Convicted Murderer, 2nd Inmate Escape County Jail : Officials Fear That One of Them May Track Down Ex-Girlfriend

A convicted murderer and another inmate overpowered a guard and escaped from the Orange County Jail on Sunday, and Sheriff’s Department officials are worried that one of them may attempt to find the ex-girlfriend he nearly killed two years ago when he broke into her home and murdered her husband.

“Yes, we’re concerned,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Olson after the 6:30 a.m. escape of Ivan Von Staich, 31, of Lake Elsinore and Robert Joseph Clark, 23, of Palm Springs. “All I can tell you is that the proper agencies (near the woman’s home) have been notified.

The two men were the only inmates on the rooftop recreation area of the jail in Santa Ana when they asked a guard, who was not armed, for permission to use the restroom, Olson said. As the deputy moved to open the door, the two men overpowered him, handcuffed him with his own cuffs, then pried open the wire screen around the recreation area with a metal bar found in a nearby maintenance locker.

They used an electrical cord and blankets also found in the locker to rappel down the north wall of the jail to the ground four floors below.

Sheriff’s officials became aware of the escape when the guard was able to sound an alarm. About 20 minutes after the escape, a Santa Ana man saw two men in orange jail-issue jump suits running up Flower Street and flagged down a police car, Olson said.

Police sealed off the area and launched a search with the aid of helicopters and patrol dogs but failed to come up with anything. The two men are believed to be driving a 1972 blue Toyota stolen from the federal building parking lot near the jail.

Clark was awaiting trial on murder and robbery charges stemming from the January, 1984, slaying of David Martinez, whose body was found dumped in an unincorporated area near Irvine.

Staich, a former jail escapee in Riverside County, was convicted last month of second-degree murder and attempted murder in a 1983 attack on his former girlfriend and her husband.

According to testimony in the trial, Staich cut the telephone wires at the Santa Ana home of Cynthia and Robert Topper, then kicked in the front door and burst into the couple’s bedroom, armed with a claw hammer.

Topper drew a gun, but Staich hit him several times with the hammer and grabbed the gun away from him, shooting Topper three times. He then beat Cynthia Topper on the head so severely that she was forced to undergo two cranial surgeries to save her life.

Staich had earlier served time in federal prison for sending threatening letters to another girlfriend, and the Toppers, before his release, had made an unsuccessful plea to the Federal Parole Commission to prevent Staich from harassing them, according to testimony and Staich’s attorney, Jack Earley.

Staich was awaiting sentencing, facing a potential 37 years to life in prison, Earley said.

“We don’t know that they are armed at this time,” Olson said. “However, since they were both awaiting murder trials, they would have to be considered dangerous, obviously.”

He said Sheriff’s Department officials are concerned that Staich may try to locate Topper, and that “all I can tell you is that the proper agencies have been notified.”

“How do you know with this guy, what he’s going to do? You just have to take all precautions,” Olson said.

Topper declined to be interviewed Sunday. However, a family member said she had been informed of the escape and was “happy” with the protection she is receiving.

Earley said Sunday that he “would tend to doubt very seriously that his first attempt would be to go where she is.” With Staich facing the probability of a long prison sentence, Earley said: “I think probably what he did was to try to get as far away as possible.”

Staich was to be tried next month on a separate burglary charge stemming from an earlier break-in at Topper’s home. He was convicted in 1978 of escaping from the Riverside County Jail, where he was awaiting trial on arson charges.

Staich is 6 feet, 2 inches, 200 pounds, with brown hair, hazel eyes, a bushy mustache and sideburns. He has shaved off a beard since his arrest. Clark is 5 feet, 11 inches, 175 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes and numerous tattoos. The car they are believed to be driving is a blue Toyota with a license plate of 1FEJ406.

One of Several Escapes

The rooftop escape was one of several that have occurred over the years during legally required recreation periods for inmates.

After the 1983 escape of an accused rapist, sheriff’s officials reinforced the chain-link fence on the roof with double-laced stainless-steel cable. “This cable is very difficult to cut, even with a hacksaw blade,” the Orange County Grand Jury said in a 1984 review of rooftop security. “It would most probably require a bolt cutter to sever it.”

The jury concluded that “reasonable” security precautions had been taken, and predicted that a future escape through the roof fence would be “highly unlikely.”