COLUMBUS, Ohio — A proposed state law would eliminate the statute of limitations on crimes related to murder, including abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
The bill, known as Katelyn's Law, is inspired by the death of Katelyn Markham, whose story we have been following since she vanished from her Fairfield townhouse just days before her 22nd birthday in 2011.
Markham's skeletal remains were found in a remote wooded area in Indiana, about 30 miles from her home, in April 2013.
Her fiancé, John Carter, later agreed to a plea deal of involuntary manslaughter, but time had run out for other charges to be filed. He was sentenced to 36 months in jail.
Markham's father, David, went to the statehouse Wednesday to testify in support of the bill.
Watch: David Markham spoke with us about the bill's importance
We spoke with him about how his daughter's body was found tampered with — and how, due to the time that had passed, no one was punished for that.
"Her head was removed. Her body was found in a tarp in an illegal dump site. Her head in a plastic bag," he said. "They literally treated her trash. She was dumped like garbage on the side of the road. And that almost hurts as much as losing her."
He said that if Katelyn's Law had existed, he believes Carter may have gotten more prison time for what he did.
"We also would have been able to indict other people, because nobody believes John did this himself," Markham said.
He told us Katelyn's Law has a lot of support, and he is hoping the Ohio House will vote on it soon. From there, it goes to committee in the Senate.
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