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August 23, 2008
Onstott Gets 'Maximum Punishment'
Topics: NewsBy THOMAS W. KRAUSE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 23, 2008
TAMPA - Sarah Michelle Lunde's mother asked a judge on Friday to put David Lee Onstott in prison for the rest of his life.
If he gets out, Kelly May told the judge, he will kill someone else.
Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta seemed to agree. He turned to Onstott.
"By your own words, you are a danger to this community," the judge said. "You are a volcano. ... You deserve the maximum punishment that I can give you."
He sentenced Onstott to life in prison. In Florida, there is no chance for parole.
Onstott's attorneys had asked for leniency for the man who was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for the slaying of 13-year-old Sarah.
Onstott said some words of his own, his first public statements since his 2005 arrest.
Onstott thanked his friends and family for their support and said he was sorry for the pain he caused them. Then, he addressed May, a woman he once saw casually during a three-month sexual relationship.
"For what it's worth," he said. "I'm sure she don't want to hear it: Kelly, you know, my condolences. I'm sorry."
Kelly shot back.
"No you're not," she said.
During two weeks of trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over key pieces of evidence. With no DNA or fingerprints linking Onstott to Sarah, the case was built mainly on conversations between Onstott and his mother, Onstott and his former wife and Onstott and a deputy at the jail.
Some of the most contentious arguments in court may not have had much bearing in the jury room, according to one of the jurors.
Karen Dill said the jury was thoughtful, hardworking and extremely conscientious over 13 hours of deliberation spread over two days.
Fairly early in the deliberations, Dill said, all the jurors seemed to agree that Onstott killed Sarah. Their next task was much more important: to determine whether the evidence proved that he did. Without that, they would not convict.
"We all said we're here for a reason," Dill said. "We chose to enter this trial with a fair mind."
The jurors often referred to the jury instructions handed to them by the judge. They paid close attention to them and read them "over and over and over again," Dill said.
They paid especially close attention to the words "credible evidence" and "reasonable doubt."
"We had to discuss what was there and what wasn't there," she said.
Recording Was Key
The key piece of evidence, Dill said, was the recording of Onstott speaking to his mother. The recording was about 11/2 hours long. The jurors took five hours to listen to it.
"We stopped, we replayed, we discussed, we relistened," Dill said. "We tried to discuss what it was and what it meant."
The jurors were handed a transcript in court to help them follow along. The judge told them it was only a guide and the recording - not the transcript - was the evidence. Dill said the transcript was not entirely accurate and the jurors did not pay attention to it.
One of the points of contention among the attorneys in the courtroom was a section of the tape where Onstott leans in to speak to his mother. Prosecutors contend he said: "Because I killed her."
Defense attorneys argued that the tape was too muffled to make out what he said.
Dill said some of the jurors, when they first listened, agreed with prosecutors. When they listened to it several times, however, they agreed not to consider it in their deliberations.
As a group, they decided they would not give credence to anything unless they were sure they could make it out entirely.
"We heard what he said," Dill said. "He did not say that. He said: 'Because I feel it.'"
Eventually, the jurors all agreed that the totality of evidence did prove that Onstott killed Sarah. Almost immediately, Dill said, they agreed it was not premeditated murder.
"We could not agree there was enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that it was first-degree" murder, she said. "We also threw out manslaughter right away."
Eventually, all agreed that Onstott committed second-degree murder, meaning he acted with a depraved mind but not premeditation.
"We were able to gather enough information that we were all able to agree with what we had beyond a reasonable doubt," she said.
Dill said jurors also paid little attention to a portion of the evidence where Onstott tells his former wife that he has broken every one of the Ten Commandments.
She said jurors thought the statements almost showed Onstott's human side - as if he were expressing remorse. Ultimately, however, they could not agree on whether Onstott was talking about killing, as was the prosecution's theory, or committing adultery, as the defense argued.
Finally, all the jurors determined there was not enough evidence to prove the charge of attempted sexual battery - although most thought he did commit that crime, Dill said.
Deliberation 'Was Very Difficult'
Dill said the jurors were surprised when they were allowed to go home Wednesday night and return Thursday. She said it allowed them all to rest and gather their thoughts.
"The deliberation was very difficult," she said. "When we went home, there were people on both sides and a lot of people in between. We really had to deliberate over a lot of issues."
After their service was done, Dill said, she wanted to know more about the case. She was not allowed to watch or listen to any news for the past two weeks. She said she took that instruction very seriously.
"Last night, when it was all said and done, I sat at my computer because I really wanted to know," she said.
She watched an interview with Sarah's mom, Kelly May.
In court, Dill said, May showed no emotion. Some jurors commented about whether May was an attentive mother, although the jurors agreed it had no bearing on the case, Dill said.
When Dill saw May on television, she was relieved.
"I was heartened to hear that she had a heart and a reaction and it was in the right place," Dill said.
Outside the courtroom Friday, after Onstott was sentence to life, May spoke with reporters about the end of the three-year case against Onstott.
Initially, prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. That decision later was reversed.
"Life in prison is death in my opinion," May said. "He's a piece of crap off the streets. Everyone should sleep a little easier."
Case Had 'Many Hurdles'
State Attorney Mark Ober said he was satisfied with the verdict and sentence, even though his attorneys had pushed for a first-degree murder conviction.
"We had many hurdles in this case," he said. "But we were confident as we proceeded with this case."
Asked whether he was confident in Onstott's guilt or confident he could get a conviction, Ober was quick with an answer.
"I knew he did it," Ober said.
He added that he was confident in his prosecutors' ability to present the evidence they did have.
Regarding a statement Onstott made to detectives, one that the judge threw out because Onstott was not provided an attorney when he requested one, Ober was conciliatory. He said lawyers can sit in "high-backed chairs" and point out mistakes made in the heat of interrogation.
"We learn," he said. "Sometimes we learn from our mistakes."
Ober said he sat down with Sheriff David Gee this week, as he has done several times during this case. He told Gee that he was unsatisfied with the quality of the tape recordings.
In the end, Ober said, justice was served. When Onstott told May that he was sorry, Ober said, it helps prove the right verdict was reached.
"Perhaps what he said today was an admission," Ober said. "It seems to me, his apology is another admission of guilt."
Onstott's public defender, John Skye, said he didn't agree. He said an appeal is expected.
"I think he is telling Kelly May that he was sorry for her loss," Skye said. "I said the same thing and I didn't confess."
Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.
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