Son Says He ‘Lawfully’ Beheaded Federal Employee Father After He ‘Betrayed’ Him

32-year-old Justin Mohn from Pennsylvania, is facing charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse after allegedly beheading his father, a 20-year federal employee, in January.

Mohn claimed that he was justified in using “deadly force” because his father resisted a citizen’s arrest. He decapitated his 68-year-old father, Michael Mohn, at their home in Middle Township. Authorities found Michael’s headless body in a downstairs bathroom, with a machete in the bathtub.

Michael’s severed head was discovered in a cooking pot in a bedroom. Mohn later displayed the head in a YouTube video, where he spouted right-wing conspiracy theories, calling his father a traitor for his service as a federal employee.

In addition to murder and abuse of a corpse, Mohn is facing charges of terrorism, terroristic threats, robbery and trespassing.

Prosecutors alleged that Mohn had planned the killing, which he recorded in a 14-minute video titled “Mohn’s Militia — Call to Arms for American Patriots.” In the video, he held his father’s head in a plastic bag and declared, “Mike Mohn is in hell for being a traitor to his country.”

After the killing, Mohn stole his father’s car and drove over 100 miles to Fort Indiantown Gap, an Army National Guard base. He climbed a barbed wire fence to enter the property but was apprehended by base security, who found a 9mm gun matching the caliber used to kill his father.

At a recent court hearing, Mohn reiterated his belief in antigovernment conspiracy theories, telling reporters, “I and a lot of other people around America believe that the federal government has betrayed America, they are destroying the country, and we have to do something to take our country back.”

When asked how his father’s murder fit into this ideology, Mohn stated, “He was a federal employee and betrayed me.”

Mohn also argued that his actions were justified because his father had resisted a citizen’s arrest. “It’s lawful to use deadly force in that event,” he claimed.

Prosecutors, however, maintained that Mohn had premeditated the murder and delivered a scripted speech online, calling for violence against federal agents and judges.

Mohn’s attorney did not dispute the murder charges but sought to dismiss the terrorism charges, arguing that Mohn had no followers and that the only victim was his father.

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Mohn, who remains in custody, has been found competent to stand trial, with his next hearing scheduled for October 11.