The state of Virginia has granted parole to a German diplomat’s son who was serving a life sentence for the 1985 killings of his girlfriend’s parents.
The office of Governor Ralph Northam said Monday that Jens Soering will be able to walk free in light of the parole board’s decision – 34 years after he slit the throats of Nancy and Derek Haysom in a gruesome double homicide that shocked the country.
At the time, Soering was dating the Haysoms’ daughter, Elizabeth, who was also jailed after being convicted of orchestrating the slaying of her own parents. She, too, was granted parole on Monday.
In a statement, parole board chair Adrianne Bennett said they ‘determined that releasing Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom… is appropriate because of their youth at the time of the offenses, their institutional adjustment and the length of their incarceration’.
Soering has previously been denied parole on 14 prior occasions.
Soering, now 53, and Haysom, 55, were aged 18 and 20 respectively at the time of the murders. The couple were both students at the University of Virginia.
Elizabeth Haysom (left) and Jens Soering (right) have been granted parole in Virginia – 34 years after the brutal murders of Haysom’s parents Nancy and Derek
Nancy and Derek Haysom had their throats cut and were stabbed nearly 50 times at their home near Lynchburg, with the crime scene being described as a ‘slaughterhouse’.
At Soering’s trial, Haysom testified that she manipulated her boyfriend into committing the killings because her parents wanted her to end the relationship.
Soering initially confessed to the killings but later recanted, saying he was covering for his girlfriend.
The murders made international headlines, not just because of their gruesome nature, but also because of the fact that Soering and Haysom were both well-to-do expats living in the United States.
The murders made international headlines, not just because of their gruesome nature, but also because of the fact that Soering and Haysom were both well-to-do expats living in the United States. The pair are pictured during their respective trials
Haysom, who is a Canadian citizen, was the daughter of a wealthy steel executive, while Soering’s father is the German diplomat, Klaus Soering.
Both attended elite schools and lived internationally before they wound up meeting at college.
On Monday, the parole board revealed both Haysom and Soering would now be extradited from the United States.
‘The release and permanent expulsion from the United States is an enormous cost-benefit to the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia and we have determined that their release does not pose a public safety risk to the community,’ Bennett said.
Northam´s office added that neither Soering and Haysom will be able to return to the US.
Haysom testified that she manipulated her boyfriend into committing the killings because her parents wanted her to end the relationship. She is pictured at left with her wealthy steel executive father, Derek, and at right with her artist mother, Nancy
Nancy and Derek Haysom had their throats slashed and were stabbed almost 50 times. The bloody crime scene is pictured
Ben Cline, the Republican Congressman who represents the district where the Haysom parents were murdered, issued a statement Monday saying he is ‘shocked and appalled by the Virginia State Parole Board´s decision to grant parole.’
He added: ‘The impact of the Haysoms´ murder is still felt by the community today. This decision, based not on any remorse by the murderers for their crimes, but instead on some supposed cost-benefit to Virginia, is an insult to the families of the victims and to the principles of justice and the rule of law.’
Virginia abolished parole in 1995, but those who were convicted before then are still eligible to seek parole.
In his pardon applications, Soering and his lawyers said DNA evidence unavailable at the time of his conviction pointed to his innocence. The DNA analyses showed that some of the Type O blood found at the scene did not belong to Soering. Nor could it have belonged to Elizabeth Haysom, who has Type B blood.
After the killings, Soering and Haysom fled overseas and were arrested in London. Soering fought his extradition for several years, but Haysom did not.
Jens Soering is pictured at Brunswick Correctional Center in Virginia back in 2003. The parole board has finally granted him permission to leave prison, after rejecting 14 prior applications
