Man Sentenced to Life for Decapitating Mother

KENNETT, Mo. — A Dunklin County judge has sentenced a 43-year-old Cardwell man to life in prison without the possibility of parole following his conviction for the horrific 2018 decapitation of his mother.

​Trevor John Huber was found guilty of first-degree murder at the conclusion of a intense two-day trial that took place from May 18 to May 19. Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Jain confirmed that Circuit Judge Josh Underwood handed down the mandatory maximum sentence immediately following the verdict.

​”I want to thank the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol for their professional and diligent work in investigating and solving this homicide and in all the cases they handle,” Prosecuting Attorney Jain said in a statement released after the sentencing.

​The conviction brings closure to a deeply unsettling case that began on December 21, 2018. According to a probable cause affidavit, Dunklin County emergency dispatchers received a disjointed and confusing 911 call from a resident on the 300 block of North Main Street in Cardwell.

​When a responding sheriff’s deputy arrived at the residence, he was met at the door by Huber, who was entirely naked and visibly disoriented.

​”The male appeared to be disoriented and possibly impaired by illegal narcotics,” the responding deputy noted in his official report.

​Upon entering the home to conduct a welfare check on Huber’s mother, 63-year-old Charlotte Wilson, the deputy discovered her decapitated body. Huber was immediately taken into custody at the scene.

​During subsequent interrogation by investigators, Huber admitted to using methamphetamine in the days leading up to the attack. Investigators revealed that Huber was consumed by a drug-induced paranoia, falsely believing that his mother was attempting to murder him by poisoning his food.

​The interrogation took a bizarre turn when Huber confessed to detectives that he “was concerned he killed his mother.” He then wrote the words “I killed my mother” on a slip of paper, tore it up, and swallowed it in front of the officers.

ADVERTISEMENT

​A forensic search of the property later yielded the victim’s remains, along with a bloody knife and a hammer. State forensic analysts confirmed these tools were used to carry out the fatal assault.

​Huber has been transferred to the Missouri Department of Corrections, where he will serve out the remainder of his natural life.