Carter is charged under two sections of the murder statute, according to indictment: The first for allegedly purposely causing the death of Markham and the second for allegedly causing her death as “the proximate result of the offender’s committing or attempting to commit an offense of violence ...”
He was scheduled to be in Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey’s courtroom on Tuesday for a “status report hearing,” but a continuance was requested Thursday by the defense. The Judge indicted he will grant the continuance to Nov. 28, according to prosecutors.
In the continuance motion, defense attorney Chris Pagan said, “The prosecutor does not object to this continuance.”
A hearing set for April 25 did not happen because a motion in question was granted without open court argument, and pre-trial hearings scheduled July and September were continued. Carter’s trial is scheduled to being June 24.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said there was no objection to the continuance from his office at this time because it does not affect the trial date and the defense has received a “mountain” of evidence from the prosecution to review.
“It doesn’t change the trial date and it is still very early on, and I am still willing to agree and acknowledge that we have given the defense a mountain or avalanche of material. As you would expect in a case like this, when people feel safe to come forward, we get more evidence and that has to be delivered to the defense,” Gmoser told the Journal-News.
A motion for a lengthy jury view was also filed by the prosecution on Thursday, spanning Butler County to Indiana where Markham’s body was found. Haughey has not ruled on that motion.
Markham, a free-spirited art student, was just 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.
Prosecutors want the jury to view Carter’s home at the time of the alleged offense on West Scioto Drive in Fairfield, Markham’s townhouse on Dorshire Drive in Fairfield, the location where Markham’s body was recovered on South Big Cedar Road in Franklin County Indiana and the Carter family farm on Kokomo Hill Road in Franklin County Indiana.
Gmoser acknowledged the jury view is “extensive” and could take a day out of the trial, but he said it is necessary.
“In a trial the could easily go for four weeks, what’s a day? Especially as this case unfolds, I think the jury will have the appreciation that I had in the points of travel,” Gmoser said, noting he visited the various locations during the investigation. “It was important for me, I think it would be important for a jury, and that’s why we did it.”
The “bill of particulars” filed by the prosecution last month 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.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Markham’s death has been ruled a homicide by an Indiana coroner based on the totality of circumstances surrounding her disappearance and how her remains were found. But a cause of death could not be determined.
What happened to Markham and how she died has remained a mystery for years, despite a $100,000 reward and the efforts of multiple police agencies, private detectives, television shows and a movie.
Indiana State Police and at least two private detectives also investigated the case with no arrests — just lots of theories.
Markham’s disappearance was treated as a missing person case by Fairfield police when she vanished from her Dorshire Drive residence. She did not show up for work at David’s Bridal near Tri-County Mall.
Carter called 911 to report her missing.
Markham left her car, keys, dog and all personal belongings, with the exception of her cell phone, at her townhouse. Her cell phone was turned off at about 12:45 a.m. on Aug. 14, 2011. The GPS device on her phone also was turned off.
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