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Elizabeth Haysom

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Elizabeth Haysom
Born
Elizabeth Roxanne Haysom

(1964-04-15) April 15, 1964 (age 60)
Salisbury, Rhodesia
NationalityCanadian
Criminal statusParoled
Parent(s)Derek William Reginald Haysom (deceased)
Nancy Astor Benedict Haysom (deceased)
Conviction(s)Accessory to murder before the fact (2 counts)
Criminal penalty90 years imprisonment
Details
VictimsDerek William Haysom, 72
Nancy Astor Haysom, 53
DateMarch 30, 1985
CountryUnited States
State(s)Virginia

Elizabeth Roxanne Haysom (born April 15, 1964[1][better source needed] in Salisbury, Rhodesia[2]) is a Canadian citizen who, along with her boyfriend, Jens Söring, was convicted of orchestrating the 1985 double murder of her parents Derek and Nancy Haysom in Bedford County, Virginia.[3] Following the Haysoms' murders, she and Söring were arrested in London for check fraud and shoplifting.[4]

Haysom served 32 years of 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.[3] She and Söring were paroled on November 25, 2019, more than 30 years after they were first convicted of the deaths of Haysom’s parents in 1985.[5]

Haysom was diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder by several court psychiatrists.[6]

Early life

Elizabeth Haysom is the child of Derek William Reginald Haysom, a steel executive, and Nancy Astor Benedict Haysom, an artist.[7] Derek and Nancy had a combined total of five children from previous marriages.[3] Born in April 1964, Elizabeth attended boarding schools in Switzerland and England (Wycombe Abbey), then enrolled at the University of Virginia. It was there she met her 18-year-old boyfriend Jens Söring.

Murders

On the morning of April 3, 1985, when Söring was 18 and Haysom was 20, the bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were discovered. They had been slashed and stabbed to death in their home in the Boonsboro neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia.[7] Both Derek and Nancy were almost decapitated.[8] The couple's bodies were not discovered until days after the murder. During the timeline of the murder, Haysom had rented a car. She and Jens drove to Washington, D.C., to establish an alibi.[3][9][10]

Flight to England

Haysom and Söring were not initially suspects in the Haysoms' murders, and Haysom organized all the details for her parents' funerals. Within a few weeks, authorities had checked the records for the rental car the pair used, and found that the total mileage during the rental far exceeded the single round trip to Washington, D.C. they claimed to have taken.[3] The Virginia police turned their focus to the couple, who then fled the country. Six months after the murder, having been to a number of countries, Söring and Haysom went to England, where they were arrested on April 30, 1986, for shoplifting and check fraud, having written fake checks totalling US$9,000 (equivalent to about $25,000 in 2023).[11][4]

Convictions

In 1987, Haysom, then 23 years old, pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory to murder before the fact, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison – one 45-year sentence for each murder, to be served consecutively.[12][13][3] Söring pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty at his 1990 trial and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for first-degree murder.[14][15]

Haysom was incarcerated in the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia,[8] first became eligible for parole in 1995, and submitted a parole request every three years thereafter.[16] Haysom's sentence was subject to mandatory parole; she would have been released automatically in 2032, 45 years after her conviction.

Parole

On 25 November 2019, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that both Haysom and Söring would be released on parole, but not pardoned, and sent back to their respective home countries.[17] After more than 30 years in prison, Haysom was released from prison to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,[18] and then deported to her home country of Canada in January 2020.[19][20][21]

U.S. Representative Ben Cline issued a statement condemning her release as a cost-cutting attempt by the state of Virginia, and not based on merit.[22] Adrianne L. Bennett, then chair of the Virginia Parole Board, asserted that the decision to grant Haysom parole was also justified by her young age at the time the crime was committed.[23]

Jens Söring, Haysom's accomplice, was also granted parole in November 2019 and was deported to his home country of Germany after his release.[24]

In the media

The Söring/Haysom criminal proceedings were the first to be broadcast nationwide on American television.[citation needed] The Haysoms' murders have been profiled by 20/20, The Investigators, Geraldo Rivera, The New Detectives, City Confidential, Wicked Attraction, Deadly Women, On the Case with Paula Zahn, Snapped: Killer Couples,[4] and Southern Fried Homicide.

Killing for Love (a.k.a. The Promise), a feature documentary film, premiered at the Munich International Film Festival and was released theatrically in October 2016.[25]

Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs. Haysom, a four-episode true crime documentary limited series, was released on Netflix on 1 November 2023.[26]

References

  1. ^ "Elizabeth Haysom,"IMDb.com; Family trees on Ancestry.com give Haysom's birthdate as simply April 1964.
  2. ^ Baker, Donald P. (24 August 1987). "Pair Accused in Murders Shared Paths". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Conley, Jay (3 April 2005). "Haysom murders, 20 years ago today: blood sweat and convictions". The Roanoke Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Reed, Ray (3 October 2013). "Haysom relatives on Soering decision: 'It's about time'". The News & Advance. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011.
  5. ^ Barakat, Matthew (26 November 2019). "German national granted parole for infamous 1985 slayings of girlfriend's parents". usatoday.com. Associated Press/USA Today. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  6. ^ Hausman, Sandy. "Additional Evidence Driving Force Behind Jens Soering's Pardon Request". WVTF. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b Green, Frank (16 January 2010). "Murderer Jens Soering could be sent to prison in Germany". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b Martinez-Ramundo, Denise; Paparella, Andrew; Valiente, Alexa. "Convicted killer, after decades of maintaining innocence, believes freedom is 'finally in sight'". ABC News. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  9. ^ Bedford County Sheriffs Office
  10. ^ "The Free Lance-Star - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Va. murder suspect must face British charge first". UPI. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  12. ^ Beveridge, Dirk (9 October 1987). "Daughter Is Sentenced To 90 Years For Role In Va. Slaying of Parents". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Soering's ex says he is guilty; new letter sent to governor". The Daily Progress. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  14. ^ Turyn, Noreen (25 June 2014). "Elizabeth Haysom Denied Parole". WSET. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Jens Soering: Doubts, Politics & Possible Parole". WVTF. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Haysom parole request denied". The Free Lance–Star. 24 May 1995. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  17. ^ "USA wollen verurteilten Doppelmörder Söring freilassen". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 26 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  18. ^ "ICE removes Canadian national after completion of accessory to murder sentence". www.ice.gov. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  19. ^ Vozzella, Laura (25 November 2019). "Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom, convicted in sensational 1985 double murders, released by Virginia". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  20. ^ Heller, Nathan (21 December 2019). "A New Chapter in a Double-Murder Case". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  21. ^ Stuart, Courteney (13 February 2020). "Haysom deported to Canada after release from ICE custody". WCAV. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  22. ^ Barakat, Matthew. "German national granted parole for infamous 1985 slayings of girlfriend's parents". USA Today. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  23. ^ Green, Frank. "Jens Soering, Elizabeth Haysom granted parole in 1985 slayings of her parents in Bedford County". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Haysom remains in ICE custody, paroled two months ago". www.cbs19news.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  25. ^ Steinberger, Karin; Vetter, Marcus. "Details - THE PROMISE". www.filmfest-muenchen.de. Filmperspektive GmbH. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  26. ^ Falk, Graham (1 November 2023). "Till Murder Do Us Part Netflix: Who is Jens Soering, where is Jens Soering now, where is Elizabeth Haysom now". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
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