Montco Man Going To Trial In 'Snoring' Killing

JENKINTOWN, PA —A Montgomery County man who is accused of killing his neighbor over complaints about his snoring will go to trial on felony charges with the mid-January crime, a judge ruled Thursday.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office had charged Christopher Casey, 55, with 55, third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of possessing an instrument of a crime in the stabbing death of Robert Wallace.

Casey had a preliminary hearing Thursday before Jenkintown District Justice Christopher Cerski.

No trial date has been set.

The stabbing took place in Casey's home within the 300 block of Fitch Road, in the Hatboro section of Upper Moreland Township.

The two were known to police due to "ongoing arguments," the District Attorney's Office said at the time of the crime.

The bedrooms of the two homes have a shared wall and Wallace, who lived with his elderly mother, had complained about Casey's snoring at night, according to court documents.

During Thursday's preliminary hearing, Montgomery County Detective Mark Mimzola, who took Casey’s statement the night of the murder, was the lone witness to testify.

Mimzola said that Casey admitted that he stabbed Wallace who lived next door, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

Casey’s attorney, James Lyons, claims his client has diagnosed development disabilities including autism spectrum disorder, and that Casey was genuinely afraid of Wallace, the newspaper reported.

Responding Upper Moreland Township Police officers found Wallace with stab wounds in his chest, about 50 feet from the home near the intersection of Winner and Fitch roads, officials said. First responders transported him to Abington Hospital for emergency surgery, and a doctor pronounced him dead.

Casey is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.