Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK AND DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At an arraignment in Roanoke General District Court, Judge Julian Raney ordered that Robert Michael May, 27, be held without bond.
May is charged with murdering a woman early Sunday when a drunken New Year's party erupted in gunfire. Authorities say he has confessed to killing four other people and that additional charges are pending.
May reportedly told friends that he fired only after a gun was pulled on him during an argument at a 41/2 Street Southwest carriage house apartment. Police did not find any guns at the residence and said there was no indication a second weapon was involved.
After May filled out court papers Tuesday stating that he had no job, no income and did not receive public assistance, Raney appointed the public defender's office to represent him.
Public Defender Ray Leven said lawyers from his office have spoken to May in the Roanoke City Jail. "From what I understand, he's in pretty rough shape," Leven said. "He's pretty upset about what happened."
Three days after the shooting rampage, friends portrayed May as a loyal friend and an eccentric, whose temper only flared when he became drunk.
As details gradually emerge about the suspect and the five victims, one thing is apparent - alcohol often caused disorder in their lives and escalated the tension at the New Year's Eve party.
The six were neighbors. Dale Arnold, 36, and Susan Hutchinson, 44, lived in the carriage house behind May's apartment. Cynthia LaPrad, 43, Carl Stroop, 42, and Daniel Mason, 47, resided in an apartment at 406 Mountain Ave. S.W.
The victims were known as partiers throughout their Old Southwest neighborhood. And like May, each had been arrested for being drunk in public on numerous occasions.
Friends say May struggled with alcoholism, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and sometimes succumbing to the temptation of beer or liquor. When he got drunk, May became a different person, they say, sometimes becoming belligerent and often "blacking out."
The shooting that happened around 3 a.m. Sunday is still a blur, May has told friends. He remembers shooting one of the men, but details are sketchy after that, said one longtime friend, James Day.
"He knows it happened, he knows he did it, but he doesn't remember it," Day said.
May - a wiry man with long, blond hair - has told friends that New Year's Eve was the best and worst night of his life.
A friend who asked not to be identified said May provided this account of the night's events in a telephone conversation after he was arrested:
It began as an enjoyable evening with his girlfriend, one of the few times they hadn't bickered. They spent some time at First Night, a no-alcohol party in downtown Roanoke, and later returned to May's apartment at 427 Highland Ave.
But then, May told the friend, he was beckoned to the festivities at his neighbors' carriage house. The partiers told him they had a half-gallon of liquor and needed some help polishing it off.
At some point, May had taken a .40-caliber gun from a drunken friend that he had helped to bed. It was that gun that police believe May drew when he argued with the three men at the carriage house. But exactly what incited the fight is unclear.
The friend May talked to on the phone, and others, say May told them that one of the men pulled a gun on him, that he shot that man and then continued to pull the trigger.
"May told me that on his way out he realized there were two more people who could identify him, so he shot them," the friend said. "He said he pulled the gun on himself, but when he pulled the trigger it clicked. It didn't have any more bullets."
Police found the three men lying on the kitchen floor. The two women were found in the living room. Stroop was shot once in the chest, said Assistant Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Massello. Each of the other four victims had been shot in the head and suffered other gunshot wounds.
May told the friend he fled the house and ran to his apartment, where his girlfriend was asleep. He said he told his girlfriend that he would never see her again and that he loved her. He escaped through the window, ultimately making his way to his stepfather's home on Windsor Avenue Southwest. Police arrested him there Sunday afternoon.
Throughout, May has called on his friends for support. Since his arrest, he has recounted to friends his fear of jail and his disbelief of what happened during the early hours of New Year's Day.
Tuesday, plastic gloves from crime scene investigators littered the outside of the carriage house where the melee took place. In the cramped three-room apartment, blankets covered dried blood on the kitchen floor. In the living room, where the women's bodies were found, candy canes hung from the walls, the only remnants of the holiday party.
Friends say they continue to struggle with the accusation that May is a murderer. They have rallied around him, saying he has been wrongly depicted as a devil-worshipper. His fascination with bones and skulls was how he showed his love for nature, they say.
He began painting cow and horse skulls with Southwestern designs in 1991 and later made jewelry and wind chimes from the bones of dead animals, said his friend Day. It was a way to occupy his time and keep him from drinking.
"He didn't kill animals," Day said. "And he wasn't into Satanism. He believed in God."
Day said May told him in a telephone call from jail Monday night that he was sorry for what happened and "that he can't believe he screwed up so many people's lives."
If charged with capital murder, May could face the death penalty. Prosecutors said they are continuing to determine what charges to bring.
"He's going to be charged with [killing] the rest of them, but it's just a question of how and when we will do it," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom, who will prosecute May.
As he was led to court in handcuffs, May glared at photographers and journalists and spoke only to complain about their presence.
When Judge Raney asked if he had any objection to cameras in the courtroom, he said, "Yes, I do. I feel I'm already getting unfair coverage in the newspaper."
But Raney allowed journalists to photograph the arraignment, which lasted only a few minutes as he informed May of the charge against him and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Jan. 20.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB