Man accused of beheading father in their home is competent to stand trial, judge rules
- Justin Mohn is accused of beheading his father in their Philadelphia home earlier this year and posting a video of the severed head online
The man accused of beheading his father in their suburban Philadelphia home early this year and posting a video of the severed head online is competent to stand trial, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The decision by Judge Stephen Corr came after a five-hour hearing in which prosecutors and defence lawyers each presented expert witnesses.
The defence expert, Dr John Markey, said he had met Justin Mohn, the man charged in the late January killing, four times for nearly five hours and determined he had a delusional disorder. Markey reviewed letters Mohn had written in which he claimed he was a messiah and a Biblical King David-like figure whom the federal government was persecuting.
“It’s all delusional,” Markey said.
A forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution, though, said Mohn was competent.