Police: Sex offender confesses to Clemson slaying,

[Anja]

Police: Sex offender confesses to Clemson slaying, other assaults


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.

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.

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 1st time in a
while," said Souers' 16-year-old brother, Trevor.

(source: Associated Press)

[marion]

Bikini Murder Just 'Tip of the Iceberg?'

Debate Over Whether Sexual Offenders Are Monitored Carefully Enough Continues

ABC News
June 8, 2006 — The alleged confession of a convicted sex offender to strangling a Clemson University sophomore with a bikini top has renewed debate over whether sexual predators can ever be rehabilitated.

"We are making a basic error in treating all sex offenders as equally dangerous, and not adjusting the level of control to the level of risk," said John LaFond, author of "Preventing Sexual Violence." "Most sex offenders will not commit another sex crime."

Victims' advocates like Erin Runnion, whose child was murdered by a sex offender, say that approach couldn't be more wrong.

"I think we should be testing these guys like rats," Runnion said. "We have got to figure out this problem."

Authorities say Jerry Buck Inman looked down and called himself an animal during questioning about the killing and sexual assault of Tiffany Marie Souers and other sex crimes in two states.

Inman, 35, confessed to killing Souers and to sexual assaults in Alabama and Tennessee, officials said.

Trail to Other Crimes?

Inman was arrested in connection to Souers' slaying in Tennessee late Tuesday. Police now think Souers' killing may be just the "tip of the iceberg" of Inman's crimes. People who saw Inman on television and recognized his tattoos have come forward and contacted authorities.

"He came up behind me and put a knife to my throat, and said that if I didn't calm down he was going to cut me," said Beth Bates, who alleges that Inman attacked her.

Inman is a registered sex offender in two states — Florida and North Carolina — but was not registered in Tennessee, where he'd been working since his release from a Florida prison late last year. He was not registered in South Carolina, where Souers was found dead in his apartment by a former roommate on May 26.

"Just common sense would dictate he could drive to South Carolina," said Jefferson County, Tenn., Sheriff David Davenport.

"They don't wear ankle bracelets. They have to check in every so often, maybe every 90 days and that means coming in here and paying fines and cost, and they're not monitored like they should be. I mean, we don't have the manpower."

Manpower a Problem

Inman is one of 563,000 registered sex offenders living in the United States.

Nancy Grace, host of "Nancy Grace" on CNN and anchor at Court TV, says these criminals should never be released from jail, but LaFond said keeping sex offenders behind bars for life was illogical.

"Simply enacting a law that promises to make society perfectly safe is foolish," he said. "Politicians today have a vested interest in appealing to public fear. The fact is that sex crimes have been reduced dramatically since 1993."

Grace disagreed, saying sex offenders can never really be cured.

"They can't stop. I don't care what some shrink will tell you on TV," she said. "Everyone can spout statistics all they want, but until it happens to them, they don't have a leg to stand on."

Grace said she applauded Wisconsin's recent move to join 20 other states that use the Global Positioning System to track convicted sex offenders.

"I'd like to see it used not just in anklet form. I'd like to see microchip technology put to use, like putting chips the size of fillings in people's teeth," Grace said.

Grace said she also favored a national DNA registry and chemical castration, which involves taking a pill that reduces sex drive.

Local law enforcement authorities who are responsible for keeping track of sex offenders complain they are too short-staffed to do the job well. A number of state and local governments are considering curfews, frequent lie detector tests, and satellite tracking systems.

'He's a Dark Soul'

Souers, a 20-year-old civil engineering student from the St. Louis suburb of Ladue, Mo., was wearing only a bra when she was found May 26 on the bedroom floor in her off-campus apartment. A bikini top was still around her neck, and her wrists and ankles were bound.

Souers' mother, Bren Souers, said she had been comforted by the fact a suspect was behind bars.

"He's a dark soul, and he needs to be put away," she said.

Grace pointed out that Inman had been behind bars, but had been released early.

"He was set to be released on 6/6/06," she said. "If he had been incarcerated at that time, Tiffany Souers would be alive today."

[Anja]

Marion, where do you get those news from, I never see them on Abolish... Thanks for posting them

[marion]

This is from the US section "Law and Justice" of the [ftp=http://abcnews.go.com/US/]ABC News[/ftp], but I also find a lot of news on [ftp=http://edition.cnn.com/US/]CNN[/ftp], [ftp=http://ap.tbo.com/breaking/national/]AP Breaking News[/ftp], [ftp=http://news.yahoo.com/i/718;_ylt=AjXIA6l9toLrzzvqcwuJY80UewgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2NWJlcmlsBHNlYwN0bg--]Yahoo News[/ftp] and local US newspapers online.

[SoulTrainOz]

Anja,

One thing that I do is get Google alerts. So what I do is, do a search on the death penalty news and then down the end of the results it has a link if you would like to receive daily updates to your email and that is where I get alot of news reports.

SoulTrainOz