A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to almost a year in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of his neighbor following a dispute that authorities said was over loud snoring.
Christopher Casey, 56, of Upper Morland was sentenced last week in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in county jail followed by three years’ probation after pleading guilty to the manslaughter charge and possession of an instrument of crime.
Casey was originally charged with third-degree murder in the death of 62-year-old Robert Wallace, who lived next-door to him in a duplex and with whom he shared a common wall.
Investigators said the two men were known to Upper Moreland Police due to ongoing arguments, including arguments about Casey's loud snoring, which Wallace could hear through the shared wall of the two residences.
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Officials said in this incident Wallace showed up at Casey's residence while Casey was eating dinner, threatened to kill him over his snoring and removed Casey's window screen that had been by the front door.
The two men got into an argument and Casey used the large military-style knife to stab Wallace several times, officials said.
Relatives of the victim said he had been unable to sleep due to the noise and his fatigue had affected his life and ability to work. Casey apologized to them in court, calling the fatal argument “unfortunate.”
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Defense attorney James Lyons said his client's life had been threatened multiple times and he was “a really good man who was not equipped to deal with this type of this sustained abuse and threats.”
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