Post by Anja on Jun 10, 2006 20:28:04 GMT -5
Prosecutor in Souers case may seek death penalty
A prosecutor in South Carolina said Friday he would consider seeking a
death sentence for the man accused of strangling a Clemson University
student from Ladue.
The prosecutor, Robert M. Ariail, said he planned to review evidence
against Jerry Buck Inman and to meet with police and with the family of
the victim, Tiffany Marie Souers, 20.
In that state, prosecutors must prove at least one aggravating factor
along with murder to get the death penalty. Ariail said charges of
kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct could make Inman a candidate.
Inman, 35, was transferred Friday to a maximum-security state prison in
Bishopville, S.C., authorities said. They said they moved him because he
was an escape risk, and his presence strained resources at the overcrowded
county jail where he had been held without bail.
Souers was found strangled in her Central, S.C., apartment May 26. Inman,
a stranger, confessed that he waited until he thought she was asleep and
crept into her apartment through an unlocked door, authorities said.
He was arrested Tuesday near his mother's house in Dandridge, Tenn., hours
after investigators matched his DNA to evidence taken from the crime
scene. Authorities said he also confessed to raping a woman May 22 in
Sevierville, Tenn., and attempting to rape another on May 23 in
Rainsville, Ala.
On Friday, an investigator in Alabama's DeKalb County said she questioned
Inman Thursday about an unsolved rape reported April 26 in Henagar, Ala.,
about 10 miles northeast of Rainsville.
In that case, a 28-year-old woman said she was awakened near midnight and
raped at gunpoint by a man wearing a black scarf on his face.
The investigator, Rhonda Jackson, said certain details of the case were
similar to the rape in Sevierville.
Inman denied the Henagar rape and said he was "tired of talking," Jackson
said.
"He said, 'I've already admitted to 3 crimes, and that's all I've done,'"
Jackson said.
Jackson said she was also investigating whether Inman could be responsible
for other crimes in Alabama. She noted that his Chevrolet Camaro was found
burned Feb. 28 off a county road about 45 miles northeast of Birmingham.
Inman told authorities then that he had been driving to Louisiana to seek
construction work when his car caught fire, and that he hitchhiked home.
Jackson noted that his car was found off a county road, not an interstate,
which she said suggested he was not just passing through.
Alabama state troopers were taking a closer look at the Camaro this week,
a spokeswoman said.
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
A prosecutor in South Carolina said Friday he would consider seeking a
death sentence for the man accused of strangling a Clemson University
student from Ladue.
The prosecutor, Robert M. Ariail, said he planned to review evidence
against Jerry Buck Inman and to meet with police and with the family of
the victim, Tiffany Marie Souers, 20.
In that state, prosecutors must prove at least one aggravating factor
along with murder to get the death penalty. Ariail said charges of
kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct could make Inman a candidate.
Inman, 35, was transferred Friday to a maximum-security state prison in
Bishopville, S.C., authorities said. They said they moved him because he
was an escape risk, and his presence strained resources at the overcrowded
county jail where he had been held without bail.
Souers was found strangled in her Central, S.C., apartment May 26. Inman,
a stranger, confessed that he waited until he thought she was asleep and
crept into her apartment through an unlocked door, authorities said.
He was arrested Tuesday near his mother's house in Dandridge, Tenn., hours
after investigators matched his DNA to evidence taken from the crime
scene. Authorities said he also confessed to raping a woman May 22 in
Sevierville, Tenn., and attempting to rape another on May 23 in
Rainsville, Ala.
On Friday, an investigator in Alabama's DeKalb County said she questioned
Inman Thursday about an unsolved rape reported April 26 in Henagar, Ala.,
about 10 miles northeast of Rainsville.
In that case, a 28-year-old woman said she was awakened near midnight and
raped at gunpoint by a man wearing a black scarf on his face.
The investigator, Rhonda Jackson, said certain details of the case were
similar to the rape in Sevierville.
Inman denied the Henagar rape and said he was "tired of talking," Jackson
said.
"He said, 'I've already admitted to 3 crimes, and that's all I've done,'"
Jackson said.
Jackson said she was also investigating whether Inman could be responsible
for other crimes in Alabama. She noted that his Chevrolet Camaro was found
burned Feb. 28 off a county road about 45 miles northeast of Birmingham.
Inman told authorities then that he had been driving to Louisiana to seek
construction work when his car caught fire, and that he hitchhiked home.
Jackson noted that his car was found off a county road, not an interstate,
which she said suggested he was not just passing through.
Alabama state troopers were taking a closer look at the Camaro this week,
a spokeswoman said.
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)