Father accused of murdering 'anti-Christ' son

The father of a four-year-old boy missing since January was charged with murder today.

Prosecutors in Nebraska said they would seek the death penalty if 25-year-old Ivan Henk is convicted of killing Brendan Gonzalez, who disappeared in January.

The child’s body hasn’t been found, but during an earlier court hearing on unrelated charges, Henk shouted: “The reason I killed Brendan is that he was the anti-Christ. He had 666 on his forehead.”

He then led authorities to a rubbish bin in the nearby town of Bellevue where he said he had dumped Brendan’s body. Inside the bin was dried blood that matched the boy’s DNA.

Searchers spent seven weeks going through a landfill where the bin had been emptied but found no sign of the child.

The boy’s mother, Rebecca Gonzalez, has said Brendan was playing with his father outside her home in Plattsmouth, about 20 miles south of Omaha, the morning he disappeared. When Henk returned about an hour later, the boy wasn’t with him, she said. After an argument, he drove off but was caught after leading police on a high-speed chase.

Henk has been in custody since then and is serving a one-year jail sentence for obstructing a police officer and wilful reckless driving in a case not related to Brendan’s disappearance.

Gonzalez said she was happy about the murder charge and potential death sentence: “He deserves it,” she said.