"Bikini Murderer" had done it twice before...
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:21 pm
By now you have seen the story on the news about Jerry Inman, the registered sex offender who was apprehended in tennessee for the murder of the Clemson college student.
Now we know that he had committed an almost identical crime in NC and was sentenced after pleading guilty. At that time, NC had a rule where for every one day of good behavior, you cut one day off your sentence, therefore Inman was released in 1/2 the time he was supposed to serve. Inman then went to Florida and murdered another girl. Florida sentenced him to 30 years, but NC extradited him back for having committed the Fla crime while on parole from the first crime. He spent 7 years in jail in NC and then was sent to Florida to served 16 more years. He could have been sentenced (under Florida rules) for up to 130 years, but served only 16 of a 30 year sentence. He was released on Sept 1, 2005 as a registered sex offender--and as such, he had his DNA recorded. He attacked 2 more women in May of 2006--attempting to rape one, and raping another and then he attacked, raped, and murdered the Clemson student. He was caught so quickly because of the crime scene DNA matched what was on file for him.
NC has since done away with the "time off for good behavior" rule.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/07/national/main1690035.shtml?source=RSS&attr=HOME_1690035
Now we know that he had committed an almost identical crime in NC and was sentenced after pleading guilty. At that time, NC had a rule where for every one day of good behavior, you cut one day off your sentence, therefore Inman was released in 1/2 the time he was supposed to serve. Inman then went to Florida and murdered another girl. Florida sentenced him to 30 years, but NC extradited him back for having committed the Fla crime while on parole from the first crime. He spent 7 years in jail in NC and then was sent to Florida to served 16 more years. He could have been sentenced (under Florida rules) for up to 130 years, but served only 16 of a 30 year sentence. He was released on Sept 1, 2005 as a registered sex offender--and as such, he had his DNA recorded. He attacked 2 more women in May of 2006--attempting to rape one, and raping another and then he attacked, raped, and murdered the Clemson student. He was caught so quickly because of the crime scene DNA matched what was on file for him.
NC has since done away with the "time off for good behavior" rule.
(CBS/AP) A registered sex offender confessed to killing a Clemson University student and to sexual assaults in Alabama and Tennessee, authorities said Wednesday.
Jerry Buck Inman, 35, was returned to South Carolina to face charges of murder, rape and kidnapping after his arrest late Tuesday near his parents' home in Dandridge, Tenn., said Jefferson County, Tenn., Sheriff David Davenport.
Inman spoke softly during an arraignment when questioned by a South Carolina magistrate who did not set bond.
After questioning Inman, investigators now fear they haven't even seen his worst and suspect he was roaming around Tennessee and South Carolina, preying upon unsuspecting women, and will soon be charged with more crimes, reports CBS News correspondent Mika Brzezinski.
DNA from Tiffany Marie Souers' off-campus apartment had led authorities to Inman two weeks after the 20-year-old civil engineering student was found wearing only a bra on the bedroom floor of her apartment. She was strangled with bikini top and her wrists and ankles were bound.
"He didn't know the victim," Davenport said Wednesday. "It is our information he was driving around in the (victim's) neighborhood and saw her and he liked her looks."
Davenport said he expects Inman also will be charged with a May 23 attempted rape in Rainsville, Ala., and a May 24 rape in Sevierville, Tenn.
"It seems like he was just wandering around, finding vulnerable people, women, and preying on them and conducting sexual assaults and getting progressively worse," Davenport said. "This may be just the tip of the iceberg."
Investigators said they found several items related to the crimes in Inman's vehicle.
The victims identified Inman from tattoos shown on news reports, Davenport said. Florida prison records indicate Inman has several skull tattoos and an image of a bat tattooed on his neck.
"We interviewed him on all the offenses that people were relating to us," said Jefferson County Chief Deputy Bob McCoig. "He did confess to all three cases."
Inman arrived in Tennessee in 2005 after he was released from prison in Florida, where he served 16 years for sex offenses. Authorities said he had listed the Dandridge homes of his parents and a sister on a sex offender registry in Florida and North Carolina.
"Unless you are with these people 24 hours a day, there's no real way of stopping someone from committing another offense," Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said.
But there is a way to track sex offenders 24 hours a day, reports Brzezinski.
At least 23 states use GPS technology to follow sex offenders' every move. Wisconsin, the latest state to sign on, enacted a law that will track sex offenders for life.
After coming to Tennessee, Inman got a job with Shular Contracting Inc. for about two months on a condo construction site in Pigeon Forge, said Phil Loeffler, company vice president. When he didn't show up for work about two weeks ago, he lost his job.
Inman's mother, Vera McArthur, told The Greenville News that her son is bipolar and often suicidal and had no idea South Carolina authorities were looking for him. She said he had been doing construction work in Tennessee, but didn't think he had been in South Carolina recently.
"I know he is overwhelmed by the attention this case has received so far," said Inman's attorney, Symmes Colbertson. "I think he's a little shell-shocked by everything that has gone on so far."
Inman's family didn't immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Souers' family in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue, Mo., said they were relieved to learn Inman had been arrested.
"I gave my mom a hug and she said she felt happy for the first time in a while," said Souers' 16-year-old brother, Trevor.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/07/national/main1690035.shtml?source=RSS&attr=HOME_1690035