INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An alert corrections officer uncovered an attempted escape from County jail and the ensuing investigation ended with charges against a prisoner being held for attempted murder.Sergeant Jason Bourdette was conducting a routine cell inspection on March 30 when he placed a bag of cheese chips on a metal desk and heard a metal-to-metal sound and upon inspection of the bag found a pair of wire clippers.The cell was occupied by inmate Eric Kratman, who has been held in county jail since March 19, 2009 on charges of felony battery and second degree murder. He has since been charged with attempted escape.A Correction’s Department investigation revealed other inmates reporting to investigators that the attempts to escape began about seven weeks before the plot was uncovered and they heard sounds “consistent with sawing and banging.”The inmates also reported Kratman would stand in the doorway of his cell and serve as a lookout while another prisoner, Travis Goble, was inside the cell and the “cutting and banging sounds were heard.”Goble was sentenced on March 26 to 25 years for his role in the shooting death of a 24-year-old county resident.Goble has denied to investigator’s any involvement in the escape plot and that part of the investigation is ongoing.Even if Kratman had been able to cut through the rebar and get out of his cell he would have still had to get through another locked door and three fences, one topped with barbed wire.”He still had a lot of work to do,” said Captain Selby Strickland.Kratman has also denied any involvement in the escape plot.
