Sandra Inman

Case details

Sandra Inman pleaded guilty to murder and other charges and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. The sentencing took place on June 18, 2012.

Background

Summer Inman’s mother-in-law, Sandra K. “Sandra” Inman, told an investigator that it was her idea to snatch Summer Inman in downtown Logan and force her into a car so she could beg for weekend visits with her grandchildren. Sandra K. Inman told a deputy sheriff in March 2011, “It was my idea,” and “I thought I could talk to her.”

Summer Inman and her husband, William A. “Will” Inman, were in the midst of a messy divorce at the time. Summer had taken their three children with her when she left the marriage to return to live at her parents’ home and had a boyfriend. Sandra Inman believed that the boyfriend was mistreating the children and that they were in danger.

The offence

Sandra Inman and others forced Summer Inman into a car and drove off. With Sandra were her husband, William A. “Bill” Inman, and their son, William A. “Will” Inman. Will Inman had bound his estranged wife’s wrists with plastic zip ties and sat with her in the back seat.

Summer Inman struggled and screamed while in the car, and she told Sandra Inman that they “would probably never see the kids again.” Sandra Inman later said that everything went wrong when Will Inman accidentally strangled Summer Inman with a zip tie he had put around her neck. Sandra Inman said, “I know, I know positively, he didn’t do it on purpose.” She said, “I, I think he blacked out ... he looked at me like, ‘Oh my God,’ you know. ‘Mom, where’s the knife? Where’s the knife? Where’s the knife?’ and I couldn’t find it.”

Sandra Inman described the events after the zip tie was fastened around Summer Inman’s daughter-in-law’s neck and it was clear that Summer Inman was not breathing. Sandra Inman said, “We all panicked then, at that time.”

Sandra Inman said her husband was driving and pulled off Rt. 33 at Faith Tabernacle Church near Nelsonville. Sandra Inman said, “We used to go to church there.” Speckman got on the radio immediately with other law-enforcement officers, and he guided them as Sandra Inman told him about the lidded septic tank behind the church. At first, Sandra Inman said she thought of putting Summer Inman’s body in the Hocking River, which ran behind the church. Sandra Inman said, “… and then I seen that tank and I was like, you know, ‘Well, they won’t find her in there.’ And I was so ashamed of it.”

Sandra Inman told Speckman that if it hadn’t been for her and her insistence on talking to Summer Inman about more time with the grandchildren, none of it would have happened. She said, “It’s mainly my fault.”

Sandra Inman told Speckman that when Speckman pointed out that her husband and son participated, she said, “I think they done it for me. I know they did.”

Sandra Inman told Speckman that she guided authorities to the location for the body. Speckman told Sandra Inman and her lawyer, Bill Henderson, who was present for the half-hour confession, “They got a foot. They see a foot sticking out.” Sandra Inman replied, “They got her? Good,”

Sandra Inman said Summer had been like the daughter she never had, and she spoke to the chief deputy about rewinding the events. She said, “Just rewind it. There’s no way, no way possible, not any of us, not me, Bill or Willy would’v e ever, ever, ever, ever stepped foot in that car.”

Investigation

Sandra Inman recounted the trip on March 22, 2011, to Hocking County Chief Deputy Sheriff Matt Speckman in an interview at the sheriff's office.

Sandra Inman’s March 29, 2011 confession was sealed and later unsealed after Hocking County Common Pleas Court Judge John T. Wallace agreed to unseal it. The confession had been sealed because it was thought at one time that Sandra Inman might testify in her husband’s trial, but she did not.

Arrest

Bill Inman, Will Inman, and Sandra Inman were arrested March 24, less than 48 hours after Summer Inman’s abduction.

Police rounded up the three at the home of Bill Inman’s 70-year-old mother, Rose Mary McKinniss, in Jackson County outside Ray.

Trial

A jury sentenced Bill Inman to life in prison without parole on Feb. 6 after convicting him of aggravated murder and other crimes in the abduction and strangulation of his daughter-in-law. A jury gave the same sentence to Will Inman, 28, after convicting him of the same crimes last year. Both Bill Inman and Will Inman could have received the death penalty.

Sandra Inman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison last year after she pleaded guilty to murder and other crimes.

Sentencing

Hocking County Common Pleas Court Judge John T. Wallace convicted and sentenced Inman after prosecutors and defense attorneys negotiated a settlement in which she pleaded guilty to all charges.

Wallace sentenced Sandra Inman to 15 years to life in prison for murder, 10 years for kidnapping, three years for tampering with evidence and one year for gross abuse of a corpse. Wallace ordered the sentences for the lesser crimes to run at the same time as the murder sentence rather than back-to-back.

Sandra Inman, 47, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison and would be eligible to appear before a parole board after serving 15 years.

Appeals

No appeal outcome was provided in the case record.

Outcome

Sandra Inman pleaded guilty and received a prison term of 15 years to life.

Other details

Identity and family details

Summer Inman was abducted March 22, 2011, and her body was found a week later stuffed head-first in a church septic tank near Nelsonville.

In a letter read in Hocking County Common Pleas Court, Summer’s parents wrote: “Sorry, Alex, you will never have a Mommy or Daddy,” “Alex still asks, ‘ When can I see Nana?’ Oh, I’m sorry Alex, you will never grow up with Nana, either.“ “Sorry, Alex, you will never have a Mommy or Daddy,” the letter continued. “Alex still asks, ‘ When can I see Nana?’ Oh, I’m sorry Alex, you will never grow up with Nana, either.“ “How long will he cry about losing so many people he loves?” Inman wept as county Prosecutor Laina Fetherolf read the letter in court.

Summer’s parents wrote: “Kaley still asks when she will see you again,” and that Alanna was only 15 months old when her Mommy was taken from her and she no longer remembers her.

Court-room statement and apology

During a hearing, Sandra Inman turned around in the courtroom to face Summer’s parents. Crying so hard she was difficult to understand, she said, “I am so, so sorry. ... That was never supposed to happen. I loved Summer.”

Confession disclosure

Judge John T. Wallace agreed to unseal Sandra Inman’s March 29, 2011 confession. The confession was released after Wallace’s decision. Speckman was present for the confession interview, and Bill Henderson, Sandra Inman’s lawyer, was present for the half-hour confession.