Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Admitted Killer May Skirt Prison Time for Katelyn Markham's Death After Guilty Plea

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

Following nearly 13 years of denials, an Ohio man has pleaded guilty to causing the death of his girlfriend in August 2011. John Carter pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter three weeks before his murder trial for the death of Katelyn Markham. While Carter admitted he caused Markham's death, it's possible he could be sentenced to just probation. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy outlines why and talks with Markham's father and his lawyer in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/crimefix to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guests: Dave Markham https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064864561262Tina Barrett https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064864561262CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoAudio Editing - Brad MaybeGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. There are not enough circles in hell for John Carter to visit. I understand. For nearly 13 years, John Carter has denied he had anything to do with the death and disappearance of Caitlin Markham. Until now. He's admitting he caused his then girlfriend's death. Now Markham's family and friends are pushing for Carter to get the maximum sentence. That's going to really feel like a letdown if he doesn't get time. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. When Kaitlyn Markham vanished

in August of 2011, it was a big, big story. She had gone to her townhouse in Fairfield, Ohio, north of Cincinnati the night of August 13th, and then no one ever heard from her again. That was not like Caitlin. She was an art student with dreams and plans. For almost 13 years now, Caitlin's boyfriend, John Carter, denied that he had anything to do with her death. He was the last person known to have seen her alive. But there was a cloud of suspicion that hung over Carter for years, and we'll talk more about that in a little bit. In March of last year, John Carter was charged with murder in Caitlin's death.

His friend, Jonathan Palmerton, had been charged with lying to the grand jury, but the prosecutor dropped those charges and said he would refile them after Carter's trial. But last Friday, in a surprising turn of events, John Carter appeared in a courtroom in Butler County, Ohio, and agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, admitting that he caused Caitlyn's death during a misdemeanor assault. Now, this is a lesser charge than the murder charge he had faced just a week ago. Here's Karen Johnson from WLWT in Cincinnati. Unknowns continue to surround Caitlin Markham's death, but one thing is now certain.

What is your plea to count one involuntary manslaughter a felony of the third degree? Guilty. Caitlin's fiance, John Carter, caused her death. This guilty plea came less than three weeks before Carter's trial was expected to begin. So how did this plea agreement even take shape? Do you know who made the overture? Yes, it was the defense. The defense came to the prosecutor and offered to take a plea, ask if there could be one. And I believe this is what they offered.

And this is what the prosecutor accepted. Here's Caitlin's father, Dave, on listening to Carter plead guilty after all of these years. A little bit of relief, but boy, I was shaking. I was literally shaking, sitting there. I was so mad, so mad. He had 13 years to say it was an accident or whatever. Oh, and they waited three weeks before the trial started to take a plea. And then he gets six more weeks free.

Somehow it doesn't seem right. Because John Carter pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, which is an unintentional killing during the course of a misdemeanor assault, it's possible that he could get probation when he's sentenced in July. Yes, probation for causing Caitlin's death. The statute of limitations has run out on hiding Caitlin's body, dumping her in Indiana about 30 miles from her house. Carter could also get up to 36 months in prison. It's really up to the judge. There's no agreement on a sentence between the prosecution and the defense. I went to an event over the weekend that was supposed to be a gathering for supporters of Caitlin's family ahead of the trial.

We're not going to have a trial, but we are going to have a sentencing. And we're going to talk a little bit about that today. The purpose of that event at Caitlyn's butterfly tree, where people were given butterflies to wear in memory of Caitlyn, turned into an effort to get people to write letters to the judge to express how Caitlyn's death has impacted them. Here's what Tina Barrett, a lawyer representing Dave Markham, said to the crowd that gathered. I know you're all angry. I know that, you know, I got up on August 14th, 2011, and I went and looked for Caitlin along with everybody else. And I did it through that summer. And I watched John Carter off to the side watching us. And, uh, I watched,

I watched him on the, on the, uh, TV. And, um, I didn't never saw a tear. We got a lot of media here.

Any of you ever see a tear until yesterday from John Carter? I mean, we were told he's just not a kind of guy that cries. Maybe he's a stoic. Well, that is not true. John Carter cries when he's afraid or sad. So in 2011, when he was spinning that tail, he was neither afraid nor sad, but he is now. I covered Caitlin's case back in 2011. I've covered it for years.

And let me tell you, so many people came out and looked for Caitlin Markham. People came out in droves. They walked through wooded areas. They went everywhere looking for her. And in fact, an entire new chapter of Texas EquiSearch was created by Caitlin's father and others because Caitlin was missing. Dave Markham wanted to do something to help other families whose loved ones had gone missing. Markham and others feel that 36 months just isn't enough time for causing Caitlin's death and then lying about it for years.

Here's what Dave Markham said about the plea. I'm still kind of in shock. I agree, you know, with the prosecutor, but it just still doesn't seem like justice yet. Not until the sentencing. You know, God forbid he doesn't get anything but three years, you know, that's going to really feel like a letdown if he doesn't get anything but the three years, you know, that's going to really feel like a letdown. If he doesn't get time, then I'm not going to feel like there's justice. you cash back on daily essentials like gas, groceries, and dining. When I pump gas now, I make sure to use Upside because I can get cash back when I fill up my tank. There are more than 85,000 gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants on the Upside app, ensuring that cash back is always just around the corner. So once you have the app, claim an offer for whatever

you're buying on Upside. you pay as usual using a debit or credit card and follow the steps on the app and get paid to find out how much you could earn click the link in the description to download upside or scan the qr code on your screen and use our promo code crime fix and get an extra 25 cents back on every gallon of your first tank of gas. That's promo code crime fix for an extra 25 cents back on your first gallon of gas. Of course, no one is angrier or more hurt by Caitlin's loss than Dave Markham and his family. So he and Tina Barrett are asking people to channel their anger by writing to the judge. I'm sure you would like people to write in to the judge. I would like him to, but it's got to be constructive.

You know, can't have any mean comments. Not a rant, something. Right, right. I mean, it's an impact, how this impacts their lives. And even if it's just, you know, they feel bad for the family or whatever but yeah they can't go on and curse out john or you know it's got a positive so you want the 36 months absolutely but we need to take all of that feeling that we have and put it behind, putting him in prison and keeping him there for the maximum number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds that that court can impose.

That's what we want. You know, probably the most powerful force on this earth is people caring. And people caring is the only reason that this matter was brought before the court and John was forced to take responsibility. John Carter has always underestimated the power of people caring. In fact, people caring was an irritation back in 2011, 2013, 2015, and all the way up until yesterday. And he doesn't think all of you caring is going to make that big of a deal. Because powerful forces, unless they're focused, don't do as much. The sun, not out today, but the sun, when it's focused, can grow things and burn things up.

But if it's dissipated, well, sometimes it's just nice. Pretty. So all of our vitriol, all of our anger, all of our angst, it has an effect. Maybe it hurts some feelings. Maybe it riles some people up. But if we can focus that on keeping, getting John Carter in prison and keeping him there, then that's a power that he is not prepared for because he thinks he's going to get probation. I promise you. I've been watching that guy since 2011. He would not have gone up there and taken that plea unless he thought he was going to get probation. We can't let that happen. A lot of people are angry about this plea and the fact

that Carter pleaded to a lesser charge, but the prosecution had a lot of challenges in this case. So let's look back to when it started back on August 14th of 2011. John Carter called 911 that afternoon and reported Caitlin missing. Careful 911, where's your emergency? Hi, my name is John Carter. I am calling. I know that you're not supposed to report a missing person after before 24 hours, but my fiance is missing. I can't find her anywhere. Okay. Where did you see her last?

I saw her at like 12 o'clock last night. She stays in a house by herself. So I'm really nervous. Her car is still there. I had been trying to get a hold of her, and I decided to go by her house to see if she was okay. And her car was still there. She would be at work right now with her car, which is why I'm like really freaking out. Where was she at midnight last night when she was

at her house. She was going to bed. She wasn't going out to do anything. So she would she would have been in her in her bed. And when I've been with her for six years. She's not deceiving, you know. She doesn't... Okay, and you guys didn't have an argument or anything? Not at all. And listen to this part of the 911 call about Caitlin's cell phone.

The only thing that's not there is her cell phone, which is positive, but she's not answering it. And the Sacred Heart Festival is going on right up the street and there's a lot of questionable people there and it's just kind of, I'm sorry. To this day, no one knows what happened to Caitlyn's cell phone. A search warrant affidavit says Caitlyn's phone went dark just after midnight on August 14th of 2011, and that John Carter said he accidentally deleted several text messages between him and Caitlyn from the night of August 13th. As I said earlier, Caitlyn was not the kind of girl who would just leave. She was studying graphic design and working at a bridal shop part-time. She was responsible. She and Carter

were engaged and planned to move to Colorado after Caitlyn graduated, but things just weren't as happy in their relationship as you might think, but not everyone knew that at the time. The Fairfield Police Department in Ohio investigated Caitlyn Markham's disappearance but never made an arrest and never named Carter a suspect. Caitlyn's skeletal remains were not found an well over a year after she lies a lot, but he's not did defy reason. I think

in 2011 expecting him to time. And then when her b expected it again. And it just never happened. They never seriously considered him to be involved in her death or disappearance. Although her death had been labeled a homicide by the coroner, Caitlin's cause of death could not be determined, which likely posed a challenge to prosecutors in securing a conviction for murder, which is an intentional killing. The investigation into Caitlin's death languished for years until March

of 2023, when the Butler County Prosecutor's Office had taken on the case and they were determined to finally solve it. John Carter, who'd been the prime suspect in the minds of many from day one, was taken into custody last March and charged with murdering Caitlin. He pleaded not guilty. He was booked into the jail and later released on bail. The prosecutor in the case said that writings from Carter were found in his home, talking about struggling with a demon within. A passage read, deep down, I love her. You want to kill her, but I love her. She must die. And a message found on a door in his mother's home read, I slit your wrists with the key to your heart. Carter's trial was scheduled

to begin later this month until the plea. I wasn't shocked that there was a plea. I was shocked at how little it carries. So, but I've said all along, I'm surprised he hasn't taken a plea. But no, he waited till the very last minute because he wanted to stay out of jail as long as he could. Dave Markham now has the answer to one of his questions. He finally knows for certain that John Carter caused Caitlin's death. He's left with memories of Caitlin and, of course, butterflies. In case you were wondering why Caitlin has a butterfly tree and why they were handing out butterflies. You know, I've said it over and over again. She was just so bright and happy, exuberant, friendly, outgoing. You know, it's hard to imagine that somebody would have harmed her

because she's just I mean nobody nobody disliked her so that kind of hurts to think there was somebody that might have but I mean you know humans are humans the boy oh boy she had a lot of friends a lot of support obviously. And the butterflies, what does that signify for you? Her. You know she was bright and vibrant coming out of her shell you know like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and she liked butterflies and I don't know they, there's been days that I've had bad days in the early on times and the butterfly would come fly around me. Like, oh my God. Like she was there. Yeah.

Yeah, she was. John Carter will be sentenced on July 18th. Again, he faces anywhere from probation to 36 months in prison. Video from his plea hearing showed him crying as he left court after entering that plea last week. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm your agent, Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I will see you back here next time.