Marty and Katie Corbitt say their house was set on fire by a disgruntled neighbor who didn't like how long their grass had grown. INSIDE EDITION sits down with the family to find out what led to this horrific event.
This family is the victim of what could be one of the worst neighbor from hell cases ever.
Marty and Katie Corbitt say their house was torched by the homeowner who lives across the street.
The whole nightmare was captured on a horrific 911 recording.
"He's pouring gas through my front door! And he's [expletive] lighting it! Holy [expletive]!
And wait till you hear why they say the neighbor burned their house down.
Marty Corbitt said, "The grass was too tall."
They didn't mow the lawn enough.
Corbitt was home near Atlanta, Georgia with his three-year-old daughter, Kylie, when the nightmare happened.
He says the neighbor, who had already complained about Corbitt's grass, pounded on his door.
Corbitt recalled, "It was loud. Angry."
Corbitt called 911. At first, he was calm.
Corbitt told the operator, "I think I need the police up here. My neighbor's trying to kick in my door."
Then, it got really scary.
Corbitt told INSIDE EDITION, “That's when I saw him come walking around the house with two gas cans. He picked up a brick and threw it straight through the window as hard as he could.”
While on the phone with 911, Corbit was yelling, "Holy [expletive], he just broke my glass. He's crazy. He’s pouring gas on my floor, hurry up! This [expletive] is trying to burn my house down! He's pouring gas through my front door and he's [expletive] lighting it! Holy [expletive]!"
Cops say the neighbor "...lit the gas with a lighter, knowing that both Corbitt and his daughter were still in the house."
You could hear Corbitt trying to save little Kylie from the flames on the 911 call, saying, "Kylie, come on, now. Holy [expletive]! Come on. Holy [expletive]! Stay low! Stay low, baby, stay low."
They made it out alive, still on with 911.
Corbitt told the 911 operator, “Y'all need to hurry, my house is burning fast. He just set my house on fire."
The 911 operator asked, "He does not know where you are, correct?"
Corbitt replied, "I hope not. I've got a little girl with me. I’m not leaving her alone with a psychopath on the loose."
The neighbor, Phillip Bennett, who once served time for manslaughter, was treated for burns to his hands. He was charged with arson and terrorist threats.
Kearston Gill, Bennett's lawyer, said, "He was on medication and the doctor did tweak some of his medicaton which certainly altered his typical behavior."
The Corbitts lost everything they had in the fire.
Katie Corbitt said, “We're pretty much homeless now. "
They have to rebuild their lives all because, they say, their neighbor didn't like the look of their front lawn.
