Onstott murder trial begins in Sarah Lunde case

TAMPA -- The trial of David Lee Onstott, accused of killing 13-year-old Sarah Lunde in April 2005, began this morning with a prosecutor and a defense attorney telling a jury about the evidence in the case -- and the lack of evidence.

Onstott, 40, who had a sexual relationship with Sarah's mother, is accused of killing Sarah while her mother was out of town for the weekend. Sarah's decomposed body was found about a week later, weighted down by concrete blocks on an abandoned fish farm. Her bra had been pushed up around her neck.

Prosecutor Sean Keefe acknowledged to the jury that there is no DNA evidence or fingerprints linking Onstott to Sarah's death, but he said the condition of Sarah's body made it impossible to find such evidence.

Keefe pointed to Onstott's actions on the weekend of Sarah's death, and to statements that Onstott made to his mother and to a jailer. Keefe said that shortly after Sarah disappeared on Saturday night, Onstott came to the Lunde home early Sunday in wet shoes to retrieve a beer bottle that he had left there.

Keefe said Onstott had gone to the Lunde home that weekend looking for Sarah's mother, but he found Sarah alone in the house instead. Keefe also told the jury that Onstott was very familiar with the pond where Sarah's body was found.

Keefe also said Onstott admitted to a Hillsborough County detention deputy and to his mother -- in a recorded conversation -- that he had killed Sarah.

Assistant Public Defender John Skye painted a different picture. He said the recording of Onstott's conversation with his mother is unclear, and that only "wishful thinking" would lead a listener to hear a murder confession.

Skye also noted that Sarah's brother and his friend had left Sarah alone Saturday night to go to Taco Bell to get food, and they didn't return for hours. When they got back, Sarah was gone. Skye said he believed that Sarah changed her clothes and left the house to go to a friend's house to get something to eat. He said it wasn't uncommon for her to be wandering the streets of Ruskin late at night, and to stay the night with various friends. He said the 13-year-old must have been killed by someone while she was out wandering.

Sarah's mother, Kelly May, was the first witness. Onstott's public defender, Skye, got her to acknowledge that her daughter had occasionally run away and spent the night with friends before going to school the next day. But May said that hadn't happened in the six months before Sarah disappeared.

Prosecutor Jay Pruner asked May if Onstott had ever met her 13-year-old daughter or made any comments about her. May said Onstott had commented that Sarah had large breasts.

This afternoon, Sarah's older brother Andrew Lunde, who was 17 at the time she disappeared, is testifying. He described how Sarah had come home from a church trip that Saturday night while their mother was away. Andrew and his friend Darryl Daust, 15, went to Taco Bell to pick up some food, but they met two girls they knew from high school and ended up driving around with them for a few hours instead of returning home.

When the two teenaged boys returned to the Lunde home, the front door was wide open and Sarah wasn't there. A beer bottle was sitting on a table near the front door. Andrew figured she had gone to a friend's house. He and Darryl went to sleep only to be awakened by a knock on the door sometime around 5 in the morning. It was Onstott.

Onstott's jeans were wet from the shins down, and his wet shoes made squishing noises, Andrew said. He asked if Andrew's mother was there. Then he reached inside, grabbed the beer bottle and left, Andrew said.

The defense attorney, Skye, spent a lengthy period of time on cross-examination pointing out inconsistencies in various statements that Andrew has given to sheriff's detectives and in depositions over the course of the investigation.

The trial is expected to continue through next week. If convicted, Onstott faces life in prison.

Mike Brassfield, Times staff writer

[Photo above: David Onstott listens to attorney Anna Frederiksen-Cherry during his murder trial. Photo below: Prosecutor Jay Pruner questions Kelly May, Sarah Lunde's mother. Ken Helle, Times]