Jens Söring

Jens Söring (born August 1, 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand) is a German citizen who in 1990 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.

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. In 1984, he 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 give him the death penalty, he was involuntarily extradited to the United States on January 12, 1990.