What to Know
- Philip Looby was arrested and charged with killing his mother, Maryanne Looby, inside her Lower Saucon Township home.
- Philip Looby told police his mother attacked him with an X-Acto knife and he acted in self-defense.
- Maryanne Looby was the widow of Philip P. Looby, an executive Vice President of Manufacturing for Fechheimer Brothers of Cincinnati.
A man was arrested and charged with murdering his mother, the widow of a former COO, inside a Lower Saucon Township home.
On Monday around 9:20 a.m., police responded to a home on the 1900 block of West Point Drive for a welfare check of Maryanne Looby, 70. Investigators say the check was issued after Bethlehem City Communications received a report accusing Looby’s son, Philip Looby, of killing his mother.
Police arrived at the house and knocked on the door. As they waited, they spotted Philip Looby, 49, walking down the stairs from the second floor of the home while talking on a cellphone, according to the criminal complaint.
After Looby answered the door, the officers noticed blood on his hands, investigators said. When the officers indicated they were going to check on his mother, Looby allegedly told them they were not going to like what they found.
The officers found Maryanne Looby dead on the floor of the home. Philip Looby told the officers his mother attacked him with an X-Acto knife and he acted in self-defense, police said.
The Northampton County Coroner also responded to the scene and determined Maryanne Looby suffered several sharp force and blunt force injuries, some of which appeared to be defensive wounds to her hands and forearms. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide. The coroner also spotted blood and bloody footprints on the floor as well as a broken and bloody candle base near Maryanne Looby’s body.
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Police say in addition to his hands, they also found blood on Philip Looby’s feet and clothing. Philip Looby was arrested and charged with criminal homicide.
Maryanne Looby was the widow of Philip P. Looby, the former executive Vice President of Manufacturing for Fechheimer Brothers of Cincinnati as well as the former Chief Operating Officer for the Bayer Clothing Group Limited.
