A man from Pennsylvania, in the US, who gruesomely beheaded his father and shockingly posted a video of the severed head on YouTube, has been convicted of murder and handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Justin D. Mohn, 33, was found guilty of first-degree murder among other charges relating to the horrific killing of his father, 68 year old Michael F. Mohn, in their Levittown home, a suburb of Philadelphia, in the U.S., in January 2024.
The verdict and sentence were delivered by Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr, who presided over the bench trial, describing the crime as “unimaginable.”
Prosecutors revealed Mohn used a newly acquired gun to fatally shoot his father before using a kitchen knife and a machete to decapitate him, reports the Mirror.
He then filmed a chilling 14-minute video showcasing his father’s severed head, which he uploaded to YouTube. The video remained live for several hours before it was taken down.
The footage contained extensive rants about the U.S. government, immigration, fiscal policy, urban crime, and the war in Ukraine. In the video, Mohn labelled his father – a long-serving federal employee and engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District – as a traitor.
Mohn asserted his actions were designed to intimidate federal workers into meeting his demands, which included their resignation.
The prosecution characterised the killing as “cold, calculated, [and] organised,” comparing it to “something straight out of a horror film.”
Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn stated after the sentencing: “It’s unimaginable what the defendant did to his father and to his family. I know this verdict does provide some level of justice, but it will never heal their wounds. We are satisfied that this was the right outcome to guarantee that the community at large is safe from Justin Mohn.”
In court, family members gave poignant victim impact statements, recalling Michael Mohn as a devoted husband and father, a modest man with a keen wit who took pleasure in reading, working out, and strumming the guitar.
Mohn, who acted as his own legal representative for parts of the trial, claimed during his testimony he shot his father in an attempt to “arrest” him over alleged false statements and treason. He confessed to decapitating his father as a stark warning to government officials.
Upon his arrest on the same day, Mohn was apprehended after climbing a fence at Fort Indiantown Gap, home to the Pennsylvania National Guard. Officials reported he was found with a USB stick containing images of federal buildings and seeming instructions for bomb-making.
The prosecution also disclosed Mohn had a track record of sharing violent anti-government posts online and had penned a letter to Russia’s ambassador in the US, apologising to President Vladimir Putin for falsely claiming to be the czar of Russia and seeking asylum.
Mohn’s defence attorney, Steven M. Jones, described the case as “undoubtedly difficult,” acknowledging that the prosecution had initially pursued the death penalty.
He refrained from commenting on whether his client would appeal.
Mohn was found guilty of first-degree murder, along with charges including possession of an instrument of crime, gun offences, criminal use of a communication facility, terroristic threats, defiant trespassing, and abuse of a corpse.
The judge issued a warning to those in the courtroom about the distressing nature of the graphic images presented as evidence, offering them a chance to exit before they were displayed.
Michael Mohn’s wife, Denice, gave evidence that she and her husband had been providing financial and emotional support to their son while he sought employment. She recounted how police had previously come to their house to caution him regarding his online activity.
Prosecutor Schorn condemned Mohn’s behaviour for showing a “complete and utter lack of remorse,” branding the act as an “unimaginable, unfathomable crime.”
Mohn is now sentenced to life imprisonment without the prospect of release.