DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who posted a video of his father’s severed head on YouTube was convicted of homicide Friday.
Bucks County Decide Stephen A. Corr discovered Justin D. Mohn, 33, responsible within the January 2024 taking pictures demise of his father at their residence within the Philadelphia suburb of Levittown.
Prosecutors mentioned Mohn shot his father, Michael F. Mohn, 68, with a newly bought pistol, then decapitated him with a kitchen knife and machete. The 14-minute YouTube video he posted was dwell for a number of hours earlier than it was eliminated. Mohn testified throughout the trial that he shot his father whereas attempting to arrest him on what he mentioned had been false statements and treason however his father resisted, so he fired at him. He mentioned he severed his head to ship a message to federal staff to fulfill his calls for, which included their resignation amongst different issues.
Mohn was arrested later that day after scaling a fence at Fort Indiantown Hole, the state’s Nationwide Guard headquarters. Prosecutors mentioned he referred to as for others to hitch him in making an attempt to overthrow the U.S. authorities.
Mohn had a USB machine containing photographs of federal buildings and obvious directions for making explosives when he was arrested, authorities mentioned.
He additionally expressed violent anti-government rhetoric in writings he printed on-line, going again a number of years. Through the trial, the decide heard from Justin Mohn’s mom, who mentioned police got here to the home he shared along with his dad and mom and warned him about his on-line postings earlier than the killing.
Denice Mohn testified that she and her husband had been providing monetary help and steerage as Justin Mohn seemed for a job.
Prosecutors described the murder as “one thing straight out of a horror movie.” They mentioned Justin Mohn killed his father — who had been an engineer with the geoenvironmental part of the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District — to intimidate federal staff, calling it a “chilly, calculated, organized plan.”
The YouTube video included rants concerning the authorities, immigration and the border, fiscal coverage, city crime and the conflict in Ukraine.
In court docket, Michael Mohn was remembered as a very good neighbor and current, supportive father. Within the video posted on YouTube, Justin Mohn described his father as a 20-year federal worker and referred to as him a traitor.
Throughout a competency listening to final 12 months, a protection knowledgeable mentioned Mohn wrote a letter to Russia’s ambassador to the US searching for to strike a deal to present Mohn refuge and apologizing to President Vladimir Putin for claiming to be the czar of Russia. The decide dominated Mohn was competent to face trial.
Proof offered on the trial included graphic photographs and the video posted to YouTube. The decide warned members of the general public on the trial concerning the pictures and mentioned they might go away earlier than the photographs had been proven. The proceedings are referred to as a bench trial, with solely a decide, not a jury.