GUILTY NC - Mebane, biracial Male Skeletal 437UMNC, 10-12, off I-40, Sep'98- Robert "Bobby" Adam Whitt

[aThousandYearsWide]

The latest new information on Bobby and Myong's cases.

"DNA scientists and family members helped police determine that Cho was killed about the same time as Whitt, with Whitt’s body being found about four months after Cho’s."
Curious, reports have been saying they were killed several months apart.

"Other news outlets are reporting that the suspect is Whitt's father, John Russell Whitt. He is in Ashland Correctional Institution, a low-security federal correctional institution, in Kentucky. He was sentenced to more than 44 years in federal prison in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. on Sept. 28, 1999, after pleading guilty to six counts of bank robbery and two counts of using a handgun during a crime of violence."
I was relieved to at least see that he wasn't walking around free this whole time. I still can't believe he had killed his family and than robbed several banks. What else is he capable of that we don't know about yet?
One thing I was curious about is why he is in prison in Kentucky when the offenses happened in NC. Could that just be the location of the nearest Federal prison?

"Whitt had been in the Air Force before the family moved to Sardinia, Ohio, to be near the rest of Whitt’s family."
He was in the military. This reminds me of Terry Rasmussen. I hope he doesn't use PTSD as his defense to his favor. According to an article Bobby was born on a military base.

"Whitt, Cho and Bobby Whitt moved to the Concord, N.C., area around 1996, Mosteller said. In the spring of 1998, they returned to Ohio to visit Mosteller, who was 19 at the time, for her baby shower.
It would be the last time Mosteller would see Cho or Bobby Whitt."
So they had been in NC for over a year and they visited Ohio very shortly before their deaths.

"Around that time, the family was aware that Cho and Whitt were having marriage difficulties.
'They seemed like everything was OK. There was nothing that would make us think that there was a problem,' Mosteller said. 'The last year of their marriage, he had been seeing this other woman. He told us that he got into a fight with Myoung about her drinking and about his girlfriend. She wanted to divorce from him and she was going to take Bobby back to Korea'."
I wonder if his girlfriend was aware or involved in any way. If anything she may have been his motive. I hope she wasn't another one of his victims!

That's why the father's claims to where they are was never questioned because she was likely going to leave and take Bobby anyways.

"After Whitt went to prison, her family began trying to find Bobby Whitt and Cho. They hired a private investigator and two law firms to try and find the two."
This makes me so happy to know their family was looking for them all along!

20 years later, gap remains for family of slain mother, boy - News - The Times-News - Burlington, NC
Detective recalls 20 years spent solving Mebane homicide; ends in solving double-homicide - News - The Times-News - Burlington, NC

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

The latest new information on Bobby and Myong's cases.

"DNA scientists and family members helped police determine that Cho was killed about the same time as Whitt, with Whitt’s body being found about four months after Cho’s."
Curious, reports have been saying they were killed several months apart.

I was thinking a way investigators could determine this further is if Bobby was enrolled in school. Myong was killed on May 13th and school summer break typically starts in late May so if they were killed the same day he would have missed his last week of school. Although year round schools have different schedules.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

I looked the distance via Google maps of the towns Bobby and Myong were found from Concord. (Note: didn't put exact locations just the cities)

Spartanburg, SC where Myong was found is 1 hour 37 mins (96 miles) from Concord, NC.

Concord, NC to Mebane, NC where Bobby was found is 1 hour 34 minutes (103 miles).

All three, Concord, NC; Spartanburg, SC; and Mebane, NC if they were all traveled in one day (I'm using Concord because that was the town they lived in and likely the starting point) would be 4 hours and 39 minutes (289 miles).

According to Google, May 13th 1998 was a Wednesday. I had wondered if they had gone on a family day trip to SC that turned bad.. But on a Wednesday? By the looks of it he could have just went an hour and 30 minutes in each direction on purpose knowing that if they were found together they'd likely more easily have been identified.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

its MSM idk why not. but id like to see too.

The picture and court documents aren't MSM. The pic is from a prison pen pal site, and I'm unaware about if the court docs are within WS rules since it's considered an unrelated crime to Bobby and Myong's murder.

But they are on the first page of Google if you search his name, John Russell Whitt. I know @TmmEye is wanting to see it as well.

I've been searching it daily since I'm anxious to see coverage on his court sentencing.

 

[TmmEye]

It’s disgusting. He’s smiling “Hi! I’m [REMOVED TO PROTECT PRIVACY].”

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

It’s disgusting. He’s smiling “Hi! I’m [REMOVED TO PROTECT PRIVACY].”

I know!!! It's so eerie! Looking at him and knowing what he did. Plus knowing at that time he thought he had gotten away with it!

Another thing I noticed was his pen pal ad expired in November 2018 right before Bobby's name was discovered in December.

I remember you did genealogy work on his parents. Does he look close to the recon?

 

[TmmEye]

Eye color was one of the predictions. Blue/Green/Hazel, dad is Blue.

 

[Jake479]

RIP Bobby Adam Whitt

 

[cvaldez1975]

I think this was domestic violence and he just took Myong over state lines. I want to know whether he harmed Bobby the same day. This case is so heartbreaking.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

According to a page his cousin put up his date of death was July 29 1998. With Myoung's being on or shortly before May 13 that means Bobby was alive 2 months after his mom. I'm hoping he never knew and was told his mom went to Korea while he was in school.

This article lists the date was June 29; however, that could be a typo, but it is also the only news article I could find a DOD on Bobby. (The only other sources were two not approved by Websleuths and Wiki; all list July 29)

From the article:
"That all changed when her uncle got transferred to North Carolina for a job.

'He found someone else in North Carolina,' said Mosteller.

June 29, 1998, Mosteller's family was told Whitt's father put him on a plane to South Korea to see his mother.

'We now know that's not the case,' said Mosteller. 'That's the morning he killed Bob.'"

I hope they follow up to his father's sentencing. I'm anxious to see what he gets. And hear his 'stupid' motive! I also hope they interview the girlfriend he had at the time.

 

[PastTense]

Nearly 20 years after a young boy’s skeleton was found under an Orange County billboard, the child’s father has been charged with murder.

An Orange County grand jury indicted John Russell Whitt, 57, on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of death Monday morning in the killing of his son, Robert “Bobby” Adam Whitt, according to court documents.

Father charged with cold-case murder of boy found under billboard

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Father charged with cold-case murder of boy found under billboard

Finally! I have been waiting for this since Feb.

 

[PastTense]

"More than 20 years after a young boy’s skeleton was found beneath an Orange County billboard, the child’s father made his first appearance in court, charged in his son’s death. John Russell Whitt appeared in Orange County court Monday on murder and another charge. He was appointed an attorney, and a judge agreed to hold him on the charges without bail.

Whitt is already serving a sentence in federal prison on unrelated charges.

Assistant District Attorney Anna Orr said she expects a second charge of murder to follow in Orange County in the next month or so. Investigators think Whitt killed his wife, Myoung Hwa Cho, and their son, Bobby, and dumped their bodies along Interstate 85... “The state does intend to bring further charges regarding a second count of first-degree murder regarding his wife,” Orr said during Monday morning’s hearing. After the hearing, Orr said Whitt could be indicted for Cho’s killing in September."
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article233778362.html

What's the tradition here? Start a separate thread in Trials?

 

[Gardener1850]

"More than 20 years after a young boy’s skeleton was found beneath an Orange County billboard, the child’s father made his first appearance in court, charged in his son’s death. John Russell Whitt appeared in Orange County court Monday on murder and another charge. He was appointed an attorney, and a judge agreed to hold him on the charges without bail.

Whitt is already serving a sentence in federal prison on unrelated charges.

Assistant District Attorney Anna Orr said she expects a second charge of murder to follow in Orange County in the next month or so. Investigators think Whitt killed his wife, Myoung Hwa Cho, and their son, Bobby, and dumped their bodies along Interstate 85... “The state does intend to bring further charges regarding a second count of first-degree murder regarding his wife,” Orr said during Monday morning’s hearing. After the hearing, Orr said Whitt could be indicted for Cho’s killing in September."
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article233778362.html

What's the tradition here? Start a separate thread in Trials?

No separate thread needed. Usually the mods will move this one to trials. I'll alert them that it has started.

 

[danzn16]

Father in court 21 years after boy's remains found under Mebane billboard :: WRAL.com

Horne said that, as he worked the case all those years, Bobby became like a son to him. He delivered Bobby's ashes to his relatives in Ohio this spring and attended the boy's funeral.

"It was a nice service," he said. "Some of his childhood friends attended from school, and that was nice to talk to them and see pictures and hear about the good times that Bobby did have."

 

[Al Ka]

Two Decades After Boy's Skull Found Under Billboard, His Dad Appears In Court To Face Murder Charge

John Russell Whitt, 57, was indicted back in May on murder and concealing a death charges, according to WRAL. On Monday, he had his first preliminary hearing for first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing his son and then dumping his body under a billboard in Mebane, located right off an interstate. The boy’s remains were found by a grass-cutting crew in 1998 when a crew member came across a skull.
---
He has not been formally charged for the death of Cho but investigators say that is expected to come at a later date, possibly as early as September, according to the News & Observer.

For now, there is relief that this case, which at some point seemed nearly impossible to crack, appears to be a case of justice delayed, not justice denied.

"I’ve waited 20-plus years for this moment – to start the ball rolling officially,” retired investigator Tim Horne, who had worked on the case for Orange County Sheriff's Office, told WRAL. "That's very rewarding to see it move forward, both for me and the family.

Two Decades After Boy's Skull Found Under Billboard, His Dad Appears In Court To Face Murder Charge

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Man to spend rest of life behind bars for killing wife, boy whose remains were found under Mebane billboard :: WRAL.com

The motive for the murders was his family was getting in the way with his mistress. According to this article after Myoung's murder his mistress moved in shortly after but she did not get along with Bobby. He killed his poor son in the backseat of his car . His mistress was in no way involved besides being his motive. He lied to her about his wife leaving and then sending his son off on a plane. Obviously his affair didn't last if less then a year later he was robbing ATM's in another state. I have been following 'the boy under the billboard' since 2006/07. So glad their family has some closure and they know the father will never get out of prison.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Man to spend rest of life behind bars for killing wife, boy whose remains were found under Mebane billboard :: WRAL.com

The motive for the murders was his family was getting in the way with his mistress. According to this article after Myoung's murder his mistress moved in shortly after but she did not get along with Bobby. He killed his poor son in the backseat of his car . His mistress was in no way involved besides being his motive. He lied to her about his wife leaving and then sending his son off on a plane. Obviously his affair didn't last if less then a year later he was robbing ATM's in another state. I have been following 'the boy under the billboard' since 2006/07. So glad their family has some closure and they know the father will never get out of prison.

over a woman!!!!! #tears his own son omg. i hope he is in comfort with his mom.