Adult son convicted, sentenced to life for shooting and beheading father
in Pennsylvania
[July 12, 2025]
By MARK SCOLFORO and MIKE CATALINI
A Pennsylvania man who posted a video of his father’s severed head on
YouTube was convicted of murder Friday and sentenced to life without
parole.
Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr found Justin D. Mohn, 33, guilty in
the January 2024 shooting death of his father at their home in the
Philadelphia suburb of Levittown.
After the sentencing, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn
told reporters Mohn had exhibited a “complete and utter lack of
remorse,” calling it an “unimaginable, unfathomable crime.”
“We are satisfied that this was the right outcome to guarantee that the
community at large is safe from Justin Mohn,” Schorn said.
His defense attorney called it an “undoubtedly difficult case to preside
over."
“Cases involving the loss of life are always the most difficult, and
that difficulty is compounded when the prosecution seeks the death
penalty. The commonwealth originally sought the death penalty in this
case, and based on the defense that was presented on behalf of Mr. Mohn,
my client will not face that penalty,” said Mohn's lawyer, Steven M.
Jones, in an email. He declined to comment on whether Mohn will appeal.
Prosecutors said Mohn shot his father, Michael F. Mohn, 68, with a newly
purchased pistol, then decapitated him with a kitchen knife and machete.
The 14-minute YouTube video he posted was live for several hours before
it was removed.
Mohn testified during the trial that he shot his father while trying to
arrest him on what he said were false statements and treason but his
father resisted, so he fired at him. He said he severed his head to send
a message to federal workers to meet his demands, which included their
resignation among other things.
In victim impact statements read in court Friday, family members and
others recalled Michael Mohn as a loving husband and father, a man of
humility and humor who enjoyed reading, exercising and playing the
guitar.
Justin Mohn was arrested later on the day of the murder after scaling a
fence at Fort Indiantown Gap, the state’s National Guard headquarters.
Prosecutors said he called for others to join him in attempting to
overthrow the U.S. government.
Mohn had a USB device containing photos of federal buildings and
apparent instructions for making explosives when he was arrested,
authorities said.
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Flowers rest at the front door of the Mohn residence in Upper
Orchard section of Levittown, Pa., on Feb. 2, 2024. (Tyger
Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, File)
He also expressed violent anti-government rhetoric in writings he
published online, going back several years. During the trial, the
judge heard from Justin Mohn’s mother, who said police came to the
house he shared with his parents and warned him about his online
postings before the killing.
Denice Mohn testified that she and her husband had been offering
financial support and guidance as Justin Mohn looked for a job.
“It’s unimaginable what the defendant did to his father and to his
family," Schorn said. “I know this verdict does provide some level
of justice, but it will never heal their wounds.”
He was also convicted of possession of an instrument of crime, gun
charges, criminal use of a communication facility, terroristic
threats, defiant trespassing, and abuse of a corpse.
Prosecutors described the homicide as “something straight out of a
horror film.” They said Justin Mohn killed his father — who had been
an engineer with the geoenvironmental section of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ Philadelphia District — to intimidate federal workers,
calling it a “cold, calculated, organized plan.”
The YouTube video included rants about the government, immigration
and the border, fiscal policy, urban crime and the war in Ukraine.
In the video posted on YouTube, Justin Mohn described his father as
a 20-year federal employee and called him a traitor.
During a competency hearing last year, a defense expert said Mohn
wrote a letter to Russia’s ambassador to the United States seeking
to strike a deal to give Mohn refuge and apologizing to President
Vladimir Putin for claiming to be the czar of Russia. The judge
ruled Mohn was competent to stand trial.
Evidence presented at the trial included graphic photos and the
video posted to YouTube. The judge warned members of the public at
the trial about the images and said they could leave before the
photos were shown. The proceedings are known as a bench trial, with
only a judge, not a jury.
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