VA - Derek, 72, & Nancy Haysom, 53, Bedford County, 3 April 1985

[wfgodot]

Great lengthy New Yorker piece on the killings of Derek and Nancy Haysom:

Blood Ties: Two brilliant college lovers were convicted of a brutal
slaying. All these years later, why has the case become a cause?

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When Annie Massie entered the house, she found the Haysoms sprawled on the ground, caked in gore. Derek Haysom was on his side near a doorway, an arm stretched out before him. Nancy Haysom was in the kitchen, traced in crimson whirls, as if someone had wiped the blood around her like Windex on glass. Both bodies were ragged with stab wounds, and their necks had been cut nearly from ear to ear.
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The house revealed no indication of forced entry. On the dining-room table were place settings and the remnants of a meal. No weapon could be found, but there were footprints in the blood. One looked to have been made by a tennis shoe, and two more by a sock.
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Four blood types were in evidence: the Haysoms’ A and AB, a bit of B blood on a damp rag, and, on the screen door and in the master suite, spots of O.
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When Elizabeth Haysom finally returned to the hotel, Jens Soering says, he’d ordered room service and was watching TV. Her forearms bore red-brown smears. She said that she’d killed her parents—drugs had made her do it. Soering says that she pleaded with him to use the movie-ticket alibi to cover her.
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Soering explains that, as his mind raced across what he knew from books and movies, it alighted on Sydney Carton, of “A Tale of Two Cities.” He decided that he would take the blame to save her from the gallows.
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much more at link above

 

[kemo]

Interesting situation.

In 1985, a wealthy couple were found murdered and suspicion fell on their daughter and her German boyfriend. The couple fled to Europe and were arrested in the UK.

At the time of their arrest, both told essentially the same story: the German boyfriend Jensen Soering killed the parents". The daughters statements to the police provided enough evidence to establish that she had "initiated" the murders. Both were charged with first degree murder. The daughter got 90 years for her role and Jens got life. In spite of the fact that the official version of events was that Elizabeth, the daughter, planned it and Jens carried it out (This was in agreement with both of their confessions) many people who were close to the investigation believed that the evidence suggested strongly that Elizabeth was at the crime scene.

Jens is now claiming that his was a false confession and he had nothing to do with the murders. He is not claiming that he was tricked or coerced into making the false confession however. He admits that his "confession" was a deliberate ploy to get Elizabeth off the hook. He had been under the impression that he had diplomatic immunity because of his fathers position with the German Consulate and he would only have to serve a year or two in a German Juvenile facility. He later found out he was wrong.

The actual crime scene evidence does tend to support his claim however. All along it was known that the foot prints in the blood at the scene appeared to be too small for Jens but about right for Elizabeth. There had been a small amount of type "o" blood found in the house. Jens was type "o" so that was the only evidence that Jens had been at the crime scene at all. DNA testing, not available at the time of the trial now confirms that this was not Jen's blood. (Based on the location of that type "o" blood, it can not be certain that it was even related to the murders). Elizabeth is still claiming she was not at the crime scene.

Jens is not attempting to get a new trial, he is only trying to make use of a treaty between the U.S. and Germany that would allow German citizens to serve out their sentences in Germany or to be paroled since he is now eligible. This would all be at the discretion of the State of Virginia and the climate there is against releasing him under any circumstances.

My own opinion is that 30 years for a crime committed at age 18 is plenty for someone with a good prison record and, at this point, Jen's possible innocents doesn't matter. Whether or not his confession is "true", it was not tainted by any Law Enforcement abuse.

 

[bflocket]

MUCH MORE at link above

This a great story, or is it a novel put onto one page?!

I'm finally to about four inches to the bottom of the story and I started a spell ago.
It's so long that the following kept popping up to the side.

 

[Tulessa]

This has been the subject of a show on ID.

 

[0101ABA]

A petition submitted to Gov. Terry McAuliffe this week tries to cast doubt on the guilt of Jens Soering, a German national convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s parents in central Virginia more than 30 years ago in a sensational case with ties to the 2016 presidential race.

Soering asks McAuliffe (D) for an “absolute pardon” and parole based largely on an analysis that concludes that Soering, who has type-O blood, was not the source of at least some of the type-O blood found at the scene.

“This is no longer about believing me,” Soering, 50, said in a phone interview with The Washington Post from Buckingham Correctional Center outside Dillwyn, Va. “Unless you’re a climate-change denier and creationist and you don’t believe in DNA, then you have to believe I’m innocent. The only other option is I did it with somebody else, whom I’ve been protecting for 31 years.”

More at the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...ory.html?postshare=2321472038208513&tid=ss_tw

 

[Seattle1]

Follow up to 2015's Blood Ties story referenced above.

Dec 15, 2017 - New Yorker

Little I have written for the magazine over the past few years has subsequently haunted me as much as a story I published, in 2015, about a thirty-year-old double murder—although, to be honest, I found it pretty haunting from the start. In the summer of 1985, two sophomores on merit scholarships at the University of Virginia—one a punctilious young German named Jens Soering and the other an aspiring bohemian named Elizabeth Haysom—left the campus and, by plane, automobile, and bus, travelled the globe. They were in love, but it wasn’t a vacation.

The Double-Murder Case That Still Haunts Me

 

[kakadu]

I just found this article by FRANK GREEN Richmond Times-Dispatch on https://www.jenssoering.de/

Breaking
Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom granted parole in 1985 slayings of her parents in Bedford County

https://n.b5z.net/i/u/7000525/f/Jen..._in_Bedford_County___Crime___richmond.com.pdf

Mods: Please feel free to delete post if not appropriate. Unfortunately I have no idea how to provide a link.

 

[jaejae]

Here is a recent report about this case that I remember seeing a documentary:

US returns double murderer Söring to Germany

 

[jslk]

Wow!

 

[Aluev]

Just watched the documentary on Netflix. Very interesting story and very tragic, especially if Jens didn't actually do it.