Carter, who is charged with murder and free on a $1 million bond, was scheduled to be back in court Tuesday for a hearing concerning the release of the affidavits and search warrants requested by media, including the Journal-News. But the issue was resolved with agreement by prosecutors and Carter’s defense team.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The 24-page document with uncharged suspects’ names redacted shows the investigation by prosecutors that began in January 2020 building on prior work by police on the cold case and gathering new evidence, especially statements from people interviewed in Colorado and Florida.
A friend and college classmate of Markham was interviewed by prosecutor’s investigator Paul Newton on Jan. 12, 2023, and said in August 2011 after reporting Markham missing from her Fairfield townhouse, he “repeatedly referred to Katelyn in the past tense.”
And on Aug. 16, 2011, after reporting her missing, Carter drove to Markham’s townhouse and removed mail and packages despite being urged to leave it because there was a police investigation happening, according to the court documents.
The friend told Newton that in the three to six months prior to her disappearance, Markham confided to her “(she) was unhappy being engaged to John Carter and felt trapped in the relationship.”
Markham was unhappy with Carter’s lifestyle, including what she said was heavy use of drugs and pornography, and she was “uncomfortable with the sexual activity Carter asked her to engage in,” the friend told Newton, according to court documents.
Investigators pointed to inconsistent statements made by Carter over the years concerning the last time he saw Markham alive in her townhouse and what he did in the hours after.
In interviews by Fairfield Police in 2011, Carter said on Aug. 13, 2011, he drove to Markham’s Dorshire Drive residence about 7 or 7:30 p.m. after the 21-year-old art student got off work at a David’s Bridal store.
He was at the residence until about 11 or 11:30 p.m. when he left for a party in Hamilton. Markham was preparing for bed, he said in that 2011 interview.
Carter said he returned home to his residence at that time, which is his mother’s house, between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Aug. 14, 2011, and watched television and remained there until 4:30 p.m. when he drove to work at a local pizza restaurant.
He subsequently went to Markham’s townhouse to “check on her,” and did not find her. Her dog was there along with her purse and wallet. Her cellphone was never found. Carter told police he called family and friends to see if they had seen Markham, then later called 911.
During interviews in 2011, Fairfield detectives observed scratches on the left side of Carter’s neck. He indicated it was from an electric razor, but in later interviews, he said he didn’t know where he got the scratches, according to the court document.
A download of Carter’s computer taken from his mother’s residence indicates that in the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2011, his computer played the television show “White Collar Season 2″ episodes 12, 13 and 14 beginning at approximately 1:39 a.m. At approximately 4 a.m., his computer visited several pornography sites, according to the court document.
Later, at about 3 p.m., Carter’s computer visited a website containing “plot summaries” of the show “White Collar Season 2.”
Carter took polygraph tests in 2011 by the FBI and 2014 by Indiana State police that determined “he gave deceptive responses when he denied knowledge of or involvement in the disappearance and death of Markham,” according to the court document.
On Jan. 28, 2021, Carter voluntarily went to the prosecutor’s office for a polygraph test given by an Indiana State Police investigator.
“Like in the earlier two polygraphs, this polygraph examination showed that John Carter gave deceptive responses when he denied knowledge of or involvement in Katelyn Markham’s disappearance and death,” Newton wrote in the court document. “He specifically showed deceptive responses when asked whether he disposed of Katelyn’s body on Big Cedar Road.”
Markham’s remains were found on that road in Indiana in April 2013.
At the time of Markham’s disappearance, Carter’s father owned a residence on Kokomo Hill Road in the town of Laurel, Ind. Carter admitted to police he and Markham visited the property camp and partied with close friend Jon Palmerton, according to court documents.
Newton said “the most direct route from John Carter’s residence in 2011 on West Scioto Drive to his father’s Kokomo Hill farm is on Indiana Route 252, which crosses over Big Cedar Road, the road where Katelyn Markham’s body was found.”
Palmerton is charged with perjury in connection with this investigation.
Read part of the unsealed search warrant:
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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