According to the indictment, on April 21, 2022, Palmerton was accused of making a false statement “under oath or affirmation, or knowingly swear or affirm the truth of a false statement previously made, when either statement is material.”
That charge was dismissed in May.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said at the brief hearing in May it was a matter of timing concerning cases against both men.
It was unlikely Palmerton’s case would be continued for litigation until after Carter’s trial scheduled for June 24, 2024.
“I moved for a dismissal in this case because there is an inherent conflict in listing Mr. Palmerton as a potential witness in the Carter case and asking him to testify in advance of the Carter case,” Gmoser told the Journal-News in May.
Last month Palmerton’s attorney Ken Crehan filed a motion in Butler County Common Pleas Court to have the dismissed case sealed including “record of arrest, charges, and grand jury and other material filed.”
Judge Jennifer McElfresh has set a hearing for Sept. 7 about the motion.
Crehan did not respond to requests for comment.
Gmoser said three months ago the plan is to go back to a grand jury to re-indict Palmerton after the Carter trial.
He told the Journal-New the same thing on Monday.
“Having his indictment nullied and the associated sealing of any information regarding that will have no bearing regarding the potential for re-indictment,” Gmoser said.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Carter, who is free after posting a $1 million bond, is also due back in court on Sept. 12 for a status report hearing before Judge Dan Haughey.
Prosecutors have turned over discovery to Carter’s defense team — now nearing 120 items. The last filed July 19 included Fairfield Police property evidence reports, photographs of Markham taken by a Cincinnati area photographer and photos taken at the Sacred Heart Church Festival in 2011.
On June 26, prosecutors filed a list of “documents and tangible evidence” in the case that includes 13 written statements; 63 individual interviews and/or polygraphs; tips from the public; phone records; work records; Facebook, Yahoo and Google records; dental records; vehicle records; property records; Fairfield Police, Forest Park Police, Indiana State Police, Butler County Sheriff’s Office and county prosecutor’s office reports; news media coverage, and interviews throughout the years investigation, specifically interviews with Carter.
Prosecution evidence also includes 12 items from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, handwritten notes of Carter’s statements, jail calls, anthropology report, forensic entomology investigation report, Hamilton County crime lab report, Carter’s laptop, Carter’s cellphone, Markham’s laptop, a letter from Katelyn to her father, Dave Markham, and an email from Katelyn to Carter dated Aug. 13, 2011, package packing slip and photos of text messages from Karyn Winkler, Carter’s mother.
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 203 when an 18-month investigation by the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office resulted in Carter’s arrest.
At arraignment, Gmoser shared some of the investigative evidence against Carter that is including in an affidavit for search warrants to search a number of locations, including Carter’s family home and Palmerton’s 2011 residence.
Investigators from his office and the Fairfield Police Dept. also dug up yards looking for evidence. Evidence was taken from the yards and homes.
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 had 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.
Police and volunteers searched for months, and then years, for the missing woman.
When the skeletal remains were found in April 2013 in a remote wooded area in Cedar Grove, Ind., within days, confirmation came that the remains were Markham’s.
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