Perjury arrest made in Katelyn Markham homicide investigation

An arrest has been made in a decade-old cold case involving the disappearance and death of Katelyn Markham.

Jonathan Palmerton, 35, was arrested Friday afternoon on a single felony count of perjury, Butler County jail records show.

The arrest is connected with the investigation into Markham's death, the Butler County Prosecutor's Office told Enquirer media partner Fox19.

Messages from The Enquirer to the prosecutor's office were not immediately returned Friday evening. The Butler County Sheriff's Office and the Fairfield Police Department both referred questions to prosecutors.

Court records related to Palmerton's arrest were not available at the time this report was written.

The case, which attracted national media attention, began when Markham disappeared Aug. 13, 2011. She was last seen between 11:30 p.m. and midnight that night when her fiancé, John Carter, left her Dorshire Drive home.

At the time of her disappearance, she was a month away from finishing her graphic arts degree from the Art Institute of Ohio-Cincinnati, according to a 2013 Enquirer article. She was also days from her 23rd birthday and her first anniversary of being engaged. Carter said he and Markham were planning to move to Colorado that November.

Friends, relatives, local authorities and even a national mounted search group from Texas conducted dozens of searches for Markham. They combed local parks, waterways and areas in Butler and Hamilton counties but found no sign of her.

Nearly two years later, the Fairfield woman's remains were discovered near Big Cedar Creek in Indiana by a couple looking for aluminum cans. Authorities ruled her death a homicide.

Investigators have yet to release the identities of any suspects believed to be responsible for the young woman's death. However, speculation later emerged that Markham's case was connected to the murder of 23-year-old Ellen 'Ellie' Weik.

Michael Strouse was sentenced in April 2019 to 17 ½ years in prison for Weik's murder. After his arrest, Fairfield police asked at least two people about possible links between Strouse and Markham, according to a 2019 Enquirer report.

Carter previously told The Enquirer that Fairfield police asked him if Markham knew Strouse. Authorities also asked "throughout the investigation" if Markham had ever spoken of a stalker, Carter said.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Perjury arrest made in decade-old cold case of Katelyn Markham