This is a tough issue for me as a journalist and as a native of the small town. Before Jerry Buck Inman was apprehended as a suspect in the case, there were four unsolved murders in the small college town I still call home. But, it is this case that has really disturbed me and my wife. She and I were riding home the other night from the movies and we were talking about the latest developments in the case, and she became very upset about the thought that this small little town was the place that took the life of a young, intelligent student. This conversation has brought many of my thoughts to the forefront.

Before I begin to discuss some of these thoughts, I want you to know that I try to consider all points of view and like to question every possible situation before I accept the “truth”…whatever that may be?

Let us consider this situation. We as the public and as journalists do not have access to the type of evidence that was collected from the scene of the crime. If we were privileged to that information…the case against the suspect would be compromised. This is information that will come out in trial, so…let us consider some hypotheticals. Consider if the DNA evidence was not sexually related, maybe it was blood from a cut? What if this cut came from the suspect (Inman) entering the apartment merely to rob the place? So what if the suspect (Inman) just robbed the place and took off; then there would be a second suspect that entered the apartment and possibly murdered Tiffany Marie Souer. Considering this situation for a second…would we as the public still “convict” - in our minds - Jerry Buck Inman. “He has the look of a sexual predator” as I have heard many people say. “He has tattoos around his neck and the look of ice cold death in his eyes,” statements that convince the public to sigh relief when they see him walk in shackles to his first appearance before a judge. So this leads me to my bigger question: when we as the media post that mug shot all over the place, show him walk in shackles, interview to the family after his arrest…have we helped the public convict him before he has even had a chance to stand trial? Consider my hypothetical…what if the DNA evidence was from a cut from him trying to rob the place. Would we be able to consider the possibility that John Buck Inman did not do this horrific crime?

It is tough for me to talk about these considerations especially when my own mother lives roughly a mile from these apartments, and she even considered buying a gun to protect herself from the potential harm. But what created this hysteria? What made her decide that her daily life style was compromised enough to think about the possibility that this random act might possibly step into her front door? Was it a random act or was the fact that this small town has three previous un-solved brutal murders. One of those happened while I was a student: Brook Holsenback was left for dead in Hartwell Lake (the bordering lake around Clemson). Her parents still are not able to rest because the answers are still unknown.

This leads me to my next line of thinking. With three previous murders still unsolved leading into the Tiffany Marie Souers case, I am sure the pressure was not only on the Central Police and SLED, but also on the Thirteenth Circuit to find some answers…and quickly. It is a tough position, but the Souers deserved answers and the little Clemson community deserved some peace of mind. We as a journalistic community jumped all over this story from the web, to the paper, to the television tubes going as far as the national exposure. Even ESPN was making calls on the background of Jerry Buck Inman. In our attempt to provide the public with the due knowledge they deserve, do we provide enough ammunition for the public to already convict the first suspect that walks across our television screen in shackles? Are we acting as free press living up to our burden of providing the public with exactly the events that are transpiring? And, what does a sexual predator look like? If Jerry Buck Inman had nicely groomed hair, no tattoos, and a nice smile…would he look like a sexual predator?

Now I realize, because of this arrest…we have been able to gain a confession for this crime and two other incidents in Alabama and Tennessee. But for that small instant, that slight possibility that Jerry Buck Inman is not the person that took the life from a young college student…would we as the public be able to accept that possibility? What if the Thirteenth Circuit was pressured in to providing a quick arrest, especially with other unsolved murders in this small college community? Would we give the same equal coverage for Jerry Buck Inman and - all the other individuals - if he were acquitted or found innocent? Have we as an evolving media society become a part of the reason individuals are convicted in the households from television screens, internet sites, newspapers, and radio broadcasts. We as media outlets are trying to get the information to the vast audiences expediently as possible, sometimes in a race to be the first to put it across the airwaves. Is it hard for the viewer to remove the shackles from the Jerry Buck Inman(s) if they are found to be innocent?