Former U.Va. Students Granted Parole In High-Profile Murder Case

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia granted parole Monday to Jens Soering, German diplomat’s son, and Elizabeth Haysom who were convicted in the 1985 slayings of Haysom's parents at their Bedford County, Virginia, home. Both Soering and Haysom, who were students at the University of Virginia at the time of the killings, will be released to immigration officials for deportation to Germany and Canada, respectively.

The surprise decision by the Virginia Parole Board added a new chapter to the 1985 murder mystery that rocked the state and drew national attention, the Washington Post reported. The board ruled that releasing Soering and Haysom was "appropriate based on their youth at the time of the offenses, institutional adjustment and their length of incarceration."

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday he had rejected Soering's request for an absolute pardon, but respects the board's decision to release the pair. "The Governor was . . . made aware that the Parole Board voted to release Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom to ICE, after which they will be permanently removed from the United States and unable to return," Northam's office said in a statement. "Governor Northam respects the Parole Board’s expertise and appreciates their work on this and all other cases."

Derek Haysom, 72, a retired Canadian steel executive, and his artist wife, Nancy, 53, a relative of Lady Astor, were found stabbed and nearly decapitated at their home in Boonsboro, Virginia. Soering, then 18, and his girlfriend Haysom, 20, were not initially considered suspects, but fled the country months later as investigators started making progress in the case.

U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, whose district includes the Bedford County community where the Haysoms were murdered, issued a statement Monday saying he is "shocked and appalled by the Virginia State Parole Board’s decision to grant parole," the Associated Press reported.

They were eventually arrested in London, and Soering confessed, saying he killed the couple while Haysom waited for him at a hotel in Georgetown. He later recanted, saying he was the one in the hotel room while Haysom committed the murder.

At Soering's 1990 trial, Haysom, a Canadian citizen, testified that he committed the murders of her parents and that she was an accessory to the crime. A German citizen, Soering was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to live in prison. Haysom was given a 90-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of accessory to murder.

For decades, Soering, now 53, has been fighting to prove he is innocent, in a case that still generates international attention. Recent attention has included a documentary film and book about the case. Soering sought a a pardon from Gov. Northam, but that request was denied.

In a 2017 book co-written by Soering from prison, Soering explained that after fleeing with Haysom to Europe after the killings, he confessed to the murders under the illusion that as the son of a German consular official he would be granted diplomatic immunity. Soering claims he was sacrificing his life for his love for Haysom.

On Monday, a relative of Haysom's welcomed the parole board's decision. "She will be a free bird, and that's wonderful," said Phyllis Workman, a third cousin to Haysom who often visited her in prison, the Washington Post reported. "She has earned it. She's been a model prisoner, and so has Jens. So it's just time."