Justin Mohn arrested for murder after allegedly beheading his father – NBC10 Philadelphia

A Bucks County man accused of killing his father and holding up his severed head in a viral YouTube video has been ordered to stand trial following a mistrial.

Justin Mohn, 32, of Levittown is charged with murder, terrorism, theft and other charges in connection with the killing of his father, Michael Mohn, on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

Justin Mohn was arrested after posting a 14-minute, 35-second video titled “Mohn's Militia – Call to Arms for American Patriots” in which he showed his father's severed head at least twice, investigators said.

He will remain in custody on almost all of the charges against him, but a terrorism charge was dropped following a court hearing on Tuesday, September 10.

NBC10's Deanna Durante was in court and was able to speak with Mohn after the hearing.

Justin Mohn, the man accused of killing his father and holding his father's severed head in a viral YouTube video, claimed he was “trying to make a citizen's arrest” when he killed his father. Mohn spoke to NBC10's Deanna Durante after a court hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 10, outside the Bucks County Justice Center.

An accused murderer speaks

While Mohn claimed to have prepared a speech, he told NBC10, “I don't have the speech with me,” as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs on Tuesday wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit.

“I and many other people across America believe the federal government has betrayed America. They are destroying the country and we need to do something to take our country back,” Mohn continued when asked for comment.

But when Durante asked Mohn how he thought killing his father would help him achieve his goals, the murder defendant admitted that he felt “betrayed.”

“He was a federal employee and he betrayed me. I was attempting to arrest a citizen. He resisted the citizen's arrest,” Mohn said. “In a case like this, it is lawful to use deadly force.”

In court, prosecutors argued that Mohn had planned to kill his father and that he delivered the planned speech online. During the nearly 15-minute tirade, it appeared as if he was reading from a script on a nearby computer.

According to prosecutors, it was a call to action. Mohn wanted people to rebel and overthrow the U.S. government, as well as to capture and kill federal agents and judges.

Mohn wrote letters to the National Guard base where he was arrested

Also in court, prosecutor Edward Louka said Mohn wrote several letters to the governor and others from the county jail.

Prosecutors said Mohn even wrote to the head of the National Guard base, Fort Indiantown Gap, in Lebanon County, where he was captured after escaping from Bucks County.

On the evening of his father's death, Mohn – who was armed with a gun at the time – is said to have driven to the base in his father's Toyota Corolla and allegedly jumped over the fence to gain access to the base before he was eventually arrested.

In a letter to the base commander read in court, Mohn apologized, expressed his desire for the National Guard to join his movement, and suggested that they increase security measures to prevent people from wandering around the base.

Louka also said that Mohn kept a “to-do list” among his other writings, and prosecutors showed the court photographs of Mohn purchasing a gun that police believe he used to kill his father before beheading him.

“Essentially, this case is about Mr. Mohn taking up arms based on his beliefs to achieve the goals he believes in. He did this through violence. The violence was the murder of his father, who, this is obviously not a coincidence, was a federal employee,” Louka said. “He basically needed that murder to get his message across.”

Mohn and his defense attorneys did not contest the murder charge in court.

“I don’t think there are any winners here”

Instead, Mohn's defense attorney, Steven Jones, attempted to dismiss the terrorism charges on the grounds that although Mohn had posted on the Internet that he was the leader of a militia, in reality he had no one behind him, no followers, and no one was harmed except his father.

“It's a tragic case. Loss of life is always tragic,” Jones said outside the courtroom. “I don't think there are any winners here.”

In discussing the details of the day, prosecutors said they were convinced Mohn killed his father when Michael Mohn was defenseless – he was using the bathroom when he was shot.

And when Mohn was arrested at Fort Indiantown Gap, they said, he was in possession of a loaded firearm that was missing a bullet.

In August, Mohn was declared fit to stand trial.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on October 11, 2024 for a formal arraignment.