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Inman Sentencing Hearing Photos
PICKENS, SC — Jerry Buck Inman received his wish Wednesday.
Judge Ned Miller sentenced Inman on Wednesday to die for the brutal killing of 20-year-old Clemson University engineering student Tiffany Souers almost three years ago.
The judge called Souers’ death a “savage and brutal” act upon a “young woman full of life.”
“Inman was described as a lost soul who will remain lost,” Miller said. “But this court views Mr. Inman as a tortured soul whose inner demons will never leave him. Mr. Inman, may God have mercy on your soul.”
Miller followed those comments by saying that Inman’s tragic, abusive childhood did not excuse him for a lifetime of violence, most of which has involved sexual assaults on women.
Inman, 38, of Dandridge, Tenn., went to prison for the first time in his life when he was 19 for the rape of a Florida woman. When he was arrested in 2006, he was listed as a registered sexual predator in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee. After 17 years in prison, and seven attempts to take his own life, Inman was released from prison in September 2005.
Nine moths later, he reportedly wandered into Central while on an aimless road trip and spotted Souers.
On the night of May 26, 2006, Inman broke into Souers’ apartment, he said, held her hostage, raped her and then strangled her with a bikini top as she fought for her life. Then he tried to pull money out of her bank account as he headed out of town, back to Tennessee.
Wednesday marked the first time in his sentencing hearing in Pickens that Inman spoke at some length to Miller. Before his sentence was made public, Inman asked the judge to order the strictest sentence possible, the death sentence.
“I’ve shown by my actions that in and out of prison, I cannot be rehabilitated,” Inman said. “I do not mean to be disrespectful your honor, but in all reality there is only one sentence that can be imposed for someone like me, and I ask that you give me that sentence.”
Miller handed down the decision around 6:40 p.m. Wednesday after deliberating about Inman’s fate for roughly two hours. Because Inman pleaded guilty in August 2008 and waived his right to a jury trial, the only thing left in his case was for a judge to decide a sentence.
Inman faced only two possible fates: spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, or death.
Miller indicated in his decision Wednesday that Inman is scheduled to face execution July 27, 2009, however, the decision could be appealed.
The sentencing hearing began in September 2008 and continued Monday after a seven-month delay when attorneys hit legal roadblocks. One of the defense witnesses, Marti Loring, felt threatened after her licensing was questioned. However, after defense asked twice for a mistrial because of that issue, Loring, a licensed social worker in Georgia, took the stand Wednesday.
She painted a picture of how Inman was forced to watch sexual abuse at age 3, given drugs by his family members at age 9 and abused repeatedly, physically and sexually. In her reports, she said Inman’s biological father would pull him and his sister from playing outside and force them to endure “ritualistic sexual abuse.”
Inman also was sexually abused by his stepbrother and battled with a variety of severe mental illnesses, some which were inherited, according to Loring and others.
Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail did not deny many of those statements, but he maintained with witnesses that Inman still knew what he was doing when he killed Souers and had the ability to chose whether to kill her.
“Mercy is something you receive that you do not deserve,” Ariail said. “Justice is what you receive that you do deserve. I would ask the court to focus on justice. Tiffany Souers deserves justice. This is her day in court.”
Inman was convicted of nine crimes between 1987 and 1991. A majority of those charges stemmed from an incident in 1987 when he broke into a Tampa, Fla., apartment and raped a woman there three times while she and her roommate were bound with electrical wire.
Inman also faces charges in an attempted rape in Alabama and a rape in Tennessee that authorities have said occurred in the days before Souers’ death. Both women involved in those cases testified that they identified Inman as their attacker after seeing his face on television during coverage of Souers’ death.
Souers’ parents, Bren and Jim Souers of Ladue, Mo., did not appear in court at all this week and could not be reached by phone.
Inman’s mother, Vera, and stepfather, Ken McArthur, clutched each other Wednesday as they listened to the sentence. Both graciously declined to comment as they left the courtroom.
Ariail said he was pleased with the judge’s decision. But Inman himself had the final word.
“There is no excuse for what I’ve done, or anything I can say that will ease the pain I’ve caused,” Inman said, staring straight at Miller. “I am just sorry I’ve taken their daughter and their sister from them.”
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