Berks defendant sentenced to life in prison for sword murder

An Exeter Township man was sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a man with a sword in 2021 over a $300 drug debt.

William Smoot, 50, was also sentenced Wednesday by Berks County Judge Patrick T. Barrett to 20 to 40 years in prison, followed by a life sentence.

The jury found Smoot guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and related charges on Oct. 10.

According to the police:

Smoot and Joseph Lachina, 31, of Reading, lured Anthony DelCollo, 28, of Exeter Township, to Rotary Park in Lower Alsace Township on October 25, 2021, under the pretense that Smoot would sell him drugs.

After parking his pickup, DelCollo got into a small SUV with Smoot in the driver’s seat. Lachina was hiding in the rear storage compartment. After a short conversation, Smoot got out of the driver’s seat and approached DelCollo with a sword in his hand.

While Lachina held DelCollo down, Smoot stabbed him twice in the back with a sword. Smoot used the sword, still on DelCollo’s back, to push DelCollo out of the vehicle.

As DelCollo wound up on the ground, Smoot continued to slash him with the sword.

Lachina drove away in DelCollo’s pickup truck while Smoot left in the SUV.

DelCollo’s body was found later that day on List Road by a passerby who saw him and called the police. The body was found on an asphalt area about 20 meters from the road.

A woman who was present at the time of the murder identified Smoot and Lachina as the people responsible. They were charged in December 2021.

Lachina, who will be tried along with Smoot, pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. He was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison.