Trial of Bucks County man accused of beheading his father ends with lawyers debating his intent
Prosecutors say Justin Mohn's explanation that he killed his father during a citizen's arrest was a sham concocted months after his arrest. Mohn's attorneys say he never meant to harm his father.
When detectives searched Justin Mohn’s bedroom in January 2024, one crucial piece of evidence stood out, prosecutors said Thursday as his trial for murder and related crimes in the beheading death of his father drew to a close.
Mohn, 33, had scrawled what Bucks County First Assistant District Attorney Edward Louka called a “to-do list” in a spiral notebook. The first two entries on that list were “sights up,” referring to the red-dot optic on Mohn’s 9mm pistol, and “bang,” a not-so-subtle reference to the gunshot that killed Michael Mohn inside his Levittown home.
The list was the pinnacle of what Louka described during his closing argument as overwhelming evidence of guilt of premeditated murder.
“Violence in the name of one’s political views should not be tolerated, regardless of those views,” Louka said, referring to Mohn’s testimony earlier this week that he believed his father was a traitor to the government he worked for.
“He thought his intent superseded our country’s laws.”
Louka urged Bucks County Court Judge Stephen Corr to convict Mohn of first-degree murder, robbery, and terrorism, saying Mohn’s assertion that he shot his father in self-defense during a “citizen’s arrest” was a sham concocted months later as part of a “B.S. narrative.”
“Justin ambushed his dad when he was most vulnerable,” Louka said, adding that Mohn has shown no visible remorse for his actions. “He always planned to fire the gun inside that home.”
Defense attorney Steven Jones told Corr that Mohn was not guilty of murder.
Jones acknowledged in his closing arguments that the case against his client, and his defense, was unusual because Mohn confessed to the killing.
“He spoke candidly and dispassionately about the taking of a life,” Jones said, referring to Mohn’s nearly two-hour testimony Wednesday. “He did not intend to do this, and he didn’t do it out of anger or out of malice.”
Michael Mohn, 68, was shot in the head in the bathroom of his home, prosecutors said. Afterward, his youngest son beheaded him with a kitchen knife and machete, and displayed his head in a 15-minute YouTube video.
During the screed, in which Mohn said his father was “burning in hell,” he declared himself the leader of a nationwide network of militias that would overthrow the government for violating the “social contract.”
The video included specific demands, including closing the nation’s borders, deporting immigrants living in the countryillegally, and ending “leftist, woke propaganda” in schools and public places.
Mohn also called for the murder of all federal employees, and offered bounties on some federal judges he believed had wronged him. He wanted to lead by example: His father was a longtime civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers.
But Jones told Corr that those orders should not be taken seriously. His client, he said, had no followers, and was clearly making claims not grounded in reality.
Thus, Jones said, the terrorism charge should be dismissed. He called his client’s video the “ramblings of a person who was frustrated with the system.”
“It was nonsensical. He had no ability to carry out these plans,” Jones said. “Yes, he carried out violence … but he was not going to be able to start a revolution.
“The only people he intimidated was his family.”
Last year, Corr ruled Mohn was competent to stand trial, despite swirling questions about his mental health. The judge reiterated during the trial that a mental health defense was available to Mohn if he so chose.
Mohn declined to pursue that option, telling the judge it was unnecessary.
Louka, speaking outside the courtroom Thursday, said it was clear Mohn was aware of what he was doing in the weeks leading up to the crime, and had planned to use the killing as a call to arms.
He gathered supplies, including a sleeping bag, a portable water filter, and survivalist books, that would have aided in an attempt to live on the run for several months, Louka said.
“The truth is, this defendant committed the most egregious part of his plan: He killed a federal employee and called for killing,” Louka said. “He wanted to be a terrorist, and he turned out to be one.”
Corr, the judge, is expected to announce his verdict early Friday.