Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 2, 1995                   TAG: 9501030112
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ODD NEIGHBOR'S RECORD INCLUDES THEFT CHARGES

Several residents of Old Southwest said the name seemed appropriate for the long-haired man who sometimes shot firecrackers at passers-by and was fond of collecting animal carcasses and making jewelry from their bones.

But one man who grew up with Robert Michael May was having a hard time Sunday believing May could have done what police have accused him of.

Tracy Shockley said May, 27, was not the kind of person who went looking for trouble. "But if trouble came to him, he would deal with it, or send it on down the road," Shockley said.

"He's not known as a violent person," Shockley said.

Police, however, say that May, who lived in an upstairs apartment at 427 Highland Ave., has confessed to one of the most violent killings in Roanoke history - the shooting of five people as they celebrated next door into the early hours of the New Year.

Shockley said May enjoyed getting out in the woods, either hiking or on a trail bike. If he came across a dead animal, Shockley said, May would pick it up and take it home with him.

After cleaning the carcasses, May would make decorations with the bones - painting cow skulls different colors, Shockley said, and making necklaces out of smaller bones.

May has not held a steady job in recent months, but neighbors said he did some painting work for his landlord on the Highland Avenue house and the adjacent carriage house on 4 1/2 Street where the killings happened.

According to court records, May has had a number of run-ins with Roanoke police over the years.

In 1988, he was charged with one count of statutory burglary and two counts of grand larceny. The burglary charge was later dropped, and the theft charges were reduced to petty larceny misdemeanors. May was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

In 1990, he was convicted of possessing marijuana, a misdemeanor, and received a 30-day suspended sentence and a $50 fine and was placed on probation for 12 months.

He was convicted of another petty larceny charge in 1993, and a charge of carrying a concealed weapon was dismissed in 1990.

Court records also show that May was charged with malicious wounding in 1992, but a judge dismissed the charge at a preliminary hearing in Roanoke General District Court.