OH - Katelyn Markham, 22, Fairfield, 14 Aug 2011, found deceased in 2013 *arrest in 2023* #5

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TB Rhine said:
I'm not sure I get your reasoning here. Lots of killers take measures to conceal their victim's body, whether or not they are known to the victim or have been seen in the victim's company. Ted Bundy, for instance, disposed of his victims in wooded areas, and Gary Ridgway disposed of his in the Green River.

I'm also curious about how the "burning documents" first got brought into the investigation. If the presumption is that he was actually burning something incriminating, that would be a hell of a thing for Carter to volunteer, even with an excuse handy. And if he's supposed to have set up the excuse beforehand (sending fake messages from Katelyn's phone to establish that he needed to burn some of her papers), that shows an awful lot of forethought on his part, for something he shouldn't have been planning to tell the police in the first place.

There seems to be a heavy attitude on boards like this of... "I believe so and so is guilty. He's SO OBVIOUSLY guilty! Why don't they just prosecute him, evidence or no?" Umm... because that's not the way it works. Katelyn's body was found in an out of the way place that her fiance was familiar with, and his story doesn't make a whole lot of sense. None of that constitutes evidence beyond the anecdotal, however.
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Lots of serial killers might take the time to conceal a body, but lots of killers don't (more generally). Katelyn does not appear to be the victim of a serial killer based on the comments of the police and a lot of other reasonable assumptions.

I agree with Amanda. I don't know if charges can be filed to call someone legally "guilty" of homicide. Whether John is responsible for hiding information related to Katelyn's death and whether he's legally "guilty" are two different things.

I reject the (very common) assertion made online referenced by the comment "I believe so and so is guilty. He's so OBVIOUSLY guilty." I can't find someone legally guilty on the Internet. Beliefs are still valid. I can argue they are even necessary. Some crazy outcomes happen in trials, however. I believe a lot of lesser charges can be filed, and I don't think the case should be allowed to grow cold. I accept the existence of some line in the middle. A lot is known, state lines were crossed, and many lesser charges are applicable. I know, for example, deliberate obfuscation can probably be proven. Katelyn also didn't go to Cedar Grove willingly, and placing her in trash is yet another crime. I realize I might be splitting hairs, but a lot of criminals think if something can't be proven legally, it means they aren't responsible for finding the truth even when they are inextricably tied to a victim's last night alive (for example; there are many other ties here).
 
TB Rhine said:
I'm not sure I get your reasoning here. Lots of killers take measures to conceal their victim's body, whether or not they are known to the victim or have been seen in the victim's company. Ted Bundy, for instance, disposed of his victims in wooded areas, and Gary Ridgway disposed of his in the Green River.

I'm also curious about how the "burning documents" first got brought into the investigation. If the presumption is that he was actually burning something incriminating, that would be a hell of a thing for Carter to volunteer, even with an excuse handy. And if he's supposed to have set up the excuse beforehand (sending fake messages from Katelyn's phone to establish that he needed to burn some of her papers), that shows an awful lot of forethought on his part, for something he shouldn't have been planning to tell the police in the first place.

There seems to be a heavy attitude on boards like this of... "I believe so and so is guilty. He's SO OBVIOUSLY guilty! Why don't they just prosecute him, evidence or no?" Umm... because that's not the way it works. Katelyn's body was found in an out of the way place that her fiance was familiar with, and his story doesn't make a whole lot of sense. None of that constitutes evidence beyond the anecdotal, however.
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Regarding the middle paragraph, which I neglected: Yes, there appears to have been a LOT of planning, and yet the story also indicated the "burning" was not planned (Katelyn wanted to be there). It doesn't make sense. Something might have needed to be explained as a matter of perception by a person who believed they needed to do a lot of planning for some reason. John did more talking about his own night than he did about Katelyn's night. Same with the final text conversation. He shouldn't have been planning to tell the police? It happens all the time in similar cases, except the extra planning often gets a criminal caught.
 
6 Fairfield families frustrated over lack of progress in homicides
Dec 17, 2014

http://m.wlwt.com/news/6-fairfield-families-frustrated-over-lack-of-progress-in-homicides/30282622

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State agency assisting Fairfield police in woman’s death investigation
Dec 23, 2014

Snipped....
...Middletown’s De’Asia Sims was found dead Dec. 15 near the Bolton Water Works Plant off Lick Road in Fairfield, according to Officer Doug Day of the Fairfield Police Department.

The 20-year-old left her 10th Avenue home at about 1 p.m. Dec. 12, saying she was going to visit a cousin in Hamilton. But that cousin told police that Sims never arrived.

Seletta Wilson reported her daughter missing to Middletown police at 2:30 p.m. Saturday after she was told her daughter’s 1999 Chevy was found abandoned in a park.

...Sims’ case is one in a long string of unsolved homicides being investigated by Fairfield police.

The following cases are unsolved:

December 1997: Alana “Laney” Gwinner, 23, disappeared Dec. 10, 1997, as she was walking to her boyfriend’s house in Fairfield. Her body was found a month later in the Ohio River.

August 2011: Katelyn Markham was last seen alive when she left her Dorshire Drive townhouse. Her remains were found in Cedar Grove, Ind., on April 10, 2013.

March 2012: Damien Terrell Taylor, 29, shot at Winton Road apartment complex.

April 2012: Chelsea Johnson, 15, is found dead in a creek bed about a mile from the Dorshire Drive townhouse.

August 2012: Joseph Oakley, 19, of Hamilton is found dead near the same place Johnson was found.
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Doesn't look good that they will ever solve Katelyns. Surprised Chelsea Johnson case hasn't been solved.
 
She was found murdered a couple of blocks from KM apartment not long after KM went missing.
 
Wow, Fairfield PD needs to get it together. Hopefully this "outside help" will bring breaks and provide closure to these grieving families.
 
I have followed Katelyn's case off and on.
I was wondering if her old boss from the internship is a POI? I cant find much info on him or if he had an alibi. I would be interested in knowing more about him and Katelyn's relationship. I know he seemed to take a lot of pictures of her. Interesting that the photo sent from Katelyns phone to her boyfriend was a picture of a picture that the boss had taken of Katelyn. John had already seen the picture so it didnt make sense why she sent it that night.
I think the picture was sent by the killer and its meaning was very sinister.
 
Advocate1 said:
I have followed Katelyn's case off and on.
I was wondering if her old boss from the internship is a POI? I cant find much info on him or if he had an alibi. I would be interested in knowing more about him and Katelyn's relationship. I know he seemed to take a lot of pictures of her. Interesting that the photo sent from Katelyns phone to her boyfriend was a picture of a picture that the boss had taken of Katelyn. John had already seen the picture so it didnt make sense why she sent it that night.
I think the picture was sent by the killer and its meaning was very sinister.
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John implied to Nancy Grace that he had NOT seen the picture, because it was upstairs in Katelyn's room. I'm not sure why a professional photographer wouldn't have used a digital camera (the intern boss seems to use one, since he posts pics on Facebook), but maybe it was printed as well. The internship boss is a pretty good photographer. There's a Facebook page with what appears to be portraits of many interns, done professionally. A lot of them. In other words, it looks to me like the boss does that for every intern as a kind of courtesy. The police should know whether there was a hard copy image of that picture in Katelyn's room, like John indicated. More than likely, the image was digital and saved on her phone or computer. Perhaps the image was a picture of the image on her monitor, which would have reflected light differently than a framed photo.

Now, the intern boss does seem to have a much higher percentage of females working at the bookstore (or whatever it is....at the Art Institute). I agree the intern boss should have been interviewed, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has not been interviewed to this day by the police. In addition to a friend who saw Katelyn on Friday night and Katelyn's uncle, with whom she chatted electronically the night she died, we're finding more friends who say they were never even questioned, yet who were in the circle of friends of John and Katelyn. I know from speaking to the uncle directly that he was not interviewed initially. Through the years, a handful of people who saw something they thought might be connected to the homicide have contacted me via PM from the Facebook page because they couldn't get the FPD to listen to them. We've had people in Fairfield walk them back into the police station. Recently, a bookstore co-worker of Katelyn's who said she'd signed a standard contract upon employment with AI not to speak to the public - which might explain why we haven't heard from David's Bridal or AI folks nearly as much - and then who got sick for a long time, said she had information she tried to convey when she started feeling better. The FPD didn't seem to care, which is a recurring theme. I put her in touch with the PI.
 
concernedmother said:
Doesn't look good that they will ever solve Katelyns. Surprised Chelsea Johnson case hasn't been solved.
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Chelsea Johnson's case, as with so many others, is at a stalemate. The police provided all the evidence they believed relevant to a case to the prosecutor's office, which declined to authorize an arrest and prosecution. Who knows why? I'm not privy to those details.

As the articles indicate, the prosecutor's office said, "Not quite enough. Bring us more." It happens in I don't know how many homicide cases. People who do not understand this process are blaming "LE," even though LE are NOT the ones blocking an arrest, and are in fact the ones pushing for it.
 
Have we heard anything about the prosecutor's input regarding Katelyn's case? I don't recall anything. We do know about the interaction between the police and DA related to the Johnson case, however. The FPD told the public and Chelsea's family their case was solved, even after meeting with DA Gmoser and being told specifically by him that the case was not solved (see below). I think that might be why Chelsea's grandmother isn't happy with the FPD. When I saw this article I was shocked. This shows they met, and yet somehow didn't communicate successfully. This also might be the reason the FPD doesn't say much publicly today. They won't get credit unless they get results, but if this happens they will be blamed.


Excerpt:
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said the case remains in the hands of Fairfield detectives who have more work to do before the case is presented to a grand jury.

“I don’t appreciate the statement that it is in the hands of the prosecutor,” Gmoser said, noting he has met with Fairfield officers about the case and advised them what is needed before evidence is presented to a grand jury.

“When this case is ready, if and when it is ready, I want to make sure it results in a conviction and not just a crap shoot,” Gmoser said.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/fairfield-police-confident-they-have-solved-teens-/nfbdk/
 
:praying:

Hoping beyond hope that this PI can serve up a great case to LE to catch this murderer!
 
:bump: for Katelyn!

Been wondering about the circle of friends that Katelyn (& JC) were planning to move out of state with - did they still relocate? Hoping Frank Smith got to speak with them all.

:justice:
 
Well now, if the detective has a "new" suspect let me throw out an idea. The recent case of Florida woman Apryl Foster reminded me of a case here in my area. October 2009, Patrice Battle, age 33 was found in a car submerged in a pond after missing for four days. Autopsy was performed, cause of death drowning.
Guess where she worked? Admissions at the Art Institute. Connected?
 
Fairfield Ohio Mom said:
Well now, if the detective has a "new" suspect let me throw out an idea. The recent case of Florida woman Apryl Foster reminded me of a case here in my area. October 2009, Patrice Battle, age 33 was found in a car submerged in a pond after missing for four days. Autopsy was performed, cause of death drowning.
Guess where she worked? Admissions at the Art Institute. Connected?
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:welcome6: FOM :) Thank you for joining us...and for the enlightenment...I've never heard of Patrice Battle until right now. (I wonder if Frank Smith has???)...I am going to have to read up on her case. Was her disappearance/death ruled an 'accident'???...that would make a 'perp' tarabully comfortable --- wouldn't it?

I have to admit her place of employment is undoubtedly interesting! (ETA: I see she was Director of Admissions at the Art Institute...hmmmm.) :thinking:

Here's Patrice's thread here at WS: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?90692-OH-Patrice-Battle-33-West-Chester-22-Oct-2009
 
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