Me and John are making a video.
What happened when investigators arrived at her home?
There's nothing missing besides Katelyn.
You had that gut feeling, something's wrong here.
Her wallet and her car keys were laying on her bed.
Things weren't adding up.
It's like, she's there one minute,
gone the next.
Each day that went by,
I knew this was not gonna be a good outcome.
It was an extensive search.
A girl disappearing for no reason.
That doesn't happen in Fairfield.
They wanted answers.
I called the investigation supervisor, and I said,
"I honestly don't believe this girl's coming home alive."
A gentleman searching a creek line comes across a bag.
He opens the bag, and there's a skull in it.
It was Katelyn Markham.
It was heartbreaking. It really was.
There were two police officers and a pastor who told me.
I just broke down.
What did you realistically think were the chances
of solving this case?
I knew we'd find something.
That's what my job is-- is to keep digging.
You need to understand something--
I don't miss.
But if it is you, I'm coming.
Hi, I'm Paula Zahn.
And tonight, we're on the case in Fairfield, Ohio.
The quaint suburb about 25 miles outside of Cincinnati
became the unlikely backdrop for a terrifying mystery
when 21-year-old Katelyn Markham was reported
missing from her home.
As police scoured the area for clues
that might explain her disappearance,
it slowly became clear that the best evidence
of what really happened to Katelyn had vanished,
along with her.
August 14th, 2011.
It was just after eight on a warm Sunday night
when Fairfield police got an unusual 911 call.
The dispatcher tried to determine
just how serious the situation actually was.
Then John explained
that none of the couple's friends nor family had
heard from Katelyn all day.
But it was what he saw when he checked her townhouse,
that triggered his call to police.
Senior Officer Sandy Sears responded to the address
John had provided.
Take me back to the first call you took about this case.
What happened?
The dispatcher was very concerned
that there were some red flags.
I told her that I would take the call myself.
What happened when you got to her townhouse?
I was met by John Carter
and Katelyn Markham's father, David.
I asked them to take me inside and walk me through.
Officer Sears carefully surveyed the scene.
Nothing's missing. Nothing's been stolen.
There was no forced entry.
Still, Officer Sears did observe a few things
that seemed odd.
There was a coffee table pushed up against the couch
in the living room.
And in her bedroom, there was some supplies
knocked over on her desk.
That gave me a little bit of concern.
Was there enough out of place that you thought
a struggle might've taken place there?
Not at that point, but her wallet and her car keys
were laying on her bed.
And I went through the wallet.
She had $300 in cash.
She had her debit-- credit card in there
and her driver's license.
And her shoes were there.
I became very suspicious.
Things weren't adding up for me.
Although there was no obvious sign of foul play,
DA investigator Paul Newton believed that Officer Sears was
reading the scene correctly.
Is it possible that she had just wanted
to disappear for a while?
Her car's there. No purse, no wallet, no money.
She's not going far.
And none of her friends know where she's at.
I know this officer.
Went to the police academy with her.
She's very experienced. She doesn't get shook real easy.
You have that gut feeling-- something's wrong here.
And following that gut feeling led Officer Sears to take
additional precautions.
At this point, I'm calling the dispatcher,
and I'm asking her to have Katelyn's cellphone pinged.
While she waited for those results,
Officer Sears asked Dave Markham
what he knew about his daughter's disappearance.
How did you find out something was wrong?
I got a phone call from John. He was at the townhouse.
He said that Katelyn's missing.
"She's gone. I can't find her anywhere."
When was the last time you had spoken with her?
It was just a few days before, via text.
She had said that there was a UPS package for me,
and that was it.
I still have that text message.
Officer Sears then spoke with Katelyn's fiancé
to get more information about the last time he had seen her.
What was known about her timeline that night?
She's home that evening, and she's hanging out
with John Carter, her fiancé.
Now it's recording.
Around 9:30 that night, a friend of Katelyn's,
a Brad Von Bargen, shows up.
They watch some TV show.
Brad leaves around 10:45,
and John leaves shortly after Brad does.
Did he speak with her again later that night?
John said that he received some text messages
shortly after 11:00, ending around 11:36 PM.
He did not talk to Katelyn no more that night.
And the evidence pointing to a problem continued to mount
with a call to Katelyn's work.
I spoke to the manager of the bridal shop
and she told me that Katelyn had never
no called, no showed-- ever.
And today she did no call, no show.
They were very worried about her.
Was she someone who was disciplined
and dedicated to her job?
Yes, always punctual, never missed a shift.
Officer Sears was still trying to piece together
the puzzling clues,
when a call from her dispatcher suddenly forced her to view
all the evidence through a new lens.
The ping on the cellphone showed that shortly after midnight,
the cellphone was turned off, the battery removed,
and the SIM card removed.
They can actually tell that through their analysis?
Yes, ma'am. And that is
one of the first times
that I've had them say that in my career.
What point did Katelyn's phone go dark?
At 12:06 AM. August the 14th.
The timing was troubling.
Katelyn's phone had been disabled just a half-hour
after her last text to John.
What did you make of that?
Just with the totality of the circumstances,
honestly, I felt like there was some foul play here.
Officer Sears was instructed to bring anyone
who might have information about Katelyn
to the police station.
I separated everybody into different rooms
and waited for the detectives.
I had Dave Markham out in a community area,
and... he looked up at me and he said,
"Is this all really necessary?"
I said, "Yes, it is, sir."
And he just broke down and started crying.
And Officer Sears feared
there was more heartbreak ahead.
I called the investigation supervisor and I said,
"Look, sir, I-- I honestly don't believe
this girl's coming home alive."
2
As police investigating
the disappearance of Katelyn Markham
contemplated the evidence,
the only thing that seemed clear was the window of time
when the mystery began.
How small of a time window are we talking about?
We're talking about a very short period of time,
30 minutes.
And her friends are saying she's not going to open the door
for just anybody, especially at that time of night.
No forced entry, phone's gone.
There was something going on that night.
Something they didn't know.
Police believed the first step was
to find out more about Katelyn's lifestyle.
Hi, this is Katelyn Markham.
This is my very professional web page.
I hope you enjoy it because I enjoyed making it
and I love you.
Her father, Dave, filled in a lot of details.
What was she like?
Katelyn was very...
bubbly.
Outgoing, her entire life.
Made friends wherever we went.
She never wanted to see anybody upset or hurt.
She always wanted somebody to leave her presence happy.
That kindhearted spirit
radiated through everything Katelyn did,
especially in the main focus of her life,
her artwork.
Could you tell that she had artistic talent
at an early age?
A very early age, yeah.
She always had crayons or pencils
or markers and sketchbooks.
That was a passion of hers.
She wanted to go to a trade school,
some kind of commercial of arts.
She enrolled and was accepted.
That's when it just took off.
The sky was the limit.
This is a video of me and John.
Me and John are making a video.
Katelyn also seemed settled in her personal life.
She and her fiancé, John Carter, had been together for six years.
Friends painted a vivid portrait for investigators.
How did her friends characterize her relationship
with her fiancé, John Carter?
In the eyes of everybody, they were the perfect couple,
very happy couple.
Despite all the glowing stories
about the newly engaged couple,
police were still focused on the fact that
John was the last person to see Katelyn.
They needed to know every detail of their final evening together.
John said when he left Katelyn,
she was getting ready for bed.
John then went to meet up with some friends.
Was anybody able to verify
he actually went to his friend's house
after he left Katelyn's that night?
Absolutely, five people there.
He's there approximately until 1:15 to 1:20 in the morning,
and then he goes home.
John said it was still several hours
before he called it a night.
He watches three episodes of the show "White Collar,"
and he says he goes to bed,
shortly after 4 o'clock in the morning.
Before closing his eyes,
John completed a nightly ritual.
John says he sent Katelyn a text message
at 4 o'clock in the morning.
It was, "Good morning, love you."
John expected to see Katelyn's response
when he woke up, 12 hours later.
He didn't get up till 4:30 that day to go to work.
When he sees that Katelyn has not contacted him,
he's getting concerned.
John tried calling Katelyn several times and texted her.
And when she didn't respond,
he decided to go to her townhouse.
John entered the townhouse, and his anxiety grew.
Police still wanted to further verify John's timeline,
but his account seemed solid.
And he and Katelyn's other friends
pointed the investigation in another direction.
They believe the huge festival
across the street from Katelyn's home,
played a role in her disappearance.
They wanted to direct my attention towards the people
that were working at the carnival.
The idea seemed to make sense.
That festival is a huge draw.
They pack that place.
And most of the time, the carnival workers are
from out of town,
especially the ride workers.
They are very transient type people.
Did you think it was possible?
That someone who either worked at the festival
or attended the festival could've had something to do
with Katelyn's disappearance?
I wasn't willing to rule out anything.
2
Law enforcement was still looking for a lead
that might explain the disappearance
of Katelyn Markham.
They were confident something had happened to her
during the half-hour
before her cellphone suddenly went dark
at 12:06 AM.
Did they investigate any possible
criminal activity in the area?
Yes, the Sacred Heart Festival was occurring down the street.
You know, there are some unsavory characters
over at this... fair.
Maybe those people at the carnival were involved
in her disappearance.
Detectives compiled a list
of festival employees with criminal backgrounds.
Each was eliminated using the narrow timeline
of Katelyn's disappearance.
The festival appeared to be a dead end.
Who else did they end up looking into?
There was an acquaintance out of Katelyn's school
who had been named as being creepy around Katelyn.
He'd had some criminal history in his past.
Could they establish where he was
the night she went missing?
Fairfield Police Department established where he was at,
and he had nothing to do with this.
Seventy-two hours after Katelyn's disappearance,
police still had no physical evidence
that foul play was even involved.
There's nothing missing besides Katelyn and her cellphone.
No blood, no acts of violence.
It's like she's there one minute, gone the next.
Police reached out to the public for help,
and the community answered their call.
Describe some of the searches that took place.
They searched the whole general area.
It was an extensive search. It was unbelievable.
People were coming out with their ATVs
and they were coming out with their dogs.
They wanted answers.
Because disappearing for no reason,
that doesn't happen in Fairfield.
The show of support comforted Katelyn's family
during their darkest hours.
The community came together for Katelyn.
Very humbling.
People that have never met Katelyn,
followed this case.
Poured their hearts out.
It's a very surreal feeling.
But the massive searches uncovered nothing of value.
And over time, the investigation slowly ground to a halt.
As the weeks turned into months,
did you try to maintain hope?
Yes, but each day that went by,
it just, you know, it was less and less.
I knew that this was not gonna be a good outcome.
This was not gonna be what any of us wanted.
Meanwhile, police were still waiting
for the evidence that would jump-start the investigation.
And more than a year after Katelyn's disappearance,
they got it in the worst way possible.
Police finally got a break in the case.
How did that come about?
A gentleman in Franklin, Indiana,
searching a creek line for cans,
come across a little area
where some people had done some dumping.
The man saw a small bag, and he opened it.
He opens the bag, and there's a skull in it.
Terrified, the man dropped the bag
and ran to notify police.
He calls 911, and the Indiana State Police
and the local sheriff's office show up.
What did the Indiana State Police do
when they arrived at the scene?
They could tell it was a female.
So they got their phones out and started looking for people
who had disappeared in the area.
And the first photograph they pulled up
was Katelyn Markham.
And a detail in the photos they saw
inside of Katelyn's missing person file,
led first responders to suspect
she was the victim they had found.
Katelyn had a pronounced tooth.
And from that, they were pretty sure
it was gonna be Katelyn.
They called Fairfield, right away.
"We think we found your missing person."
Dental records confirmed their hunch.
It was a devastating blow
for everyone who had been relentlessly searching
for the young woman.
The Katelyn Markham missing person's case
had just become a homicide investigation.
I felt angry.
She lived a low-risk lifestyle.
She worked two jobs and went to school.
And no one can tell me why she's dead.
There were two police officers and a pastor
who came to the door and told me.
I just broke down.
[tense music playing
Seeing Katelyn's devastated loved ones,
motivated detectives to provide answers.
They were desperate to know why Katelyn had been killed
and by whom.
But it quickly became clear
that even getting the "how" would be challenging.
Was the medical examiner able to determine how she died?
No. The cause of death was unknown,
but they did rule it a homicide.
Was there anything that they were able to learn
from the autopsy?
They found cut marks
on her left wrist.
Looked like postmortem.
Someone had tried to cut off her hand,
some bones had been cut by something sharp.
Investigators hope
that the material her remains were wrapped in
would provide them with a clue about the suspect.
Was there something distinctive
about the way the body had been wrapped?
Her head had been wrapped in a plastic grocery bag,
and her body had been wrapped in a plastic tarp.
And what was your theory
about why the killer would've wrapped the body that way?
My theory was that someone knew who she was
and they didn't want to see Katelyn's face no more.
That's my theory.
2
Police had no physical evidence
that linked Katelyn Markham to her killer.
But they did discover an intriguing clue
as they looked at a map between her home
and where her body had been found.
Was there anything investigators could glean from that location?
Yes.
They found out really quickly that
the location of her body was a direct route
to John Carter's father's farm.
That potential link sent investigators
back to where they started--
Katelyn's fiancé, John Carter.
Come on in, over here.
I got you a chair right over there.
This time,
the Indiana State Police handled the interview.
Although police remained skeptical,
John's alibi was airtight.
He had witnesses and computer logs
that backed up his account.
It seemed their new lead was just another dead end.
Following that interview,
the investigation was at a standstill.
The case was in danger of going cold,
when details of a strikingly similar attack
popped up on detectives' radar.
A young lady had went missing.
Her body had been located and her head had been wrapped.
Her body had been wrapped,
and her body had been placed near a creek bed
in Butler County.
And there was more that appeared to link
the murder of Ellie Weik to Katelyn Markham's.
Did the victims resemble each other?
Yes, it was uncanny how they looked alike.
They could have been twins.
In fact,
the two crimes could've been mirror images of one another.
But the Weik investigation had one major difference.
This time, police had identified the man responsible.
It was a gentleman by the name of Michael Strouse.
Mr. Strouse was found guilty of the killing of Ellie Weik,
and we were trying to connect the two homicides together.
And police quickly found links.
Strouse had a connection to Indiana.
His grandma lives an hour north of where Katelyn was found.
The investigation into Strouse shifted into high gear
after an anonymous tip appeared to directly tie
the convicted killer to Katelyn Markham.
There was a photograph of Michael Strouse and John Carter
at this party.
So now they're saying,
"OK, these two guys are connected somehow."
Was it a possibility that
Michael Strouse knew John and knew Katelyn?
I asked the question,
"Well, how about we go talk to Michael Strouse?"
And we interviewed him in the prosecutor's office.
In the interrogation room,
Investigator Newton explained to Strouse
why he was being questioned.
I slid a news article over to him.
I said, "I want you to read that, please."
And I said, "Now you see why you're here."
Then, Investigator Newton showed Strouse the photograph
that connected him to Katelyn Markham.
And he says, "I knew him from parties, coming and going.
I didn't know her. I never met her."
When Strouse denied any role
in Katelyn's disappearance or murder,
police asked him to take a polygraph exam.
The polygraph come back inconclusive.
So I went to the Westchester Police Department
and asked to look at the Michael Strouse case.
What am I missing? What is someone else missing?
So I did a search warrant on him.
Let me do a deep dive into Michael Strouse.
That deep dive led police to pore over Strouse's
online history,
including Facebook pictures and messages.
And shockingly,
the time-consuming effort paid off.
I find a conversation that Michael Strouse is having
about, "Hey, I had a great time last night at the party."
Investigator Newton was stunned.
The party took place the night Katelyn Markham disappeared.
And there was more.
We find a photograph
of a gentleman with a lampshade on his head at this party.
And right next to him,
you see someone's face.
It's Michael Strouse.
The picture taken of Strouse
gave him a solid alibi
during the time that Katelyn was killed.
Strouse was there that night,
and there is no way he could've killed Katelyn?
Yes, he had nothing to do with this.
The original picture of Strouse and John Carter was
nothing more than a coincidence.
Michael Strouse, he may be a serial killer.
He may be.
But I don't think he had anything to do with Katelyn.
Instead of feeling defeated,
Investigator Newton was more determined than ever.
He decided to start the entire Markham investigation
over from the beginning.
And his unrelenting search for the truth would ultimately
put Katelyn's killer directly in his crosshairs.
You need to understand something--
I don't miss.
If it is you, I'm coming.
2
It had been more than six years
since Katelyn Markham had been murdered.
But District Attorney Mike Gmoser
and his investigator, Paul Newton,
believed that every clue had to be reviewed with a fresh eye.
Did you have any expectations of the case being solved,
when you committed to it?
I felt that we were the last stop.
If we didn't solve this case,
it was never going to get solved.
Everyone is a person of interest until I've ruled you out.
Investigator Newton believed
that meant re-interviewing everyone,
starting with those closest to Katelyn.
And the passage of time had changed some of their views.
Did any of Katelyn's friends have new information for you?
We found out that the relationship
between John and Katelyn wasn't quite as smooth
as it was made out to be.
John, he's kind of controlling.
John's jealous.
Katelyn was confiding in some of these people,
"I'm not sure we're gonna be getting married."
That's the first time we had heard that.
But perhaps the most important new details were found buried
inside the massive case file.
A report that had been taken
just days after Katelyn's body was discovered.
Paul Newton said,
"Hey, what's this about these boys in the bushes here
"that saw Carter come home that night
at about 2 o'clock in the morning?"
The tip had come from two teenagers
who had snuck out of the house
late on the night Katelyn disappeared.
They said that while they were waiting for their ride,
they heard a car approaching from the opposite direction.
They think it's gonna be Fairfield Police Department,
so they hide behind a big, huge evergreen.
But it wasn't a police car.
It was John Carter returning home.
These boys saw Carter go into his garage.
Ten minutes later, he comes out and drives away,
and as he's leaving, he leaves with his lights off.
The information was stunning.
In every one of his interviews,
Carter had told police that he had arrived home
at 1:30 in the morning
and hadn't gone out again until 4:30 the next day.
But police now had two witnesses
who said they saw him leave his home
after 2 AM.
I said to Paul,
"Those boys are not lying.
That's the key in this case."
Those interviews punched a hole in John Carter's alibi.
How did that alter your investigation?
Fits the timeline of when she's being murdered.
And at that point in time, it's game on.
Police went to work searching for additional cracks
in Carter's alibi.
Carter claimed, after he got home,
he spent the next few hours watching his favorite show
on his computer.
One of my investigators reviewed that computer.
And what does he find?
He finds that at 4:30 in the morning,
Carter is looking for the synopsis of the program.
The police believe it was evidence
that Carter had never actually viewed the episodes
he downloaded.
If he watched them, why is he reading the synopsis?
So was it your belief
that he never watched the show that night
because he was disposing of Katelyn's body at that time?
Absolutely.
Prosecutors believe they had a strong circumstantial case.
They presented their potential motive,
the links to the crime scene,
and the evidence of Carter's shattered alibi
to a grand jury.
When they were done,
they confronted John Carter with its findings.
John Carter was arrested for Katelyn Markham's murder
on March 22nd, 2023.
Many wondered if the evidence police had collected
would be enough to get a conviction.
At that point,
did you have anything beyond circumstantial evidence?
No.
No, I knew-- we'd find something.
If you dig hard enough, you will find it.
With Carter behind bars,
police continued to build their case.
Prior to... trial,
we go back to interview individuals
who live next door to Katelyn.
And one of them had a disturbing story to tell.
They recall that date very well,
because it was their anniversary.
And she dozes off around 10 o'clock at night.
Sometime after 11 PM,
a loud noise woke her up.
She hears a loud thump.
And she hears yelling from a female,
"Stop it, stop it!"
And she hears another thump.
Wasn't she concerned?
When she heard that?
She was.
When I interviewed her, she breaks down.
Then the young woman explained why she had held on
to this terrible secret for so long.
I said, "Why didn't you report this?"
She goes,
"I didn't want to think I heard someone being murdered,
especially Katelyn."
Police believed it was the final piece of the puzzle.
That was a revelation of like,
"OK, now we-- now we've got him.
Now we've got him."
District Attorney Mike Gmoser
wasn't as certain.
He still had to prove to the jury that John Carter
was the only one with the motive and the opportunity
to murder Katelyn.
Katelyn was getting cold feet.
She wanted out, and she ended up dead.
I think it was probably as simple as that.
Prosecutors wanted to present evidence
that, after killing Katelyn,
Carter methodically planned his alibi.
He visited a friend's house,
destroyed her phone,
went home to turn on his computer,
and then made the 30-mile drive to Indiana
to get rid of Katelyn's body.
But no matter how convincing that story was,
there were still huge hurdles to clear.
There was no DNA evidence.
There's nothing directly pointing to John,
and John knew that.
The defense always claims that circumstantial evidence
is nothing more than a coincidence.
But when all of the circumstances
can be put together,
it can become a very powerful indictment,
with respect to guilt.
John Carter and his attorney were clearly worried
about who the jury would believe.
Just before the trial,
they asked the district attorney for a meeting.
Carter's attorney approached you with a deal.
How did you weigh his offer?
I wanted acceptance of responsibility
and accountability.
One way or another,
John Carter needed to admit that he killed this girl,
that the end of the relationship caused his anger,
and bad things happened.
He was responsible.
It needed to have closure in that way.
District Attorney Gmoser got his confession.
John Carter admitted he killed Katelyn.
But the price was shocking.
Carter would plead guilty
to the charge of involuntary manslaughter
and face a prison sentence of just three years.
While the general public might say,
"Well, only three years? How can that be justice?"
Well, justice has to be decided on issues of what the truth is.
And we didn't have the truth
until he agreed to take the deal.
Then, we had the truth.
For Dave Markham,
the outcome brought a wave of mixed emotions.
When Mike Gmoser approached you
with the possibility of a plea deal,
were you on board?
I was on board. I wasn't happy with it.
But I did not want a hung jury or a mistrial.
He could've walked and gotten absolutely nothing.
So I'm happy that he's in prison right now.
Investigator Paul Newton was deeply disappointed
the case wasn't going to trial.
What was your reaction to John Carter pleading guilty
to involuntary manslaughter?
No, I didn't like it at all.
But we could've tried this case.
We could've found him guilty.
And John would've went the rest of his life saying,
"I didn't kill Katelyn."
With this involuntary manslaughter charge,
John has to walk into a Butler County courtroom
in front of God and everybody and say, "I killed Katelyn."
Paul Newton's tireless pursuit
of Katelyn's killer has forged an unbreakable bond
between him and Dave Markham.
How much gratitude do you have for the team
that finally solved this case?
Very grateful.
Paul Newton, he was a godsend.
You know, without Paul,
we wouldn't be sitting here today.
He put his heart and soul into solving this.
Katelyn had an amazing future,
and she had a lot of passion
about the direction she was moving in.
What do you think John Carter robbed her of?
Life, happiness, joy.
John Carter didn't just rob Katelyn.
He robbed me of the joy of seeing Katelyn
do great things with her art.
He took away a lot from a lot of people.
Katelyn would have touched so many lives.
But, uh, that's it.
Love you.
Dave Markham hopes he can touch lives
in Katelyn's memory.
He's pursuing legislation in her name
that would extend the statute of limitation
on any crime committed during a homicide.
I'm Paula Zahn.
Please join us again next time when we're back on the case.
On the next On the Case...
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