Nationality German | Name Jens Soring | |
 | ||
Criminal status Incarcerated at Buckingham Correctional Center in Virginia | ||
Conviction(s) First degree murder | ||
Justizskandal jens s ring unschuldig 31 47 phil collins 65 02 11 2016 kulturzeit
Jens Söring (born August 1, 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand) is a German citizen who in 1990 was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in Virginia, United States. Söring denies having committed the crime and has written a number of books about prison life and religion.
Contents
- Justizskandal jens s ring unschuldig 31 47 phil collins 65 02 11 2016 kulturzeit
- Jens s ring der lange weg zur freiheit
- Early life and education
- Crimes confessions and extradition
- Trial and conviction
- Legal claims
- Life in prison
- Publications
- References
Jens s ring der lange weg zur freiheit
Early life and education
Jens Söring is the son of a West German diplomat. He moved to the United States in 1977 and graduated from The Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. He then matriculated at the University of Virginia and entered into a relationship with fellow student Elizabeth Haysom.
Crimes, confessions and extradition
In March 1985, Haysom's parents, Derek (born 1913) and Nancy Haysom (born 1931), were murdered. Six months after the murder, Söring and Haysom fled the country to England.
Söring and Haysom were arrested on cheque fraud charges in London, England, on April 30, 1986. Under questioning by British, American, West German and Virginia authorities, both confessed to the murders.
Haysom waived extradition. Söring fought extradition (Soering v United Kingdom) and, when the United States agreed not to pursue the death penalty, he was involuntarily extradited to the United States on January 12, 1990.
Trial and conviction
Haysom pleaded guilty and then testified against Söring. At trial, Haysom testified that Söring committed the murders and that she was an accessory to the crime.
At his Virginia trial, Söring withdrew his confession and explained that Haysom committed the murders and that he confessed in order to prevent Haysom from being sentenced to death and execution in the electric chair. Söring later claimed to have assumed he would be extradited to Germany due to his father's diplomatic immunity and be sentenced according to local juvenile criminal law to a sentence of less than 10 years.
According to the prosecution, Söring committed the murders and Haysom was the instigator. Although there were neither eyewitnesses nor usable DNA or fingerprints of Söring at the scene, the jury found him guilty on grounds of circumstantial evidence and his initial confession. Despite his later retraction of his confession, he mentioned that the killing involved a knife, that the Haysoms were drinking, and other details that were consistent with the facts. Söring was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
Haysom was sentenced to 90 years imprisonment (one 45-year sentence for each murder, to be served consecutively). She has a mandatory release date in 2032 when she will be 68 years old.
In 2009, the 42 pieces of DNA evidence from the crime scene were tested (technology was previously not sufficiently advanced). None of the 42 DNA pieces were from Söring.
Legal claims
Söring's ten applications for early release from prison (the latest in October 2014) have been rejected, as were all requests for transfer to a prison in Germany. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeal. Söring quarreled with his father at that time and has not spoken with him since then.
Life in prison
Söring is currently serving his sentence at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Virginia. While in prison, he converted from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism.
Publications
Söring has published several books and articles while incarcerated. In 2007, his book The Convict Christ was awarded first prize by the Catholic Press Association of North America in the category, "Social Concerns."