The Pennsylvania man charged with beheading his father, a federal employee, shot the victim with a legally purchased gun before dismembering him and posing with his head in a YouTube video that called for the torture and execution of federal workers, the Bucks County District Attorney said Friday.
Justin Mohn, 32, is being held without bail on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and possession of an instrument of a crime for killing his father, 68-year-old Michael F. Mohn, on Tuesday. The elder Mohn was identified as a federal employee with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Mohn legally purchased a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun gun the day before the killing, surrendering his medical marijuana card to make the purchase, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said in a Friday news conference.
“It was evident to us that he was of clear mind in his purpose,” Schorn said.
Though Mohn recorded a violent, rambling 14-minute manifesto, he had “no history of diagnosed mental health issues” or any record of inpatient psychiatric treatment, Schorn said.
Officials gave few other details on the crime, including information about Mohn’s motive. Schorn did not confirm whether investigators believe he was part of any militia-type group.
Mohn’s manifesto called for government workers such as FBI agents and federal judges to be executed and railed against the LGBTQ community, immigrants, the Black Lives Matter movement and “antifa.”
It’s unclear how far Mohn’s video reached; on Friday, Schorn called it “incredibly concerning” that the video was on YouTube for five to six hours before it was removed, racking up at least 5,000 views.
Mohn identified several federal employees by name in his video, and included the home address of Mark A. Kearney, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
“It’s horrifying how many views there were,” Schorn said. “And I gotta tell you, the fear of what this could have been … ”
Schorn declined to say whether Mohn is cooperating with the investigation.
“Our hearts ache for the Mohn family,” Middletown Township Police Chief Joe Bartorilla said Friday as he praised work by local law enforcement to take Mohn into custody “without incident.”
Bartorilla said Mohn did not have a criminal record and had mostly indirect contact with the local police in the past 13 years. Among the incidents were when Mohn called the department in 2019, alleging he was threatened by an insurance employee in Ohio whom Mohn was suing. One of Mohn’s previous employers also called police with concerns about his behavior and asked for help on how to fire him.
Michael Mohn’s body was discovered by his wife on Tuesday evening at the Levittown, Pa., home where they lived with Justin.
Police found the body in a bathroom, surrounded by “a large amount of blood,” according to the criminal complaint. Police found the victim’s severed head in a plastic bag placed in a cooking pot in a first-floor bedroom and recovered bloody rubber gloves in another bedroom and in a trash can next to a bedroom desk.
The bedroom where the bloody gloves were recovered appeared to be the same one from which he recorded his video.
Justin Mohn fled in his father’s car after the killing, police said. Investigators found Mohn about 100 miles from home after using cellphone data to track him near the Fort Indiantown Gap base, which houses the Pennsylvania National Guard headquarters.
When police arrested Mohn, he had the 9mm pistol loaded, with one round missing.
