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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995                   TAG: 9504270088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG                                LENGTH: Short

BOND REFUSED IN BRUTAL DEATH OF NEIGHBOR, 75

A Dayton man charged with stabbing and beating to death his 75-year-old neighbor is ineligible for bond, a judge said Wednesday.

General District Judge William Heatwole upheld a magistrate's denial of bond for Anthony Stephen May, 25, who was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of Mary Catherine Miller. Relatives found her body beneath her bed Sunday.

``We're confident that we've got the killer of this lady,'' said Lt. Dan Comer of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators turned up more than 100 pieces of evidence in a search of May's home, said Commonwealth's Attorney Douglas T. Stark. The evidence may lead to a charge of capital murder, which carries a possible death penalty, Stark added.

Authorities would not comment about a motive or say if a murder weapon had been found. Miller had been stabbed repeatedly and beaten with a blunt instrument, a state medical examiner said.

Robbery seemed unlikely, however, because valuables in plain sight were not taken, authorities said.

May was in the Rockingham County Jail pending a June 8 preliminary hearing.

- Associated Press

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB