Man Accused of Killing Mother Allegedly Inflicted Brutal Beating

The Bethlehem man accused of killing his 70-year-old mother inside her Lower Saucon Township home last month brutally beat and stabbed her, according to testimony by Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek that was heard in court Thursday morning.

The Morning Call reported that following a preliminary hearing, Northampton County District Judge Alan Mege ruled that there is enough evidence against Philip Patrick Looby, 49, of the 1000 block of E. Fourth Street, for the criminal homicide case against him to proceed.

Looby has claimed he acted in self-defense after his mother tried to come after him with a knife.

The newspaper reported that Mege issued his ruling after Lysek told the court that bloody, broken candlesticks were found near Maryanne Looby’s body, which was discovered inside her home at 1997 West Point Drive on the morning of Feb. 4, after Lower Saucon police officers were dispatched there to perform a welfare check on her.

Lysek also testified that Looby had “extensive” wounds–including defensive wounds about her wrists and hands–as well as two non-fatal stab wounds to her abdomen, and that the cause of her death was blunt force trauma, Lehigh Valley Live reported.

Police were summoned to conduct the welfare check after Looby allegedly called his former brother-in-law, Paul Mclaine, and told him he thought he had killed his mother and was so upset that he planned to hang himself in the basement with an electrical cord, the website also reported.

It was previously reported that when officers came to the door, Looby opened it with blood-covered hands and went on to tell them they “were not going to like” what they found inside.

What they allegedly found was Maryanne Looby’s body on the first floor of the home and a scene that told a tale of a violent struggle, according to court records and testimony the court heard Thursday.

Looby remains incarcerated in Northampton County Prison without bail, as criminal homicide is a non-bailable offense.

He is being represented by public defender Robert Charles Patterson of Easton, according to court records.

The case is being prosecuted by Northampton County assistant district attorneys John L. Obrecht and Julianne Danchak.

A trial date has yet to be announced.