Inman pleads guilty to pair of felonies

Accepting a plea agreement that dropped seven of his nine charges -- including one count of attempted murder -- a Bainbridge man was nonetheless handed a 20-year sentence on Monday.

Donald L. Inman, 51, agreed to enter guilty pleas to Class B felony attempted aggravated battery and to Class C felony intimidation relating to a series of events that took place on the evening of June 17, 2014.

Most serious among these, Inman nearly shot former friend Denver McMurtry, 30, Bainbridge, with a 12-guage shotgun from point-blank range.

This was the source of the dropped charge of Class A felony attempted murder, a crime that Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter noted at the time is one of the hardest to prove.

In handing down his sentence, Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges observed that Inman would have been in an entirely different situation had McMurtry not quickly moved out of the way of the shotgun blast.

"You're just lucky Mr. McMurtry was fast enough to get out of the way," Bridges said.

Explaining that he wanted "to have someone keeping an eye on you (Inman) as long as possible," Bridges sentenced Inman to 20 years, 12 to be executed and 10 of these with the Department of Correction.

Even with Indiana good time credit (50 percent of sentence under the state guidelines of June 2014) and credit for the 593 days he has spent in jail, this still leaves Inman with nearly 3-1/2 years with the Department of Correction, another year on house arrest or work release, followed by four years of probation.

Bridges also stipulated that Inman receive counseling for substance abuse and for grief management, as the approaching anniversary of his wife's death was one of the contributing factors to his state of mind that June evening.

The judge also noted McMurtry's testimony on the stand Monday that he still fears for his safety and his family's, since his wife and two small children were home at the time of the incident.

The friendship with McMurtry, Bridges said, likely put the younger man at greater danger that evening.

"Mr. McMurtry was your friend," the judge said. "A perfect stranger would not have been so willing to walk right up to your truck."

Testimony during Monday's change of plea hearing painted a picture of grieving, depression and a desire to settle scores that led Inman to ponder taking his own life before eventually drinking heavily, driving to the homes of McMurtry and Jack Watson Sr. to shoot out the windows of their pickups and leading police on a chase that ended with a two-hour standoff.

Inman said he was upset with the two men, whom he described as his best friends, for different reasons.

In McMurtry's case, it was telling Inman that his girlfriend was no longer welcome on the McMurtry property, most notably a pond that Inman had taken care of for a number of years.

The girlfriend was barred from the McMurtry home after she fled there following a reported hit-and-run incident at the Bainbridge Casey's General Store.

"She didn't have a license and she'd drive up and down our driveway and I have two young kids," McMurtry said during his testimony.

He then described Inman's threatening response that "this is not over."

Inman's animosity toward McMurtry was just one aspect. He also said that he was owed $3,000 by Watson, a claim disputed by the other man.

This was especially troubling for Inman at a time his home was being foreclosed on.

Having already threatened Watson, Inman told police he went to his home that day seeking revenge, the same as he had with McMurtry.

Finally, Inman and attorney Austin Malayer told the court, his actions that day revolved around the approaching anniversary of the death of his wife, who had passed away in July 2011.

Inman said he had even driven to her grave that morning with the intention of committing suicide.

"I just sort of gave up on life that day," he told the court.

After deciding not to kill himself, Inman went to McMurtry's home, apparently to shoot out the windows of the pickup at around 7:30 p.m.

According to McMurtry's testimony, he briefly tried to talk to Inman before Inman slammed a beer, produced the shotgun and pointed it "directly at my chest."

Diving out of the way just in time, McMurtry still sustained burns on his triceps as well as not fully regaining his hearing for two days.

Inman then departed and drove to Watson's home, where he also shot out the windows of Watson's truck, although no one was in the direct vicinity this time.

He then fled the scene before police found him and began pursuing.

Roachdale Town Marshal Mike Mahoy testified Monday that he was the first officer in pursuit. He told of Inman fleeing at high speed and at one point nearly colliding with the vehicle of State Trooper Charlie Boller.

The pursuit eventually ended in a two-hour standoff back on some of McMurtry's property, before police shot out Inman's tires, disarmed him and took him into custody.

Inman told the court that during the standoff he was again trying to get up the nerve to kill himself.

Prosecutor Bookwalter noted that after taking a shot at someone, Inman did not "learn from the errors of your way" and instead endangered more people, particularly police officers.

Bookwalter also called the dropped attempted murder charge, which would have required a minimum sentence of 20 years, "a substantial break."

Requesting only time already served, followed by home detention or work release, Malayer noted the "extreme circumstances" in Inman's life at the time.

"I don't think you can look at these circumstances and judge who he is," Malayer told the court.

The judge came down in the middle of the two arguments.

"I believe what probably happened is a combination of both attorneys' arguments," Bridges said. "And the fueling of alcohol didn't help."

Ultimately, though, Bridges cited aggravating circumstances that in his judgment far outweighed any mitigators, assigning a sentence at the heavier end of what was available.

Dropped by the terms of the plea agreement were the Class A felony attempted murder charge, as well as a Class C felony, four Class D felonies and one Class B misdemeanor.

Inman has been in the Putnam County Jail since his June 17, 2014 arrest. At some point, he will be transferred to spend the remainder of his 10 years with the Department of Correction.