Father on trial for murder ’20 years after he killed wife and 10-year-old son’

A father is on trial for killing his 10-year-old son more than two decades after the boy’s skull was discovered under a billboard.

John Whitt, 57, was charged Monday with murdering his son, Robert Whitt, whose remains were found off Interstate 85 in Mebane, North Carolina in September 1998.

Investigators used DNA to identify the boy earlier this year and now believe Whitt may have also killed his wife, Myon Hwa Cho, who was found dead of Interstate 85 in South Carolina in May 1998.

Whitt had reportedly explained away the disappearance of Cho, his wife, and the boy by telling family members that they had returned to Cho’s native South Korea.

Natalie Monsteller, who is Robert Whitt’s cousin, told WRAL: ‘The thing that I’m going to miss the most, before we knew this, was that I always had hope that I would eventually someday find Bobby and Myong on social media or something like that.’

‘Now , not only am I mourning the loss of my aunt and my cousin, but I’m also mourning the loss of that hope.’

Whitt is currently behind bars in Kentucky for armed robbery charges. He will be brought to North Carolina to face the murder charge, but it is unclear when.

He is not yet charged with Cho’s murder. District Attorney Jim Woodell said: ‘(Authorities) have to do a little bit more work on where the proper and best venue’ would be to pursue those charges.

Woodall added: ‘We believe that both murders occurred in Concord. However, in this case, for example, it’s the State of north Carolina against John Whitt. It’s not Orange County v John Whitt.’

‘So, he could be indicted here in Orange County, and because his son’s body was concealed here and our sheriff’s office did the entire investigation, we thought this was the appropriate venue to bring the case against him for the death of his son.’

No matter where Whitt ends up standing trial, Monstellar said his family will not be there to support him.

She said: ‘He does not deserve to see anyone in our family ever again. The thing that I want to see most is the proper justice being served.

‘My uncle has been in a minimum-security prison for a long time. He’s been living a nice, cushy life. I want to see him get exactly what he deserves.’