Man jailed for 1985 US double murder returns to Germany
Jens Soering served 33 years in prison over deaths of his girlfriend’s parents
A man convicted as a teenager in the 1980s of the double murder of his girlfriend’s parents has returned to his native Germany after serving 33 years in prison in the US.
The BBC reports that 53-year-old Jens Soering was “smiling as he was greeted by friends and supporters on arrival at Frankfurt airport on Tuesday”, with Soering describing it as “the happiest day of my life”.
Soering and his Canadian girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom were convicted in 1985 for the murder of Haysom’s parents. But the case remained controversial after Soering went back on his initial confession, claiming he had admitted to the crimes to save Haysom from the death sentence.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What happened in 1985?
Soering, then 18, and his then girlfriend Haysom, 20, had been dating for a number of months when in March 1985 Haysom’s parents – Derek and Nancy Haysom – were found stabbed and nearly decapitated at their home in Virginia.
The victims’ throats had been slashed and they had been stabbed nearly 50 times during the attack, with Sky News reporting that the crime attracted “national media attention in America”.
Soering and Haysom were not initially considered suspects, but as investigators became suspicious the pair fled to London. In 1986 they were arrested on unrelated fraud charges, with Soering eventually confessing to the stabbings.
He originally claimed that he committed the murders while Haysom waited for him at a hotel in Georgetown, Washington DC, The Washington Post reports, but he later retracted his statement and pleaded not guilty. Instead, he said that he waited at the hotel while Haysom committed the murders in revenge for sexual abuse suffered at the hands of her mother.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Washington Post adds that Soering, as the son of a German diplomat, had believed his father’s job would afford him a form of diplomatic immunity that would limit his punishment to 10 years in a German youth prison. Soering also claims that he confessed in order to avoid Haysom being sentenced to death.
Soering was convicted and sentenced to two life terms in a 1990 trial. Haysom was also handed a 90-year sentence as an accessory to the murders.
What happened next?
During his trial, Sky News reports, Haysom testified against Soering, telling the court “she manipulated him into committing the murders because her parents wanted to end their daughter’s relationship with him”. But Soering has maintained that she only told him about what had happened after she committed the murders.
As part of a lengthy legal battle to secure his release, Soering’s parole was rejected 14 times, the Daily Mail reports.
In his pardon applications, Soering and his lawyers argued that “DNA evidence unavailable at the time of his conviction pointed to his innocence”, the paper adds, noting that later DNA analyses “showed that some of the Type O blood found at the scene did not belong to Soering” or Haysom.
Soering has suggested in interviews that Haysom may have enlisted the help of others in the killings – a charge she denies. Soering and Haysom were both granted parole last month and deported from the US.
During his incarceration, Soering converted from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism and wrote an award-winning book about his religious beliefs.
What will happen next?
The Guardian reports that Peter Beyer, a member of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party and the government’s coordinator for transatlantic relations, was among those who met Soering at the airport.
The paper adds that Soering’s mother died while he was in prison and he has said he is now estranged from his father.
He did not say where he planned to live in Germany and took no questions at the airport.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Olive oil: alternatives for the 'liquid gold'
The Week Recommends As the price of this store cupboard staple has rocketed, we look at ways to save and other oils to use for cooking
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Scotland Yard, Gaza and the politics of policing protests
Talking Point Met Police accused of 'two-tier policing' by former home secretary as new footage emerges of latest flashpoint
By The Week UK Published
-
'Cure for Trump amnesia might be his NY trial'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
The Red Army Faction: German fugitive arrested after decades on run
Why Everyone's Talking About Police reward and TV appeal leads to capture of Daniela Klette, now 65
By The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Brianna Ghey: should killers have been named?
Talking Point Teenagers Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe now face 'life of inescapable notoriety'
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
Can the UK's knife crime 'epidemic' be tamed?
Today's Big Question Fatal stabbings are on the rise but campaigners are divided over punitive threats vs. public health interventions
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office scandal casts new light on Robin Garbutt murder conviction
Speed Read Supporters claim faulty Horizon evidence was key to guilty verdict but victim's mother accuses former postmaster of jumping on bandwagon
By The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published