Elizabeth Haysom is a Canadian woman who, along with her former boyfriend, Jens Söring, orchestrated the double murder of her parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom, in 1985.
Following the Haysoms’ murders (that were committed by Jens Söring), Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring were arrested in London, England, for check fraud and shoplifting. Elizabeth Haysom is currently serving a 90-year prison sentence at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia, after pleading guilty to two counts of accessory to murder before the fact in 1987.
Early Life of Elizabeth Haysom
Elizabeth Haysom was the only child of Derek Haysom, a retired Nova Scotia steel executive, and Nancy Astor Benedict Haysom, an artist. Derek and Nancy had a combined total of five children from previous marriages. Born in April 1964, Elizabeth attended the English boarding school Wycombe Abbey before enrolling at the University of Virginia. It was there she met her 18-year-old boyfriend Jens Söring, the son of a German diplomat and a Jefferson Scholar at the university.
The Murders
On the morning of March 30, 1985, the bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were discovered. They had been slashed and stabbed to death in their Boonsboro, Virginia home, most likely by Jens Söring. Both Derek and Nancy were almost decapitated. The couple’s bodies were not discovered until days after the murder. During the timeline of the murder, Elizabeth Haysom had rented a car. She and Jen drove to Washington, D.C., to establish an alibi.
A Flight to England
Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring were not initially suspects in the Haysoms’ murders. Months after the March 1985 murders, Haysom and Söring were arrested on charges of check fraud. At first, Söring confessed to committing the crime, but after being unable to be tried in West Germany, his country of citizenship, he recanted his story.
The Convictions
Instead of going to trial, Elizabeth Haysom plead guilty to two counts of accessory to murder before the fact. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
Jens Söring went to trial 3 years later in Bedford County, Virginia, after having fought extradition to the United States. In exchange for his return for trial, VA. had to agree to drop the charge of capital murder and a death penalty.
Prosecutors in Söring’s murder trial alleged that Söring had murdered the Haysoms after an argument at dinner when the Haysoms forbade him to see their daughter. Söring maintained his innocence, but was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.
As of 2011, Elizabeth Haysom acknowledges her guilt and will be eligible for parole in 2032, at the age of 68.
Jens Söring continues to proclaim his innocence. He became eligible for parole in 2003, but his application was denied. He is currently serving his life sentence at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Virginia.
In 2010, Virginia’s governor Tim Kaine approved Söring’s request to be transferred to a prison in Germany, but the transfer request was denied by Kaine’s successor, Bob McDonnell.
credit murderpedia / wikipedia
