James Dellavecchia

Lately I have been watching the latest season of Fear Thy Neighbor. I have always liked this show despite the fact that they do embellish some facts and even change some names sometimes. That being said I have never used any one source when I am researching a case. What I will say about this show in particular is that it will tell the story of how things lead to the ultimate crime. When you research these cases most of the time you will only hear about the last thing that happened between the neighbors. You may see it say that there had been feuding between the neighbors for years and that the police were familiar with the area because they had been called many times. Beyond that however most things simply revolve around the incident that more often than not ended in a murder.

Before I start getting into this story I want to point out something that remained confusing in my research. The television show showed the victims surname as Robins. When doing my research sometimes they do show the name as Robins but in other cases it is shown as Robbins. I was finally able to settle the situation by finally finding an obituary. However, for fair warning, if you begin searching this case yourself you will find the name spelled differently. In fact, even updates from the television show the name as Robbins.

James Dellavecchia had lived in the same neighborhood in Folsom Pennsylvania with his wife for decades. They raised at least one son together. The Robins family's backyard met up with the Dellavecchia backyard. James Robins and his wife had raised five children, three boys and two girls, in their home. James Robins would say that he did not believe that there had been any issues with Dellavecchia. Later evidence would be presented that Dellavecchia had held a grudge against the Robins family, in particular their son Scott, for years.

I believe that as we grow older our patience and tolerance grows thinner and although there was evidence that apparently even in the early years Dellavecchia had some anger issues, I believe this to be true of him also. The story that came out later was that when Scott Robins was a child James Dellavecchia believed he had stolen his son's bicycle. I never determined if this was true or not. The television show indicated that when the Robins children were young there were a few runs with Dellavecchia's son but minor, child things. Despite there being evidence that not all of the incidents actually involved Scott, but possibly his brothers, it seems that Dellavecchia believed it all to be Scott. But again, it seems that no one knew that Dellavecchia felt this way.

Time went on and the kids all grew up and moved out of the home. At some point Scott got married and became the stepfather to two children, Matthew and Kristen Snow. I am unsure at what point this occurred but James Robins decided to sell his home to Scott and his family. By all accounts Scott was excited to own his childhood home but things started getting bad pretty quickly. Since it is not clear exactly when Scott moved into the home I cannot say how long things went on with Dellavecchia. The television show indicated as if things started, and ended rather quickly. The way it was portrayed was that at the time Scott moved into the home his stepchildren were teenagers. It did portray that his stepson had a graduation party at the home because that became one of the issues that developed between Scott and Dellavecchia but it also indicated as if the children, especially Kristen, were still teenagers in 2011 when tragedy struck. However, in 2011 Kristen was twenty-three years old.

According to the show some of the things that caused issues between the two neighbors involved loud music, balls landing in yards and even a boat. I am going to touch on a few of these things but keep in mind that these were not things that I found in my research because again most things focused on events in 2011. I will start with the boat. This was something that Scott had got from a friend and he had it in the front of his house, which was not even on Dellavecchia's street, but the street behind him. There was indication that for a period of time the one side of the boat may have been a bit on the sidewalk. For some reason this infuriated Dellavecchia. He did not like the boat there at all and wanted it moved and he let Scott know. Scott, for his part, really did not care what Dellavecchia thought or wanted. It was said that Dellavecchia even tried to sabotage the boat thinking if it was damaged Scott would just get rid of it. That did not work so Dellavecchia called the police claiming it was a violation because it was on the sidewalk. The police showed up and simply asked Scott to move the boat a few inches so that the entire boat was on his property and not on the sidewalk. This incensed Dellavecchia.

When Scott's stepson Matthew graduated from high school his parents threw him a party in the backyard. Now, again, this incident was portrayed on the television show so I cannot say that things went down exactly as it was shown but Dellavecchia was upset about the noise and loud music and called the police. The show indicated that this occurred in the middle of the day and not into the evening or night, but again, I cannot say for sure. This of course upset Scott because they were simply having a celebration and by all indications it was not as if this was an every day occurrence. In fact, most of the other neighbors indicated that Scott and his family did their best not to irritate Dellavecchia and if he did become upset about an incident they attempted not to do that again.

One day Kristen and Matthew were in the yard basically playing wiffle ball. It was indicated that they were playing in a way that the ball should go towards their own house as opposed further in the yard and near Dellavecchia's home but one time Kristen hit a pop ball and it flew back and over the fence. Matthew was going to jump the fence to retrieve the ball but Dellavecchia beat him outside and forbid him for climbing over, telling him if he wanted his ball he must walk around the block. It was indicated after that the kids stopped playing in the back yard.

At some point then Scott decided to build a shed in his backyard. Whether he had done so to shield his backyard a bit from Dellavecchia who he was convinced was constantly watching or he had other reasons is unknown. During this time things got worse between Scott and Dellavecchia. Dellavecchia called the police several times while Scott was building his shed. Initially it was because Dellavecchia was convinced it was not within code or should be built in that particular area. Most people believe that he was simply upset about the shed because where it was being built it would prevent him from seeing over the fence and see what was going on at the Robins' home. He was informed that Scott had all of the proper permits and could continue to build it. Then the calls became about the noise. There was a noise ordinance that residents were to abide by and if Scott was working on the shed just a few minutes after the allotted time Dellavecchia was on the phone calling the police. Friends and family said that Scott starting making sure he was not past that time at all but the calls still came in. Law enforcement repeatedly told Dellavecchia Scott was doing anything wrong and to his dismay would do nothing.

Around 6:00 in the morning on October 10, 2011 Scott walked out of his house and headed to his work van to head to work. A co-worker, Rick Wallace was already in the van waiting for him. When it comes to Wallace some of the information is sketchy and will say that Wallace came to pick up Scott, while other information says Wallace was there for a ride. I concluded that the truth is the latter because Wallace was sitting in the passenger seat of the van. As Scott got to the van and opened the door gunfire erupted. Scott turned and saw James Dellavecchia who was carrying a semi-automatic rifle. Scott yelled at Wallace to run as bullets were flying. First Wallace hid under the van but when he saw the shooters feet headed his way he made his way out and began to run down the street. Dellavecchia saw him and fired the gun in his direction. Kristen was the only other member of the household home that early morning and she went out to see what was going on. As she saw Scott laying on the ground next to the van and she started to go to him Dellavecchia turned the gun towards her and fired. She fell to the ground. Dellavecchia walked over to where Kristen laid, pointed the gun at her head and stared at her for a few seconds and then walked away. There was a report somewhere that alleged that Dellavecchia actually pulled the trigger when the gun was pointed at Kristen's head and that the gun was either empty or had jammed but the information I presented here came from an appeal record based on what Kristen testified in court.

A neighbor across the street called 911 and then headed over to the Robins' home. When all was said and done Scott Robins had been shot four times (some reports say six) and Kristen Snow had been shot once in the stomach. Both were critically injured. When authorities arrived and they were preparing to move the victims both were still alive. An officer asked Scott who had done this and he told them it was James Dellavecchia. This was considered a “dying declaration” when it comes to the justice system. We will discuss what this means in a bit.

While the victims were taken to the hospital the scene was examined and some officers headed to the Dellavecchia home. Before getting to the home officers called the home and Dellavecchia's wife answered the phone. She was informed as to who they were and she was asked to come out of the home. When she came outside she was asked if anyone else was in the home and she stated that her husband was in the home and in the shower. Officers entered the home and by the time they did Dellavecchia was out of the shower and in the process of getting dressed. He offered no resistance when he was arrested and taken into custody. The officers saw a few odd things inside the home and worked on getting a search warrant.

Meanwhile things were still busy, and a bit crazy at both the hospital and the local jail. Two hours after arriving at the hospital Scott Robins succumbed to his injuries. Kristen was in critical condition and was placed in a medical coma for a period of about six weeks. She had more than a dozen surgeries over the next year and a half and even more later. She would have permanent damage to her intestines and to one of her legs. She was forced to have a colostomy bag and more than likely would never be able to have children.

At the police station it is not clear if Dellavecchia was initially questioned at all but if so it appears he said very little. He was placed in a jail cell. Almost immediately it was said that the seventy-two year old rammed, head first into the bars of the cell and had to be rushed to the hospital where he suffered what was described as a “severe head injury.” The following day, while laying in the hospital, Dellavecchia was charged with first degree murder, criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault.

At his trial in September of 2012 he claimed to have no memory of the actual shooting. He said he remembered walking to the Robins home and carrying a gun. But then he said there was a struggle and the gun discharged. He went on to claim that he believed he was shot and went home, hid the weapon and showered. Not only does this sound ridiculous, it also was proven to be untrue. Well, I guess we cannot say that it was all ridiculous and untrue. He did walk to the Robins home and he was carrying a gun. First, why I say it was ridiculous because you cannot very well say you do not remember the shooting and then describe what you are saying happened. Secondly even if there was a struggle, which witnesses proved this to be untrue, Dellavecchia fired the gun thirteen times. In addition to Scott identifying Dellavecchia as the shooter before he died, Kristen was able to do the same. I do want to point out that despite the fact that the television show Fear Thy Neighbor indicated everyone in the house had seen and knew what Dellavecchia looked like prior to the shooting it was said that when Dellavecchia stood over Kristen it was the first time she had seen him, but she was able to identify him later. Even still in their closing argument the defense attempted to call Kristen a liar saying that other witnesses placed Dellavecchia elsewhere at the time of the shooting. They also claimed that Scott had punched Dellavecchia that morning. Again, ridiculous and untrue. I am completely confused how the defense could argue he was not there but then say Scott had punched him. Which is it??

On September 28, 2012 James Dellavecchia was convicted on all charges. In December of 2012 he was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder of Scott Robins. He was also given an additional sentence of 7-14 years for the others charges. At his sentencing the judge chastised him for his lack of remorse for his actions.

A few appeals were filed and much of them dealt with Scott's dying declaration. If you know anything about the law and court at all then you have heard things like “hearsay is not allowed” in trials. Of all the things involved in learning the law hearsay laws are the most confusing. Hearsay is ANYTHING said outside of a courtroom and not under oath. But, there are several exceptions to those rules. One is called an “excited utterance” another is called a “dying declaration” which is what was in this case. The idea is that when someone is dying and asked questions their responses are truthful. Some attorney's will argue these are not constitutional because a person has the right to face their accuser and yet when someone dies they are not able to testify in court. However, the courts have time and time again ruled these dying declarations as being constitutional. Scott had told the officer who asked him who had shot him that it was James Dellavecchia but Scott's neighbor and Kristen also heard him say this when it was said.

Sadly Kristen Snow died on May 24, 2019 at the age of thirty. Some reports say that her death was a result of the injuries she suffered in 2011 but I cannot fully confirm this. In essence Dellavecchia could have also been later charged with her murder if in fact her death was caused from her injuries. By then he was well into his 80's and he was not going to get out of jail so there really seemed to be no point.

Although I have no details on things in June of 2020 James Dellavecchia allegedly committed suicide while in prison.