Jury selection in Sarah Lunde case may take days

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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Jury selection is expected to take several days in David Lee Onstott's trial.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (AP) -- A Tampa judge says he expects it to take several days to pick a jury for the trial of a convicted sex offender charged with killing 13-year-old Sarah Lunde.

Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta said Monday that because Sarah's 2005 slaying got so much media attention, it will probably take longer than usual to pick a jury for David Lee Onstott's trial.

Many of the first batch of potential jurors called Monday said they had some knowledge of the case.

The 40-year-old Onstott is charged with first-degree murder and attempted sexual battery. Sarah's body was in a pond near her Ruskin home in April 2005.

Prosecutors say Onstott killed Sarah after coming to the house late one night looking for her mother, whom he had once dated.

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