office Investigator Paul Newton. Also included are subpoenas for bank statements and cell phone records, audio interviews with witnesses identified by initials and photographs of properties where Carter and Markham lived in 2011, and for an Indiana farm owned by the Carter family as well as building permits and designs for that property on Kokomo Hill Road.
Also included are a “Facebook search warrant for Michael Strouse,” “email from J. Ryan Green about Michael Strouse” and “screenshots from Facebook of Michael Strouse provided by J. Ryan Green.”
Green is a private investigator hired by Markham’s family to investigate her disappearance and death.
Strouse was convicted in 2019 of the death of 23-year-old Ellen “Ellie” Weik at his Liberty Twp. home. Within hours after Strouse’s arrest, Fairfield police, who initially investigated the Markham case, confirmed a meeting with the West Chester Police Department, which investigated the Weik case.
A photo also surfaced in 2019 of Strouse at a gathering picturing him with Markham and others.
Gmoser has said the photos listed in discovery are part of the investigation by his office and others for any connection to Markham’s death. He declined to comment any further.
Strouse is in prison and is not charged with any crime in the Markham case, so it is likely the prosecutor’s investigation eliminated Strouse as a suspect. Prosecutors often investigate to eliminate any other possible suspects, especially before seeking an indictment.
Markham, a free-spirited art student, was days away from her 22nd birthday when she vanished in August 2011 from her Fairfield townhouse. Her skeletal remains were found April 7, 2013, in a remote wooded area in Indiana about 30 miles from her home. Her death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death has not been determined.
It remained unsolved until March 2023 when an 18-month investigation by the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office resulted in Carter’s arrest.
The “bill of particulars” filed by the prosecution involve Carter’s changing statements about scratches on his face and the determination from Markham’s remains that she had sharp force trauma to her left wrist.
Specifically, the bill of particulars states: “During the late hours of Aug. 13, 2011, through the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2011, starting in the area of 5214 Dorshire Drive in the city of Fairfield, Butler County, Ohio, John Carter by physical violence and by force did cause the death of Katelyn Markham.”
The bill continues with: “Around 8 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2011, the Fairfield Police responded to the report of a missing person and saw multiple scratches on John Carter’s neck. When John Carter was confronted about the scratch marks he told officers that they came from shaving with his electric razor attachment. Later John Carter said he scratched himself on the neck and then said he doesn’t know how the scratches happened. On April 7, 2013, the remains of Katelyn Markham were discovered with incised wounds from sharp force trauma to the left wrist area.”
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