Katelyn Markham’s father believes he’ll never know what happened to her

The maximum sentence for the involuntary manslaughter plea would not be long enough for Dave Markham, who said he still doesn’t know, and likely never will know, the entire story of what led to Katelyn’s death in August 2011.

“Not that I would have believed him because he’s lied for 13 years,” he said. “He’s offered no explanation and hasn’t even tried. To me that just shows his character.”

Even if Carter “writes a confession in prison,” the grieving father said, “He’s going to have to be more convincing than he’s been the past 13 years.”

Carter was engaged to Katelyn Markham at the time of her 2011 disappearance and death and did receive the maximum sentence allowed under a deal in which he agreed to plead guilty last month. The involuntary manslaughter conviction is a third-degree felony because the reported underlying crime is a misdemeanor assault that led to her death. Nothing more is known about the misdemeanor assault or what led to it.

Lead defense attorney Lawrence Hawkins III argued his client deserved community control over any time in prison, because outside of this case, Carter has had no prior juvenile or felony record. He said state law highlights that “purposes and principles of sentencing are to protect the public from future crime, to punish the offender and promote effective rehabilitation using minimum sanctions.”

The defense attorney further stated the law indicates a prison sentence is not mandatory in this case, and said “accountability and responsibility is something that should be considered by the court with regard to the disposition.”

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey did not believe there was accountability nor responsibility.

“The court believes that Mr. Carter has shown no genuine remorse for this offense,” the judge said, adding the court “finds it disingenuous to believe there can be genuine remorse without acknowledgement of what took place.”

Carter reported his former fiancèe missing ― including calling Dave Markham after 911 ― instead of admitting to what Haughey said was “a misdemeanor offense gone horribly wrong with an unintended consequence of the death of a loved one.”

Instead of giving closure by saying what happened, Haughey said his inaction caused “fear that there’s some madman on the loose.”

Carter, who was credited with 14 days in jail, also was ordered to pay court costs and will be subject to post-release probation. He was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately following sentencing.

Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser argued strongly for the maximum sentence.

“The defendant was given the opportunity to explain himself, to proceed on the road to redemption with a good act of contrition,” Gmoser said to the judge. “He did neither and he gave no account other than his admission to you of his guilt and that he caused her death with no explanation to solve the mystery of how and why he killed Katelyn.”

Gmoser said: “His ultimate plea surely was not to assuage the pain he caused and garner some benefit of accountability. Defendant Carter had the benefit of three skilled attorneys, and with them a risk/benefit analysis of the trial about to take place, and the conclusion a jury would make in the battle between circumstantial evidence and coincidental evidence.”

Dave Markham talked with the media after the sentencing, saying Carter “was responsible for this and he deserved what he got.” He admitted he was “relieved” and “grateful” for the judge giving the maximum sentence possible under the plea agreement.

“It’s not over, and no it’s not closure, but it’s the start of something else to come,” he said. “I’m thankful and grateful for the judge handing out the sentence that he did.”

The Markham family will now focus on life after the Carter case, and that includes introducing proposed state legislation called Katelyn’s Law.

“We want to try to change some legislation,” the father said, adding others could have been charged in connection with Markham’s death if it weren’t for the statute of limitations running out.

Katelyn Markham was an art student, days shy of her 22nd birthday, when she was reported missing by her then-fiancé Carter in August 2011. Her skeletal remains were found more than a year-and-a-half later on April 7, 2013, in a remote wooded area in Indiana, some 30 miles from her Fairfield home.

The wooded area was not far from a farm owned by the Carter family.

Markham’s death was then ruled a homicide, but the cause of death had not been determined. It remained unsolved until Carter’s arrest in March 2023.

Markham’s disappearance was initially treated as a missing persons case by Fairfield police. She wasn’t at her Dorshire Drive residence and she didn’t show up for work at David’s Bridal near Tri-County Mall. Her car, keys, dog and other personal belongings, except for her cellphone were at her townhouse. The phone was turned off, according to the investigation, at about 12:45 a.m. Aug. 14, 2011, and the GPS on her phone was also off.

Almost a month shy of a decade since her disappearance with no arrests in Markham’s death ― though Carter had been under suspicion ― Gmoser announced the indictment of Carter on a murder charge after an 18-month investigation by his office.

Carter, who is now married and a father, was scheduled to go to trial on June 24 for murder, but he pleaded to the third-degree felony. He had remained free on the $1 million bond he posted after arraignment in April 2023 until he was taken away in handcuffs following the sentencing hearing.

The prosecution had a list of more than 100 pieces of evidence collected that could have been introduced at trial. Prosecutors filed the list of “documents and tangible evidence” that included, among other things, 13 written statements, tips from the public, work records, and interview and/or polygraphs.

While the case against Carter is over with the sentencing, Gmoser said he would pursue a new perjury indictment against Jonathan Palmerton, who was accused of lying during official proceedings in connection with the Markham investigation. He was indicted in February 2023, but those charges were eventually dismissed months after the Carter indictment because Gmoser said circumstances would not allow Palmerton’s case to be tried before Carter.

There is a five-year statute of limitations in Palmerton’s perjury allegation.