Suspect’s father died in blaze
A Philipstown man has been charged with second-degree murder following the death of his father last fall in a mobile-home fire on Route 9.
Putnam County Sheriff Robert Langley said on Tuesday (Aug. 25) that Louis Weber, 20, had been arrested in connection with the death on Nov. 4 of Louis J. Weber, 72, in a fire at the Post Road Mobile Home Park south of Route 301.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Weber is being held without bail at the Putnam County jail in Carmel.
The elder Weber’s body was found in the remains of his home at 3 Fourth St. after the trailer was destroyed by the blaze. The North Highlands Fire Co. responded to the alarm at 3:30 a.m. and was assisted by sheriff’s deputies and the Cold Spring and Garrison fire departments
The Putnam County Fire Investigation Team immediately began investigating the fire’s origin, and the Sheriff’s Department said an autopsy would be conducted. In June, the Sheriff’s Department said the investigation was continuing.
Louis J. Weber was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a financial advisor for Ameriprise Financial before his retirement, according to an obituary posted by Clinton Funeral Home. Besides his son, he was survived by a daughter, Courtney Bozsik (Frank Jr.) of Wappingers Falls and three grandchildren.
In March 2019, the younger Weber, who graduated from Haldane High School in 2018, faced charges of felony burglary, felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor criminal trespass stemming from an Oct. 31, 2018, incident in which a swastika and anti-Semitic slur were painted inside a house being built by a Jewish resident of Nelsonville.
