Insets, left to right: Roger Pitt Sr., Drew White (Greene County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area near the property where the remains of Roger Pitt were found in Cairo, N.Y. (Google Maps).
A 24-year-old man in upstate New York may spend the rest of his life behind bars for helping kill his girlfriend's grandfather and bury him in a shallow grave before joining other relatives in an alleged weekslong campaign to convince investigators the slain man had actually left town of his own volition.
Drew White pleaded guilty Wednesday in Greene County Court to second-degree murder in the October 2025 slaying of 69-year-old Roger Pitt Sr., court records show. White also pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree conspiracy, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse.
As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities initially believed Roger Pitt had voluntarily left his home after family members claimed he packed his belongings and drove away in his 1987 Mercedes-Benz. Investigators with the Greene County Sheriff's Office soon concluded those accounts did not match the evidence, leading them to execute search warrants at the family's Cairo property, where Pitt's buried remains were discovered.
Prosecutors said White and Roger Pitt's son, Rodney Pitt, plotted the killing following disputes over household bills and because Roger objected to White moving into the home with Rodney's underage daughter, the Times Union reported, citing the indictment.
In the indictment, authorities allege that someone used a box-cutter-type blade to fatally slash Roger Pitt's throat sometime between Oct. 16 and Oct. 18, 2025.
After the killing, White and Rodney Pitt allegedly buried Roger Pitt's body in the backyard, cleaned blood from the residence, destroyed his Social Security card, driver's license and other identifying documents, and concealed the Mercedes' license plate inside a wall of the home, according to the indictment.
Tania Pitt, Roger Pitt's daughter-in-law, is accused of helping to dispose of the victim's Mercedes by taking it to a scrapyard to be destroyed. She is not alleged to have participated in the murder.
White admitted his role in the killing during Wednesday's plea hearing, detailing how Roger Pitt was killed and buried and how the victim's vehicle was scrapped in an effort to conceal the crime, Mid-Hudson News reported.
The case began after Roger Pitt's sister repeatedly tried to contact him before reporting him missing on Nov. 18, 2025. Family members told investigators he had left after an argument, but authorities later determined he had been dead for roughly a month. His death was ultimately ruled a homicide caused by sharp-force trauma to the neck.
Rodney Pitt has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder and remains jailed without bail, according to court records. Tania Pitt, who has also pleaded not guilty, remains free while awaiting trial. Their cases remain in the discovery phase.
According to the Times Union, prosecutors are still deciding whether they will call White to the stand to testify against the other defendants.
White is scheduled to appear for his sentencing hearing Sept. 8. In accordance with his plea agreement, he is expected to receive 19 years to life in a state correctional facility.