THE mom of the man accused of killing and beheading his dad has described the moment she found her husband’s decapitated body.
Denice Mohn wept on the witness stand as she recalled screaming when she found Michael Mohn’s headless corpse on the bathroom floor at their home during her son’s murder trial on Monday.
Justin Mohn, 33, is accused of shooting his father to death before posting a video of his severed head on YouTube and calling for the overthrow of the government in January 2024.
On the first day of the murder trial, Denice testified she had no warning for the bloody scene that awaited her at the family’s home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia that day.
"I believe I screamed," Denice said through tears in the Philadelphia courtroom.
"I was screaming out front. I think I dialed 911."
Denice said she didn’t notice any signs that Justin, a former Microsoft employee, had plans to hurt his dad.
Justin, who smirked in his mugshot after his arrest, appeared to be unemotional during his mother’s tearful testimony, according to the Bucks County Courier Times.
Michael and Denice were financially supporting Justin, who lived with them at the time, while he looked for a new job, Denice testified.
The grieving mom said Michael and Justin had the typical father-son relationship, and that the family of three had even had lunch together that day, hours before the brutal killing.
“I said goodbye,” she testified about the last time she saw her husband alive.
“And I said I’ll see you later.”
When Denice returned from work hours later, she found “something straight out of a horror film,” prosecutors said on Monday.
Prosecutors say Justin shot his dad with a pistol he bought the day before and then decapitated him with a kitchen knife and machete.
He then allegedly showed off the murder by holding up the severed head in a 14-minute YouTube video that was live for multiple hours before it was removed.
CHILLING PLAN
After allegedly killing his father and posting the video, prosecutors said Justin stole his father’s car and drove to the state’s National Guard headquarters.
He was arrested after allegedly climbing a 20-foot fence to get into the base.
Timeline of the murder
On January 30, 2024, Michael Mohn was found killed and beheaded at his home in Levittown, Pennsylvania. Below is a timeline of events of that day:
Around 2 pm – Denice Mohn leaves the home after eating lunch with Michael and their son, Justin Mohn.
Around 5 pm – Justin posts a 14-minute video on YouTube where he holds up his father’s severed head and calls for the federal government to be overthrown.
6:49 pm – 911 is called after Denice finds Michael’s headless body in the bathroom of the home, along with a machete and kitchen knife.
9 pm – Justin’s cell phone is pinged outside the gates of Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Base. Michael’s car is found outside the gates there.
9:25 pm – Justin’s cell phone pings again from inside the base. He is arrested without incident.
At around 4 am on January 31, 2024, Justin was brought back to Buck County to face first-degree murder charges for his father.
Source: Fox affiliate WTXF-TV
Justin told cops he planned to convince the National Guard to seize control of the federal government, police said.
Prosecutors said he was carrying a handgun and a USB containing pictures of federal buildings and what appeared to be instructions for how to make explosives when he was arrested.
DISTURBING CRIME SCENE
Denice found her husband’s body in a pool of blood in their downstairs bathroom, with the knife and machete in the bathtub.
Michael’s head was inside a plastic bag in a cooking pot in a bedroom next to the bathroom, according to a criminal complaint at the time.
Jurors heard the chilling 911 call where Denice was heard screaming in the background as her neighbor told dispatchers that Michael’s body had no head.
Prosecutors played the graphic YouTube video for the court.
In the disturbing footage, Justin ranted against the government and rambled about conspiracy theories as he ordered his followers to take control of all federal courthouses and law enforcement offices.
BIZARRE DEFENSE
Michael had been a civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, which Justin said made him a traitor.
After a court hearing in September 2024, Justin doubled down on his beliefs and told reporters that the federal government was “destroying the country.”
He shrugged his shoulders as he told NBC affiliate WCAU that his father had “betrayed” him.
“I was trying to perform a citizen’s arrest, and he resisted that citizen’s arrest. It’s lawful to use deadly force in that event,” he said.
Prosecutors said during opening statements that Justin had a “cold, calculated, organized plan” to kill his father to intimidate federal workers.
In an unusual move, Justin’s defense attorneys declined to give an opening statement.
Justin faces charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, possession of an instrument of crime, and terrorism related charges.
The death penalty is off the table for Justin. He faces life in prison if convicted.
