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Onstott tries to dig out of jail

The sex offender accused of killing 13-year-old Sarah Lunde was found trying to scratch his way through a wall at the Orient Road jail Saturday morning.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published May 16, 2005

TAMPA - Accused child murderer David Onstott, already facing the possibility of life in prison or death, was charged Monday with another felony: attempting to escape from the county jail.

Deputies on Saturday caught Onstott, housed in a one-man cell away from the general population since his arrest last month, trying to scratch his way through a wall at Orient Road jail, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

Deputy Kevin Brown heard scratching noises coming from Onstott's cell at about 4:30 a.m.

He and another deputy found that Onstott, accused of sexually battering and murdering 13-year-old Sarah Lunde of Ruskin, had scratched into the wall of his concrete block cell with a towel rack.

Investigators believe Onstott, 36, pried off the 13-inch metal towel holder welded to the desk in his cell.

By the time he was caught, he had managed to scrape out a hole about 12 inches long and less than an inch deep, according to a sheriff's report.

Onstott admitted to deputies that he was trying to escape.

Onstott was arrested April 18 and charged with the murder of Lunde, whose body was found April 16 - submerged in a pond on an abandoned fish farm near her home.

Authorities charged Onstott with murder, sexual battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

State Attorney Mark Ober has said he likely will seek the death penalty.

[Last modified May 16, 2005, 18:49:23]