Judge to deliver sentence

Staff Writer

rseaborn@ pickenssentinel.com

PICKENS COUNTY - The man charged with the 2006 murder of Clemson University student Tiffany Marie Souers plead guilty Tuesday in a Pickens County courtroom, softly answering the judge's questions.

Jerry Buck Inman, 37, admitted to the night time burglary of Souers' off-campus apartment, as well as to her kidnapping, rape and murder.

"Are you guilty," Circuit Judge Ned Miller asked the defendant.

"Yes, sir," Inman replied.

"I accept this plea as being freely and voluntarily given," Miller said.

Earlier, Donna Schertz-Watts, Inman's psychologist, said that since her client's arrest for murder, she has evaluated him six times, including a 30 minute session just prior to Inman's plea.

"He absolutely knows what he is doing and wants to enter a guilty plea," she said. "It has always been clear that Mr. Inman has wanted to accept responsibility for what he has done."

Schertz-Watts said that Inman's mental and physical health has improved since his incarceration due to having access to better health care and being able to admit his guilt in Souers' murder.

"He has expressed his desire to plea guilty and now he is getting to plead guilty," she said.

In entering a plea before the judge, Inman would forfeit his right to a jury deciding his fate based on evidence.

As Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail described the crime scene in the courtroom, telling the judge that Souers' roommate discovered her partially-clad body on the floor of her bedroom, and that the victim died from having the top of a bikini tightened around her neck, Inman sat between his attorneys, staring at the desk and moving only his sandaled foot.

No one from Inman's family was present in the courtroom.

The sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled for Sept. 8.