Prosecutors says caretaker may have tried to poison man

Monday, April 20, 1998 | 10:26 a.m.

Charles Michael May, 38, is charged with murder in the death of Robert Whitmore, 79. May also faces six counts of forging checks that were written to himself but drawn on Whitmore's account.

May's trial before Washoe District Judge Janet Berry was to begin on Monday.

Whitmore's partially decomposed body was found near Frenchman's Lake in California last May after he had been missing for at least two weeks.

May, who was his caretaker, told police he last saw Whitmore on May 5, when Whitmore said he was going to go visit a friend.

The search for Whitmore intensified when blood was found at his home and his car turned up at the Reno airport.

His body was found later in a military-style tool box at Frenchman Cove Valley. The cause of death was attributed to a beating.

Court documents indicate prosecutors believe the defendant may first have tried to poison Whitmore with cyanide gas.

Berry has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday to decide if jurors will be allowed to hear evidence of the alleged poisoning attempt.

archive