A Pennsylvania man who fatally stabbed his neighbor over the defendant’s loud snoring has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail.
Christopher Casey, 56, of the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Moreland was hit with the prison sentence after he apologized in court to victim Robert Wallace’s family and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Casey and Wallace got into the fatal argument in January when Wallace, 62, went over to Casey’s unit next-door in their duplex — where they share a common bedroom wall — to complain about Casey’s noisy snoring, prosecutors said at the time.
Wallace pushed in his neighbor’s first-floor window and threatened to kill him over the snoring, prosecutors said.
The neighbors appeared to simmer down after 20 minutes of arguing through the window before Wallace offered to shake his counterpart’s hand and pay for surgery to stop Casey’s snoring, according to an affidavit obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Casey hid a military-style knife and Taser under a blanket before he opened his door to talk to Wallace, under the belief Wallace was not genuine about making up, Casey said in an interview with police, according to the affidavit.
He ended up fatally stabbing Wallace three times in the chest.
Casey’s lawyer had argued that his client was autistic and that that made it difficult for him to deal with the confrontation. Casey also was afraid of being hurt by Wallace, the lawyer said.
Casey, who at first was charged with third-degree murder, apologized in court to the victim’s family, calling the circumstances around the killing “unfortunate.”
His lawyer, James Lyons, said his client’s life was threatened multiple times before and that he was “a really good man who was not equipped to deal with this type of this sustained abuse and threats.
“He was terrified of this guy, and he believed that he had no option,” Lyons said.
Before the sentencing, Wallace’s relatives said the snoring was so loud that he couldn’t sleep and that the fatigue affected his life and job performance, the Inquirer reported.
Casey, who also pleaded guilty to possession of an instrument of crime, received a sentence of 11 and a 1/2 to 23 months in county jail but will be freed after 8 and a 1/2 months in jail, according to the publication.
His lawyer said he only has one month left to serve behind bars, given time served.
With Post wires
