Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said during Tuesday’s hearing he requested the charge be dismissed for now because of the circumstances of Palmerton’s case and that of John Carter, who is charged with murder, that will not allow Palmerton’s case to be tried before Carter.
Carter’s trial is scheduled for June 2024.
And it was unlikely Palmerton’s case would be continued until after Carter’s case is litigated. A trial date had been set for Aug. 7. Palmerton did not waive his right to a speedy trial at arraignment.
It’s a matter of timing, according to the prosecutor, who said the plans are to go back to a grand jury to re-indict Palmerton after the Carter trial.
“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.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
During the brief hearing, Gmoser summed up the issue, saying “the prosecution has an irreconcilable conflict procedurally and ethically with respect to forcing a trial to go forward, with respect to Mr. Palmerton, and forcing into a uncompromising situation that I created. That is why I am asking for this case to be nulled.”
The legal entry says: “the state enters this nolle prosequi in the interests of justice. As provided by law, the state of Ohio reserves the right to seek a new indictment at a later time.”
Palmerton’s attorney Ken Crehan said he will seek to have the case sealed and will fight any new charge.
“This case has been an unusual proceeding from the get-go,” Crehan said. “I found it strange when he was indicted.”
He said he has not received discovery in the case and “now he is asking for a temporary dismissal, what does that really mean. He (Gmoser) has been on the case for about three years, the investigation has been going on for about 12 to 13 years and now we are getting an extended added pressure and stress to a citizen of Ohio and the United States. When is he going to bring this case back?”
Crehan added this case involves a human being who has already had his civil liberties taken away from him. He added he is not sure if it is gamesmanship or strategy by the prosecutor’s office or if they are “using the court system in some form or fashion ... I am not objecting to the dismissal, that would be silly.”
Gmoser shot back: “I object to any implication of impropriety with respect to this matter.”
In an interview with the Journal-News, Crehan said he is “at a loss as to why my client was arrested, why my client served time in jail. I am p--sed. Why did my client lose his civil liberties and have to go to jail and carry 10,000 pounds of stress on his shoulders until May 2?”
Crehan said there is no evidence that Palmerton “ratted” on John Carter, which is what some may be led to believe from the timing of the indictments.
“There is never going to be any evidence of that,” Crehan said.
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 when an 18-month investigation by the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office resulted in Carter’s arrest. Carter was Markham’s fiancé in 2011.
At arraignment, county Prosecutor Michael 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.
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.”
Search warrants were executed at Carter’s and Palmerton’s residences in 2011. 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 Katelyn 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 have 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. In the call Carter said, “I know you’re not supposed to report a missing person before 24 hours, but my fiancée is missing, and I can’t find her anywhere.”
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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