FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Dave Markham says he has good and bad days after the murder of his daughter Katelyn in 2011, but when butterflies appear, it gives him solace.
On Saturday, a Justice for Katelyn rally will take place in Fairfield’s Creekside Park at a butterfly magnolia tree planted several years ago in remembrance of the free-spirited young woman. Organizers and her father say all who loved and kept her story alive are welcome.
“She liked butterflies, and we released butterflies when we planted the tree,” Dave Markham said. “To me it has just been an attachment. There have been times, especially early on, where I had bad days and then a monarch butterfly would just kind of flit around so I would sit there and talk to her.”
He added, “they are free, they are beautiful, which describes Katelyn.”
The rally will be at 2 p.m. at the park at 5225 Banker Drive, which is off Nilles Road.
It is the first gathering since the arrest of John Carter last month for the slaying of Markham, who disappeared from her Fairfield townhouse in August 2011. Her remains were found nearly two years later in rural Indiana.
Carter, Markham’s fiancé in 2011 who reported her missing, is charged with murder. A friend of Carter, Jonathan Palmerton is charged with perjury in connection with the case.
The case was cold for years despite investigation by local and Indiana law enforcement and private detectives. The Butler County Prosecutor’s Office own investigators began probing the case about 18 months ago that led to sealed indictment and then arrests.
Dave Markham said other meetings or rallies over the years have had a somber undertone. Saturday’s rally will be more positive and uplifting.
“It is for building awareness for other victims,” he said. “And it’s a big thanks to Butler County prosecutors for getting this far, because no one else has. Kudos to them and kudos to everybody who has been by Katelyn’s side all these years.”
Carter, 34, is free on a $1 million bond and fitted with a GPS monitor. He was in Butler County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday, where Judge Dan Haughey set trial for June 2024.
Palmerton, 35, also is free on bond and scheduled to be back in court later this month.
Carter is charged with two counts of murder under two sections of the law. The prosecution is not alleging Carter is responsible for two deaths.
According to the grand jury indictment from March 13 that was unsealed day later, one count is for the alleged purposeful killing, and the other is allegedly killing a person while committing a felony.
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