A Montco man was sentenced to jail for killing his neighbor during a dispute over his snoring

An Upper Moreland man pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for stabbing his neighbor to death during an argument over his snoring earlier this year.

Christopher Casey, 56, was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in county jail, as well as three years’ probation, as part of an agreement with prosecutors. That negotiation spared Casey from a charge of third-degree murder, the most serious count he faced in the January death of Robert Wallace.

Casey stabbed Wallace, 62, with a military-style knife after Wallace pushed Casey’s first-floor window in and threatened to kill him over his snoring, according to prosecutors. The two men lived next door to each other in a duplex on Fritch Road, and their bedrooms shared a common wall.

Casey’s attorney, James Lyons, said Wallace had been bullying Casey for more than a year, and had threatened to kill him multiple times, including hours before the stabbing.

“He’s a really good man who was not equipped to deal with this type of this sustained abuse and threats,” Lyons said of Casey, whose autism, he said, makes it difficult to navigate confrontation. “He was terrified of this guy, and he believed that he had no option.”

During Casey’s sentencing before Montgomery County Court Judge Risa Vetri Ferman on Wednesday, Wallace’s family said he had been unable to sleep due to the excessive noise, and that his fatigue had affected his life and ability to work.

Casey apologized to them, calling the fatal argument an “unfortunate incident.”

Upper Moreland police said in the affidavit of probable cause for Casey’s arrest that they had previously responded to multiple calls for disputes between Casey, who lives alone, and Wallace over Casey’s snoring in the 18 months before the stabbing.

On Jan. 14, Wallace walked over to Casey’s house, knocked on his window and yelled that he was going to kill him, Casey told police in an interview. Wallace then ripped the screen off the window and pushed it open, arguing with Casey for about 20 minutes through the window.

Casey told police that Wallace eventually calmed down, and offered to shake his hand and pay for corrective surgery to help curb his neighbor’s snoring, the affidavit said.

Casey then moved to unlock his door and speak face-to-face with Wallace. Before doing so, he grabbed the knife and a Taser, and hid them in his hands under a blanket, the affidavit said. He stabbed Wallace at least three times in the chest, stabbing himself once accidentally in the leg in the process.

Wallace collapsed, and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

In a later interview with police, Casey said he stabbed Wallace because he believed Wallace wasn’t being genuine and feared that Wallace was going to attack him. Wallace was much larger than Casey, and had previously acted violently toward him, the affidavit said.

As a condition of his sentence, Casey is allowed to be freed after 8½ months in jail, of which he has one month left to serve, according to Lyons.

Upon his release, he must find a new, stable address; he is barred from returning to his apartment on Fritch Road.