Guilty, But Mentally Ill Plea In Fatal Stabbing Of Montco Man

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — A local man has admitted to fatally beating his father in the family home in this eastern Montgomery County community three years ago, the guilty plea coming after he was originally deemed mentally unfit to be held criminally accountable for the gruesome crime.

Maximillian Christopher Han, 29, of Upper Dublin Township, recently pleaded guilty but mentally ill in connection with the December 2019 beating death of his dad, 58-year-old Jinhan Han.

Court records show that Han pleaded guilty to a felony third-degree murder charge and a misdemeanor count of possessing an instrument of crime.

The Mercury newspaper reported that Han pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" before Judge William R. Carpenter, the distinction being that under state law it is recognized that Han's crime was a product of serious mental illness.

In practicality, however, the plea is essentially the same as a regular guilty plea.

Han was previously deemed unfit to stand trial, but earlier this year the murder case moved forward after it was determined that the defendant possessed the mental capacity to participate in his own defense.

Related: Upper Dublin Man Found Competent To Stand Trial In Dad's Killing

The case was filled with gruesome details, as investigators said Han spoke of feeling like an "MMA fighter" at the time he viciously beat his father to death, punching the older man and using a knife handle to smash his skull in.

The victim's wife reportedly found her husband beaten and bleeding in their home.

Jinhan Han also died as a result of stabbing injuries in addition to the blunt force trauma.

Maximillian Han reportedly told detectives that he had been "pissed off" at his father for an unspecified reason, the motive that apparently was behind the brutal, fatal attack.

Court records show that Han pleaded guilty to his crimes on Nov. 1.

Carpenter, the judge, sentenced Han to an aggregate term of 22-and-one-half to 45 years in state prison, according to the criminal docket sheet in the case.

Records show that first-degree murder and other charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty pleas.