ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, August 24, 1996              TAG: 9608260039
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE 
SOURCE: Associated Press

TEEN KILLED AT GIRLS' SLEEPOVER NEIGHBOR CHARGED IN RAPES, STABBINGS

Curtis Lee White was charged with capital murder, rape and other crimes in the 4 a.m. rampage, which ended after the teen-age brother of one of the victims awoke and tried to intervene, police said.

``He appeared in the room where the girls were staying and told them to take off their clothes, that he was going to rape them,'' Chesapeake Detective Richard Black said.

White, 19, then stabbed Michelle Harper, 17, to death with a kitchen knife and wounded the two teen-age girls with her, Black said. White also raped the other girls, then stabbed the 17-year-old boy, Black said.

The surviving teen-agers were treated at Chesapeake General Hospital and released, said Mindy Hughes, a hospital spokeswoman.

White was arrested at his house across the street moments after the stabbings, police said. At least one of the girls was able to identify the attacker, police said.

The house sits along a street of middle-class homes with neatly clipped lawns. The neighborhood is in the large Camelot subdivision, with street names such as ``Guinevere,'' ``Lancelot'' and ``Sir Galahad.''

A neighbor, Laura Wilkins, said the neighborhood is a quiet one that was shocked by the crimes. ``When it happens this close to home, how much closer is it going to hit?'' she said.

City Magistrate Gary Mason said White was charged with capital murder, two counts of forcible sodomy, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count each of abduction, rape, attempted rape and statutory burglary.

White was being held without bond in Chesapeake City Jail. Arraignment was set for Monday in Chesapeake Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Harper died at the scene, police said. She had also been sexually assaulted, according to Chesapeake Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr.

Black said one of the girls and the boy lived in the two-story house.

A neighbor, Elaine Person, identified the injured boy as Robert Smith, 17. The boy's twin sister had dated White for several years, and was also among the injured, Person said.

The hospital spokeswoman would say only that the victims were two girls, ages 13 and 17, and a 17-year-old boy. She would not release their names.

LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  (headshots) Harper, White.
KEYWORDS: FATALITY