Katelyn Markham.Photo: Facebook
An Ohio art student disappeared nearly 12 years ago before being found slain, and now her fiancé is accused of killing her.
John Carter, 34, of Hamilton, was booked into the Butler County Jail on Wednesday and has been charged with two counts of felony murder,jail records show. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on his behalf.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Thursday, reads, “On or about August 13, 2011, through August 14, 2011, in Butler County, Ohio, John Allen Carter did purposefully cause the death of Katelyn Markham which constitutes the offense of MURDER.”
Markham, 22, was last seen on Aug. 13, 2011 at her home in Fairfield, theAssociatedPressreports. At the time, she was close to graduating from the Art Institute of Cincinnati and had been planning on moving to Colorado with Carter, according to the outlet.
Markham’s loved ones remembered her as a “light” who had a warm personality and showed compassion to others, theJournal Newsreports.
Her remains were found in April 2013 at a dump site in Cedar Grove, Ind., around 30 miles west of her home,Fox 19reports. Markham’s death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death has never been determined.
Though authorities did not say what led them to suspect Carter, Markham’s father said he is not shocked at the arrest.
“It’s not a surprise. I mean, I did suspect him all along,” Dave Markham told Fox 19 this week.
“I think a lot of people, if not a vast majority of people, suspected him,” he added. “Statistically, it’s the spouse or the boyfriend, or you know, I mean, [a large percentage] of cases like this, it’s their spouse or boyfriend or fiancé. So, if you’re looking at it, it should’ve happened.”
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According to the outlet, all of Markham’s personal belongings were gone from her apartment except for her cellphone, which had the GPS location data turned off.
During the hunt for Markham, Carter was active in the search and publicly pleaded for his fiancée’s return on local news stations.
Police got a break in the case with the discovery of Markham’s remains about two years later, but the case remained cold for more than a decade.
Carter is not the first person to be arrested in connection with Markham’s death.
It’s unclear if Palmerton has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Carter’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 27, records show.
“I have nothing that I really want to say except John is definitely not guilty,” Carter’s mother told Fox19.
source: people.com
