Drug Pipe May Be Tied To Bucks Strangling Police Say The Victim And His Son Argued In Their Fairless Hills Home.

Four hours later, John Liebel strangled his father, police said. Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubenstein said he was shown the plastic pipe, known as a bong and generally used to smoke marijuana, at the house, and he said, ``It may well have been what the two had argued about.''

Liebel, the father of six, had been engaged in a dispute with John, the details of which remain unclear. Three weeks ago, he told John he no longer wanted him to work in the family landscaping business.

It was shortly after 1:30 p.m. Saturday, police said, when Liebel and his son got into an argument in the den of their home and John Liebel choked his father from behind until he became unconscious. He then wrapped a camera strap tightly around his neck and knotted it, Rubenstein said.

John Liebel fled the home but later surrendered, admitting he had killed his father, police said. He is being held on a charge of first-degree murder in Bucks County Prison with bail set at $1 million cash.

Rubenstein said yesterday he would not seek the death penalty because there were no aggravating circumstances.

A Funeral Mass for Liebel will be said at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, Fairless Hills, with burial following in Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem.