Father Resisted 'Citizen's Arrest' Before Beheading, Suspect Testifies At Lower Bucks Co. Trial: Reports

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The Lower Bucks County man accused of beheading his father at their Middletown Township home and posting it on YouTube took the stand Wednesday to state that the crime was in self-defense, multiple news reports stated.

During his two hours of testimony on Wednesday, Justin Mohn said he was trying to arrest his father for what he called false statements and treason, and that killing his father was "Plan B," NBC10 Philadelphia reported.

Mohn, 32, of Middletown Township, is charged with killing his father Michael F. Mohn in January 2024 and posting a disturbing YouTube video holding his father’s decapitated head and calling for violent attacks against members of the federal government.

A verdict in the trial is expected Friday morning.

Mohn said he shot his father in the bathroom of the family's Levittown home after telling him he was going to arrest him. Mohn said his father, who he said was an experienced martial artist, told him he would kill him before he let that happen and reached for the gun, NBC10 stated..

“Unfortunately, he resisted,” Mohn said in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, adding: “I was hoping to perform a citizen’s arrest on my father for, ultimately, treason."

Mohn, dressed in a blue sport coat, shirt, and tie, with his arms shackled to his waist, spoke clearly without any apparent emotion for more than two hours of direct testimony and cross-examination.

Asked why he beheaded his father, Mohn said he wanted to send a message to federal government workers to meet his demands, which included their resignation as well as the cancellation of public debt, among other things, Action News 6 reported.

"I knew something such as a severed head would not only go viral but could lessen the violence," Justin Mohn said.

The YouTube was shown at the trial, which began on Monday.

Mohn's mother took the stand to testify about finding her husband's head when she returned home from work.

Closing arguments are expected in the trial on Thursday.