A suburban Philadelphia man has been charged in the fatal stabbing of his neighbor, one he had been arguing with for a year and a half over loud snoring that could be heard through the walls of their duplex apartments.
Authorities say Christopher James Casey, 55, surprised his nemesis by pulling a military-style knife out on him and plunging it into his chest.
Christopher James Casey, 55, of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, was charged Thursday, Jan. 18, with third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and possessing a crime instrument in connection to the Jan. 14 death of his next-door neighbor, Robert Wallace.
Police say Casey, who spoke to detectives at Abington Hospital on the evening of the stabbing, said the 62-year-old Wallace came to Casey’s side of the duplex in Upper Moreland Township to put an end to their ongoing “personal issues.”
According to the investigation, detectives were told Wallace showed up at Casey’s side during the evening while Casey was eating dinner and removed the screen from the window — which was accessible from the porch — and then opened that window. Casey left his meal and went to the window, where he and Wallace got into an argument. The argument subsided, but not enough to make the suspect feel safe, considering their history of volatile arguments.
Casey told authorities his neighbor eventually calmed down and said he wanted to reconcile after months of disagreements. The neighbor even offered to help pay for Casey’s nasal surgery due to his snoring.
Instead of accepting the olive branch, the homeowner attacked the neighbor with a knife and stun gun when he unlocked his front door, causing injuries that led to the neighbor’s death at the local hospital. The neighbor was stabbed multiple times in the chest.
Casey called emergency dispatchers at 6:34 p.m., saying that Wallace had broken his window and that something bad had happened in his home.
“I attacked my neighbor,” Casey told 911. “He came to attack me.”
“Casey described Wallace as being very ‘volatile,’ ‘very strong,’ ‘he’s angry’ type of person,” an officer wrote in the charging documents, according to The Associated Press.
They added that Casey said he “did not believe Wallace’s intention of ‘try to work this out’ and ‘shake hands’ and try ‘to fix this situation’ was genuine. As a result, Casey decided to ‘surprise him’ by stabbing Wallace with a knife.”
A police press release stated that responding officers found Wallace 50 feet from Casey’s home, lying bleeding on the ground. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:06 p.m.
Casey was also injured and was taken to the hospital. He only sustained a self-inflicted stab wound in his right thigh.
The large military-style knife involved in the altercation was later recovered by officers from the Upper Moreland Police Department. It was located on Casey’s front porch, alongside a cellphone.
Additionally, law enforcement discovered blood both inside and outside the suspect’s residence. Officers observed a window screen that had been taken off from a window near the front door, and the window was open upon the arrival of the police.
A joint investigation by Upper Moreland Township Police and Montgomery County Detectives confirmed the two had been warring over Casey’s loud snoring, which Wallace could hear through the wall separating the men’s respective bedrooms.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Wendy Rothstein presided over Casey’s arraignment, setting his bail at $1 million in cash. The preliminary hearing is slated for Jan. 29 before Magisterial District Judge Thomas Murt.
