Jennifer Gould

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With this Crime Alert, I'm Jennifer Gould.

I'm Jennifer Gould.

A morning cup of Joe turned into a midnight wake in a quiet upstate New York hamlet when a 63-year-old man allegedly dumped hot coffee over his wife's head during a marital spat, only to be beaten and strangled to death by his own son moments later.

Neighbor Don Powers spoke to WWNY-TV.

New York State Police say the deadly domestic explosion erupted inside a residence on Pyrite's Russell Road in the town of Russell, St.

Lawrence County.

Philip Knickerbocker and his wife Jacqueline were reportedly in the heat of an argument about their marriage when the older man snapped, pouring the coffee on her head and trying to punch her in the face.

Their 40-year-old son, Hans Knickerbocker, was in his bedroom at the time, but stormed into the living room after hearing the chaos.

Hans did not just intervene.

Police say he unleashed a savage beating, punching his dad in the head before wrapping both hands around the man's throat.

According to court docs, Hans then applied his full body weight, pressing his elbow into his father's windpipe and restricting his breathing until the older man was dead.

State troopers arrived at the scene around 7.49 p.m.

following a 911 call and found Phillips' body slumped on the living room couch.

Hans was immediately detained and initially hit with a charge of criminal obstruction of breathing, but that was upgraded to second-degree murder after an autopsy at Glen Falls Hospital confirmed the cause of death as asphyxia

due to strangulation.

Hans Knickerbocker was rearranged in Canton Town Court and ordered held without bail at the St.

Lawrence County Jail.

State police said the investigation remains ongoing.

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