HATBORO, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia man is accused of stabbing to death a neighbor with whom he had a long-standing feud over the suspect’s loud snoring that could be heard through a wall connecting their homes, authorities said Friday.
Christopher James Casey, 55, was charged Thursday with causing the death four days earlier of Robert Wallace, who the coroner said had been stabbed multiple times.
Wallace, 62, removed a screen from a window in Casey’s home and opened the unlocked window while Casey was eating dinner Sunday, and after a verbal confrontation, Casey stabbed him in the chest with a large military-style knife, according to Upper Moreland Montgomery County Township Police and Prosecutors.
Police said Casey told them Wallace had not threatened or threatened him when Casey stabbed him in the doorway of Casey’s home. They had been having “personal problems” over the past year and a half — prompting several police calls — because of Wallace’s complaints about his snoring, Casey told investigators during an interview Sunday night at Abington Hospital.
After talking through the window for about 20 minutes, Wallace seemed to calm down and wanted to shake hands and offered to help pay for nose surgery to alleviate Casey’s snoring, Casey told police, according to the affidavit. Casey opened his front door, holding a knife and a stun gun under a blanket.
“Casey described Wallace as a very ‘volatile’ ‘very strong’ ‘he is angry’ type of person,” police wrote in the charging documents. “Casey said he did not believe Wallace’s intent to ‘fix this’ and ‘shake hands’ and try to ‘resolve this situation’ was genuine. As a result, Casey decided to ‘surprise’ him by stabbing Wallace with a knife.
Police responding to Casey’s 911 call found Wallace about 50 feet from his home. He later died in a hospital. Casey required hospital care for what police called a self-inflicted and accidental stab wound to his leg. The window screen was outside on the lawn and the window was open when police arrived. There was blood inside and outside the house.
Casey told emergency responders that Wallace “broke my window,” police said in an affidavit. “I attacked my neighbor. He came to attack me.”
Casey was charged with third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of instruments of a crime. He remained jailed Friday on $1 million bond. No attorney was listed for him in the court filings. Prosecutors and police could not provide information on whether Casey has an attorney. Attempts to reach a family member who might be able to comment were unsuccessful.