Life-plus for man who killed neighbor over noise

A Delaware County man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for the October 2011 shooting death of his Ridley Township neighbor.

James Dellavecchia, 73, did not react as Judge Michael F.X. Coll handed down the mandatory sentence and added up to 14 years for additional charges.

"What this does ... is triple-guarantee no matter what he will never be paroled," Coll said.

It was before dawn on Oct. 10, that Dellavecchia lay in wait for his Ridley Township neighbor. When Scott Robins, left his house and headed to a nearby van to go to work, Dellavecchia stepped out and began firing a .40-caliber semiautomatic Ruger.

Robins was hit four times in the arms and torso.

The victim's stepdaughter, Kristen Snow, who is now 23, was wounded when she came out to check on her father. She still faces further surgeries for her wounds.

A coworker of Robins' at Metropolitan Fire Protection Co., Richard Wallace, was waiting in the van and was able to escape unharmed even after Dellavecchia shot at him as he ran.

In all, 13 shots were fired.

After the shooting, Dellavecchia went back into his house to shower, where he was arrested by police.

While in a township holding cell, he put his hands into his pockets and ran headfirst into the bars of the door.

Robins was rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center and died about two hours after the shooting, but he was able to give police a statement implicating his neighbor.

That statement was instrumental in convicting Dellavecchia.

Without the statement "this defendant would have gotten away with murder," Coll said.

Dellavecchia bought the handgun about a month before the shooting, police said at the time.

Police had fielded calls from Dellavecchia for months about loud music and noise while Robins was building a shed. Robins had the necessary permits and was building during approved hours.

At the time, neighbors said a old grudge, from when Robins was a child, may have played a part in the incident. Dellavecchia accused Robins of stealing his son's bicycle.

Dellavecchia's attorney said he would appeal the case.