Defiance man arrested on murder charge

VW independent/submitted information

CECIL — The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a suspect in the murder of a Cecil area homeowner that occurred Thursday afternoon at his residence.

Michael Kent Loop, 32, of Defiance, has been arrested and is currently being housed in the Paulding County Jail on a charge of murder, an unclassified felony.

Loop is charged with the death of Cecil area resident Philip V. Koenn, 60, of 11243 Road 230 in Cecil. Koenn’s body was found inside his residence with apparent gunshot wounds. Koenn was the only person living at the residence.

“This was a violent crime,” said Paulding County Sheriff Jason K. Landers. “We were fortunate some early tips came in leading us to Mr. Loop. We are not done; we believe more people could be involved.”

The sheriff did note, however, that an earlier witness statement that two people fled the residence was inaccurate, with witnesses actually seeing only one person leave the scene of the crime.

At this time, deputies continue to investigate tips coming into the sheriff’s office regarding the incident, which brought deputies to the scene at approximately 12:28 p.m. Thursday.

Several agencies were involved in the investigation. In addition to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, agencies included the Defiance County Sheriff’s Office, Defiance Police Department, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Defiance County Adult Probation, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation’s Crime Scene Unit, and the Multi-Area Narcotics Task Force.

No further information is expected to be released at this time.

Anyone with information on the homicide is still urged to call the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office at 419.399.3791 or go on the sheriff’s office website at www.pauldingohsheriff.com.