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Jeffrey Stepien Charged With Murder After Beating To Death Samantha Maag With Pipe Inside Old City Office Building

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police have identified the woman murdered in her Old City office building Wednesday as 31-year-old Samantha Maag of Blenheim, New Jersey. Her family shared her picture with Eyewitness News.

Samantha Maag
First on 3: Photo of Samantha Maag (Courtesy of Maag Family)

The suspect is 48-year-old Jeffrey Stepien of Philadelphia.

The brutal attack at Constitution Place rattled workers in this Old City building.

Following the attack, police say they got about 20 911 calls. They reacted quickly and arrested the suspect in the lobby.

"I keep telling myself it could've happened anywhere, right? But it happened here, so. It's really strange," said Bruce Hazany, who works in the building.

People's workspace became a crime scene Wednesday.

"It was just surreal. It's hard to believe that happened in an office building in such a nice area of the city," said Bill O'Brien, who also works in the building.

Police say Maag was working in the receptionist area of her office Wednesday when she was attacked. They say Stepien attacked her with metal pipes. She later died at the hospital.

"I noticed there were sirens out the window," said Jeremy Meyer, who works in the building. "I didn't really think about it because I was working and the sirens weren't going away and I looked out the window and there were all these cop cars out here."

Stepien now faces murder and weapons charges. He was arrested while carrying a bag that police say had bloody metal pipes inside.

He and Maag both worked on the eighth floor of the building. We showed her picture to other tenants who say they don't recognize her.

"What a shame. She's gorgeous," Hazany said.

It's not clear how Maag and Stepien knew each other. But the Regus, where the attack occurred, is a shared office space.

"That's very upsetting. That surprised me. It gave me goosebumps when you just told me that so I really feel bad that happened to her. She doesn't deserve that," said Fabria Justice-Smith, who works in the building.

In 2010, Stepien was charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in Lackawanna County. He pleaded guilty and served time in jail.

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