Justin Mohn: How Right-Wing Radicalization Led to Father's Beheading

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On January 30, 2024, Denise Moe and came home from work and found her husband Michael

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shot and beheaded in their bathroom.

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Their 33-year-old son Justin had recently uploaded a video to YouTube where he held

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his father's severed head up and declared himself the acting president of the United States.

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Six hours later, over 5,000 people had watched it.

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Justin became the first person ever convicted of terrorism in Pennsylvania history.

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This is the story of how student loan debt became a justification for murder.

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Have a town, Pennsylvania represents everything suburban America is supposed to be.

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Planned communities, middle class stability, neighbors who know each other.

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Uppard orchard drive in Middletown Township was one of those streets where nothing terrible

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was supposed to happen.

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Michael Moean was 68 years old.

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He worked as a civil engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers in Philadelphia for over

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20 years.

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In 2019, he won an outstanding achievement award that they later renamed in his honor.

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Neighbors new him as a quiet guy who loved to read, exercise and play the guitar.

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He and his wife Denise had three kids, including their youngest son Justin, who was 33 and

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still living at home.

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Justin Moean graduated from Penn State in 2014 with a degree in Agra Business Management.

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Then he couldn't find a high-paying job that he thought he deserved.

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Instead of viewing this as an economic reality, Justin decided it was a conspiracy.

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He decided the federal government had defrauded him by letting him take out student loans for

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an education that did not guarantee him wealth.

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He filed at least four lawsuits against federal agencies, mostly the Department of Education.

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Every single lawsuit got dismissed.

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The third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed one dismissal in July 2023, noting that sovereign

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immunity protected the government.

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Justin didn't see these dismissals as legal losses.

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He saw them as proof that the entire federal workforce was corrupt, including his own father

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who worked for a federal agency.

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In 2017, he self-published an e-book called "The Revolution Leaders Survival Guide" advocating

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for peaceful government overthrow.

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By 2024, his writings had evolved into explicit calls for extreme violence against all federal

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employees.

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He made music where he referred to himself as "Messiah" and "The Zahr of Russia."

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His ideology shifted into full right-wing extremism, targeting federal workers, immigrants,

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the LGBTQ+ community, and Black Lives Matter.

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What makes this case especially unsettling is that we can trace the planning back at least

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five years.

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During the trial in July 2025, detectives testified about an extensive forensic examination

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of Justin's online search history.

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The evidence showed that Justin had been researching how to purchase handguns, the sound

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level of gunshots, and bullet penetration through skulls.

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His writings included a battle plan, instructions for building explosives, research on federal buildings,

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and detailed study of domestic terrorists Timothy McVey, who killed 168 people in the

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1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

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Justin also created bounty posters targeting politicians, judges, and federal employees

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he deemed as "traders."

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A to-do list found by investigators referenced the killing of his father.

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People in his neighborhood knew something was wrong.

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During the summer of 2023, neighbors started calling the police about Justin's behavior.

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One neighbor called multiple times after seeing Justin sit on a raised manhole cover in a

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local park, just staring at his house or extended periods.

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He was creeping everybody out.

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Other neighbors reported that Justin would walk through the neighborhood wreaking of marijuana

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and moving strangely when anyone approached him.

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Police visited the moan home to warn Justin about his online posts before the murder happened.

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They couldn't arrest him because he hadn't made any direct threats online.

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Meanwhile, Michael and Denise kept supporting him financially and emotionally, trying to

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help their son find his footing.

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On January 29, 2024, Justin surrendered his medical marijuana card.

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In Pennsylvania, if you have that card, you can't pass a background check to buy a gun.

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So Justin gave up his card, walked into a gun store, and legally purchased a six-hour

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9-millimeter handgun.

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He paid over $1,300 for the gun, an optics scope, a grip, and ammunition.

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At same day, he wrote in a notebook what he called "Plan A and Plan B."

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Plan A involved a delusional citizen's arrest of his father for treason.

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Plan B was more direct.

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He wrote "Boom" and "Slices."

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Prosecutors explained that "Boom meant the gunshot.

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Slices meant the decapitation."

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This was happening 24 hours before the murder.

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On the evening of January 30, Denise came home from work at around 7 pm.

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Her husband was in the first floor bathroom.

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He had been shot in the head near his ear, then decapitated with a kitchen knife and machete.

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Michael's body was in the bathroom.

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His head was in a separate bedroom placed inside a plastic bag that was put into a cooking

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pot.

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The weapons were in the bathtub.

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Justin had left bloody rubber gloves in a trash can and on a desk.

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Denise's screams were heard by a neighbor who ran over to help.

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His 911 call captured the chaos.

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Denise immediately suspected her son.

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"I understand so I'm trying to determine if we're going to start CPR."

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"It's dead man, you can't think."

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"Okay, I understand so we don't know he's dead until they get there and check him and

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try to use an AED and everything.

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So what I want to do is try to help save him and keep him there until they can check

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him out.

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So if he's not breathing, will you do CPR?

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Will somebody there go head?

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Do you have no head at all?"

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"No."

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Before Denise even got home, Justin had already uploaded a 14 minute video to YouTube.

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A title was "Mones militia" called to arms for American patriots.

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In the video, Justin appeared calm.

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He wore rubber gloves, matching the ones that were found at the crime scene.

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He held up his father's severed head twice to identify the traitor.

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He declared himself the acting president of the United States and the leader of the

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National Militia.

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He called for violent uprising against all federal employees, specifically targeting

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the FBI, US Marshals, and Border Patrol.

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His alt-right rhetoric attacked the LGBTQ+ community, Black Lives Matter, and what he called

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"Far Left" woke mobs.

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He leaked the name and home address of a federal judge and placed a bounty on the judge's

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head.

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He demanded mass resignation of federal workers and immediate cancellation of all public

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debt.

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The video stayed on YouTube for six hours.

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It got over 5,000 views before being taken down.

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It spread to telegram and Twitter.

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Some weirdos online started claiming it was a "saiop" or a "false flag."

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The conspiracy theorists that Justin hoped would follow him decided his actual murder was

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fake.

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After uploading the video, Justin got into his father's Toyota Corolla and drove about

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100 miles west to Fort Indian Town Gap, the headquarters of the Pennsylvania National

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Guard.

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His plan was to walk into a military base and convince the soldiers to mobilize against

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the federal government.

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He drove past barricades and climbed a 20-foot security fence before being arrested.

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He still had that six-hour nine-millimeter on him, along with survival gear, camping

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equipment, and a USB drive containing photographs of federal buildings and detailed instructions

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for making explosives.

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The murder of Michael Mohn was supposed to be the opening act.

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The defense raised questions about Justin's mental health during a competency hearing.

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They presented evidence of his detachment from reality, including a letter he'd written

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to the Russian ambassador apologizing to Vladimir Putin for previously claiming to be

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the Tsar of Russia.

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He hoped for a prisoner's swap so he could find asylum in Russia.

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The court ruled he was competent to stand trial.

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Justin then waved his right to a jury trial.

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The trial happened in July 2025.

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He was remarkably calm and emotionless.

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He stuck to his citizens' arrest story, claiming he only used deadly force when his father

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resisted.

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And said he beheaded his father because he knew a severed head would go viral and forced

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the government to meet his demands.

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He said, "I knew something such as a severed head would not only go viral, but would less

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than the violence."

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He stated he didn't do it out of hatred or to cause trauma to his family, but out of

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duty to his country.

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Prosecutors argue that Justin prayed on his parents' concern and compassion, that his plan

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was always to kill his father, and the citizen's arrest narrative was invented after his arrest.

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On July 11, 2025, Justin Mohn was found guilty of first degree murder, two counts of

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terrorism, abuse of a corpse, and firearms violations.

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The terrorism conviction was historic.

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Justin Mohn became the first person ever convicted under Pennsylvania's terrorism statute.

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It was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

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During the sentencing, Michael's family delivered emotional impact statements.

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His son Zachary described a father who worked tirelessly to make sure his kids never wanted

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for anything.

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His daughter Stephanie talked about the premeditated betrayal.

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Justin's defense attorney had to prompt him to apologize.

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He said he was sorry, "that this played out how it played out."

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He said he didn't feel guilty and felt like his actions were justice.

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He blamed the federal government.

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This case set a legal precedent in Pennsylvania for how states can prosecute domestic extremists

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who use violence to intimidate government workers.

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It expands terrorism charges beyond foreign linked groups to include people radicalized

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by right-wing extremism, internet conspiracy theories, and personal grievances.

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Justin Mohn's radicalization shows how personal failure can be weaponized into alt-right ideology.

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He couldn't get the job he wanted so he decided the entire government was corrupt.

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He lost his lawsuits so he decided his father was a traitor.

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He searched Timothy McVeigh, a man who killed 168 people including 19 children.

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When you spend five years convincing yourself that your family members are enemies of the

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state, there's no limit to what you'll justify.

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The Army Corps of Engineers named their outstanding achievement award after Michael Mohn.

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His wife Denise wrote the court saying that she lost both the husband and son that night.

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They'd been planning to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

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They wanted to travel to Ireland together in retirement.

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Justin Mohn was spent the rest of his life in prison for a crime he still believes was justice.

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"All right Justin, now's your time."

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He said, "We can make you say we haven't told your story.

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What is it?"

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"Well I wasn't expecting this.

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I had a speech ready, but I don't have that speech on me.

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I in a lot of other people around America believe that the federal government has betrayed

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America.

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They're destroying the country and we have to do something to take our country back."

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"We're just killing your father.

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How do you do it that?"

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"Well he was a federal employee and betrayed me.

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I was trying to perform a citizen's arrest.

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He resisted that citizen's arrest.

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It's all full to use deadly force on that event."

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Thanks for listening to 10 Minute Murder, Ben Jubal True Crime Stories.

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I'm Joe, I'm the host and here's an email, "Subject.

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Is this connected to you?"

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Hi Joe, I just started listening to a show called True Crime Blueprints this week because

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it popped up in my recommendations.

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I think it's pretty good.

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The style kind of reminds me of yours though and the voice is very similar.

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And I wasn't sure if it was something you're involved with or just a coincidence.

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Figured I'd ask before I assumed anything.

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Kevin and Wilmington North Carolina.

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Kevin that is actually my brand new podcast called True Crime Blueprint.

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Yeah, it is very similar to this one, "10 Minute Murder," but it's not simply longer episodes

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of "10 Minute Murder," that's why I didn't name it something similar to that.

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It's a completely different type of podcast for me.

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It's True Crime still, but it's much longer episodes and I can talk about anything for

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any length of time that I want to talk about it.

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Here I'm kind of constrained to like 10 minutes or so.

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So I usually don't ramble on about my own opinions on things and stuff like that.

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But on the other podcast, True Crime Blueprint, I can and will do that.

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So yeah, if you haven't heard of the podcast, it is called True Crime Blueprint.

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It's brand new and I hope you'll give it a try.

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Hey, if you're a new listener to this podcast, "10 Minute Murder," make sure you hit subscribe

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right now.

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Wherever you're listening, then you can go to 10minutemerder.com.

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Sign up for the weekly newsletter, which by the way, Kevin, if you were signed up for the

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weekly newsletter, you would know already that this was about to happen, this new podcast.

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Because I put it in there.

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But you can sign it for the newsletter on the website.

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You can also look at the murder blog in all kinds of things.

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If you're really enjoying this podcast, make sure you share it with your friends and your

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family, rate it five stars wherever you can do that.

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And that's going to do it for this episode.

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Thank you again for listening to 10 Minute Murder.

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See you next time.

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[Music]