On New Year's Day in 1995, the city of Roanoke, Virginia, was jolted by a brutal act of violence that claimed the life of 36-year-old Dale Jay Arnold and four others. The festive atmosphere of the holiday was shattered in a small carriage house apartment in the Old Southwest neighborhood, where a party turned into a scene of carnage. Arnold lived in the three-room apartment with his girlfriend, Susan Lynne Hutchinson, 44, who was also killed.
The evening had been filled with the sounds of celebration, with neighbors hearing loud music coming from the apartment throughout the night. However, in the early hours of January 1st, the sounds of merriment were replaced by the sharp retort of gunfire. Police were dispatched to the residence shortly after 4 a.m. following a neighbor's 911 call reporting suspected gunshots. Upon arrival, they discovered a gruesome scene. Three men were found deceased on the kitchen floor, while Arnold's girlfriend and another woman were found in the living room, having been shot as they seemingly rested on a sofa and a chair. Dale Jay Arnold was among the three men discovered in the kitchen.
The investigation quickly focused on a neighbor, 27-year-old Robert Michael May, who lived next door to the apartment where the killings took place. Witnesses reported seeing a man fleeing the scene shortly after the shots were fired. May was arrested later that day and subsequently confessed to the five murders. The motive for the mass shooting appeared to stem from a heated argument that erupted during the New Year's Eve party. May claimed that the dispute began over which branch of the military was tougher, the Navy or the Marines. He alleged that one of the men pulled a gun on him, prompting him to shoot in self-defense, a claim authorities disputed as no evidence of a second weapon was found.
Robert Michael May was charged with capital murder for the deaths of Dale Jay Arnold, Susan Lynne Hutchinson, Cynthia Ann LaPrade, 43, Daniel Barry Mason, 47, and Carl Leonard Stroop, 42. In a turn of events during the legal proceedings, May pleaded no contest to the charges. This plea acknowledged that the prosecution had enough evidence for a conviction without a formal admission of guilt. In August 1995, a Roanoke Circuit Judge sentenced May to five life terms plus 28 years in prison, with no possibility of parole. In a letter to the judge after his sentencing, May expressed a complex mix of relief and disappointment, stating that he had honestly wanted the death penalty. He wrote that the events of that night would haunt him for the rest of his life.
