Background: The Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown, Pa. (Google Maps). Inset (left): Justin Mohn (Bucks County District Attorney”s Office). Inset (right): Michael Mohn (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office).
A Pennsylvania man accused of allegedly shooting and beheading his father after a failed “citizen’s arrest” admitted to the violent act after taking the stand during his trial.
Justin Mohn, 33, testified Wednesday in his murder trial and reportedly confessed to killing his father, 68-year-old Michael Mohn, on the night of Jan. 30, 2024. According to courtroom reporting by The Associated Press, Justin Mohn described several of his purported grievances with the federal government that led him to his attempt to place his father, a semiretired federal employee, under a “citizen’s arrest” and accuse him of “treason.”
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While on the stand, Justin Mohn was questioned by his defense attorney Steven Jones, who asked his client about what transpired on the night he allegedly murdered his father. Justin Mohn reportedly described a struggle between himself and Michael Mohn when the younger man told his father that he was placing him under a “citizen’s arrest.”
According to the AP’s reporting, Justin Mohn stated that his father told him he would kill him before he allowed him to do that, and a struggle ensued. Justin Mohn told the court, “Unfortunately, he resisted. I was hoping to perform a citizen’s arrest on my father for, ultimately, treason.”
Local news outlet WFMZ reported that Justin Mohn stated that he believed killing his father was legal under Pennsylvania law because he was defending himself while his father was resisting arrest.
More from Law&Crime: Man who allegedly decapitated father, displayed head in YouTube video now facing terrorism charges
While on the stand, Justin Mohn reportedly outlined the origins of his grievances with the federal government, which included civil lawsuits for discrimination. Before Justin Mohn took the stand, prosecutors presented some of the defendant’s writings in court, which allegedly detailed his plans to overthrow the federal government and seek support from right-wing media figures including Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.
In a letter Justin Mohn wrote to the U.S. Department of State, he proclaimed, “I am the smartest American.”
Justin Mohn also claimed on the stand that his father was trying to prevent him from becoming a politician in the same vein as President Donald Trump, to whom the defendant also wrote a letter asking for support for his cause.
When it came to the alleged decision to murder his father, Justin Mohn recalled the list he wrote in a to-do list before committing the act. Among the list items were “Boom,” “Slice,” and “Video.” When asked about the 14-minute YouTube video in which he displayed his father’s severed head, he told the court, “I knew something such as a severed head would not only go viral but could lessen the violence.”
Denice Mohn, Justin Mohn’s mother, testified in court on Monday and recalled finding her husband’s headless body in the bathroom at their home. She said that she and her husband had noticed a shift in their son’s mental health and had been trying to help him. When police showed up at her door to ask about his social media posts, Denice Mohn called it a “red flag.”
Justin Mohn stated that after finding himself on the losing side of several lawsuits he filed, he believed a revolution was necessary. He said, “A revolution is not an act of violence, it’s an act of love.”
Closing arguments are set to begin in court on Thursday. Justin Mohn is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of terrorism, two counts of possession of an instrument of crime, robbery, firearms not to be carried without a license, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, criminal use of a communication facility, terroristic threats, defiant trespassing, and abuse of a corpse.
