Teen admits plan to hire person to kill witnesses

Scott Lang pleads guilty to trying to find someone to kill the wife and daughter of the man he was convicted of murdering.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

CLEARWATER -- Scott Lang, the teen sentenced to life in prison for shooting to death Clearwater resident Richard Hosking, has pleaded guilty to charges he tried to hire someone to kill Hosking's wife and daughter while he awaited trial.

Lang, 18, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of solicitation to commit murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, which will run concurrent with the life sentence he received in September.

In August, a jury took an hour and 20 minutes to convict Lang of killing Hosking, 55, who was the assistant director of the Pasco County Health Department. Lang had broken into Hosking's Clearwater home on May 22, 2001 and took a gun from his safe.

Lang knew Hosking and his family because he attended their church, Hope Presbyterian Church in Clearwater. Hosking and his family had helped Lang, a youth with a troubled past, and Hosking's daughter had become his friend.

Lang had gotten into trouble for stealing from a church member and was wanted by the police for questioning when he broke into the Hosking home that day. He broke into Hosking's safe and removed his .45-caliber handgun.

When Hosking came home for lunch from a workshop, Lang confronted him then shot him in the back. When Hosking's daughter came home from school, Lang held her hostage then briefly held her mother hostage when she came home from work.

Lang then climbed into Hosking's car and drove off, leading detectives on a three-day manhunt. Relying on e-mails he sent to friends, detectives tracked Lang to Statesboro, Ga., where he was born. He was arrested in a movie theater.

While awaiting trial, investigators learned, Lang was trying to find someone to kill Hosking's wife and daughter, key witnesses for the prosecution. When detectives got wind of his intentions, they set up a tape-recorded rendezvous via telephone in which he tried to hire someone to kill the Hoskings.

The victim's son, Michael Hosking, said he was surprised Lang pleaded guilty, though he said the family is relieved because it will spare them another trial.

"It came as a shock to me," he said. "He's been wanting to drag this out and stay in the media spotlight."

Lang has appealed his murder conviction to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. In the meantime, he has been ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to a compensation fund for victims.

In December, the new Pinellas County Health Department in downtown St. Petersburg was named after Richard Hosking, who spent 30 years working in public health.

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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