Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Blood Relatives: Wasted Away’ chronicles the tale of the violent murder of the 25-year-old mother of three, Summer Inman, in Logan, Ohio. She was reported missing by her parents on her way back from work in March 2011 and was found about a week later in the septic tank of a church. The episode deftly covers the investigation that led to the police discovering the body and ultimately arresting her killers.
How Did Summer Inman Die?
Born on December 31, 1985, in Logan, Summer Dawn Cook Inman was the daughter of Michael D. and Debra S. Chambers Cook. She met William “Will” A. Inman II at a picnic at Faith Tabernacle Church near Nelsonville. Will’s father, William A. ‘Bill’ Inman, had lent a hand in building the church and played piano and guitar at Sunday services. Soon after graduating from Logan High School, Summer, then 18, married 19-year-old Will in 2004. She found Will to be “nice, polite, and caring,” and his family seemed perfect to Summer. Unfortunately, Summer was soon going to find out how wrong she was.
Summer lived in Florida with Will and his parents, Bill and Sandra K. Inman, till 2008 before they moved to Hamden, Vinton County, Ohio. Will and Bill worked in construction, while Summer and Sandra were homemakers; they looked after the house and children. The couple had three young children — Alex, Kaley, and Alanna. However, Summer soon found Will and her in-laws to be very controlling and eventually filed for divorce in June 2010.
In an affidavit, Summer claimed that her husband wanted 12 children and was considering taking on a second wife. The mother of three also wrote in her statement that Will downloaded photos of young women from polygamy websites on his cellphone. In the affidavit, Summer told the court that Will threatened to kill her if she took the children away from her. After filing for divorce, Summer moved in with her parents, started dating again, weekly attended counseling sessions for victims of domestic violence, and started working as an office janitor.
Summer had even been planning to enroll in Hocking College’s culinary arts program and had a dream to open up her own restaurant. Hence, it came as a shock when the 25-year-old did not call or text, as she always did after work, on March 22, 2011, and her parents knew something was wrong. Michael called 911 and reported, “She’s (Summer) nowhere to be found. We found her coat and her iPod.”
The police later found Summer’s body in a septic tank behind the Faith Tabernacle Church, the very place she had first met with her husband. They had to open 6 screws of a steel lid that sealed the tank before recovering the body. The church was situated about 20 miles away from the Century National Bank, where Summer had worked as a janitor that night and was last seen alive. As per the authorities, the body was “very much intact” and clothed in the same black T-shirt she wore to work. The police added that “…a number of photographs and identification was found.”
Who Killed Summer Inman?
Summer Inman’s parents promptly named the Inman family suspects, and the police quickly found evidence to corroborate their claim. By the weeks leading to Summer’s death, the relationship between Summer and her in-laws had worsened, with her being forced to exchange the children at the sheriff’s office in Logan or the police station when it was Will’s turn to have the children. The Inmans had even accused Summer’s boyfriend, Adam Peters, of abusing the children. However, Summer and her family vehemently dismissed the Inmans’ claims, suggesting they were baseless rumors generated to obtain full custody of the children.
As per multiple witness reports, at around 11 pm on the night of the murder, two men forced Summer into a car with a blonde woman in the driver’s seat. Will had been spotted taking his white Ford Crown Victoria to a car wash at 7:30 am the very next morning. The reports state he even got new tires for the vehicle. The police arraigned the Inman family and charged them with felony kidnapping on March 24, 2011.
The Inmans refused to cooperate with the police initially, but Sandra confessed to the crime and even led the police to the exact location where Summer’s body was dumped on March 29, 2011. She reportedly told a deputy sheriff, “It was my idea. I thought I could talk to her.” The Inmans had kidnapped Summer and bound her wrist with plastic zip ties. Sandra added that Will killed Summer by accidentally strangling her with the zip tie he had put around her neck.
William “Bill” Inman is Still in Jail
William “Bill” Inman, along with his wife and son, was charged with the murder of Summer Inman. In February 2013, Hocking County Judge John Wallace sentenced Bill to life in prison without the chance of parole following a recommendation from the jury. He was also given an additional 14 years of consecutive sentences for other crimes related to his daughter-in-law’s murder, including 1 year for gross abuse of her body, 3 years for evidence tampering, and 10 years for kidnapping.
After his sentencing, Bill told the court, “I regret my actions. I can’t undo what I’ve done. I’m sorry for the families that have lost. I’m sorry for my family and my grand family. I’m sorry.” Will was also sentenced to life in prison without parole, and Sandra was sentenced to 15 years to life. As per official records, Bill is presently incarcerated at Pickaway Correctional Institution, Ohio.
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