Ohio mother-in-law pleads guilty in septic tank death

LOGAN, Ohio - The mother-in-law of a woman found strangled in a septic tank pleaded guilty on Thursday to all charges related to her death and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

Hocking County prosecutor Laina Fetherolf said attorneys had reached a plea deal with Sandra Inman, who had pointed authorities to her daughter-in-law's body.

Inman, 47, pleaded guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Summer Inman, 25, was abducted in Logan on March 22, 2011, then was strangled with a zip tie and was dumped in an underground septic tank behind a church in nearby Athens County, authorities said. Her estranged husband and his parents later were arrested and charged in the case.

Sandra Inman's trial was scheduled for later this year. She had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to kidnapping Summer Inman, but a Hocking County Common Pleas Court judge ruled she was competent to stand trial.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday with Sandra Inman's attorney.

Earlier this month, the victim's estranged husband, William Inman II, 27, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a Hocking County jury found him guilty of aggravated murder and other charges in the slaying. His attorney Herman Carson said it was "obvious the jury paid close attention to the evidence and what the law is."

The trial for the victim's father-in-law, William Inman, is scheduled for August. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and other charges in the death. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted.