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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 30, 1995                   TAG: 9507310087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WITNESSES TO TESTIFY IN MAY MURDER TRIAL

Even though Robert M. May has pleaded no contest to killing five people during a drunken New Year's Eve party, prosecutors have called more than 30 witnesses to appear in Roanoke Circuit Court this week.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said he had been preparing for a jury trial up until May's arraignment on Friday, and that he still plans to call some of the subpoenaed witnesses when the trial resumes Monday.

Branscom said he will spend most of the day presenting evidence before asking Judge Clifford Weckstein to accept the plea and convict May.

A key part of the evidence will be May's tape-recorded confession to a police detective, in which he said the shooting started with a drunken argument between two men over which branch of the military - the Navy or the Marines - was tougher.

May, 27, said he shot in self-defense after one of the men pulled a gun on him when he tried to stop the argument. Police, however, have said there was no indication of a second weapon involved in the incident.

Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell has said that May's account of the killing, which he repeated to a television reporter last month, is a "fairy tale" compared to the evidence prosecutors plan to present Monday.

If the case goes as expected, prosecutors will complete the first phase of the trial by the end of the day Monday. On Tuesday, May will return for a sentencing phase in which Weckstein will be asked to decide between a life and death sentence.

Public Defender Ray Leven has said he intends to present mitigating evidence in an attempt to prevent a death sentence. In order for May to be sentenced to death, prosecutors must show his crime was especially vile or that he is a continuing threat.

May is accused of killing 36-year-old Dale Arnold and 44-year-old Susan Hutchinson at an upstairs carriage house apartment they shared in Old Southwest, as well as their party guests - Cynthia LaPrade, 43; her boyfriend Daniel Mason, 47, and Carl Stroop, 42.

The men were found lying on the kitchen floor amid what police said were signs of a violent struggle, while the two women were found sitting in the living room, both shot in the head.

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by CNB