RICHMOND, Va. — Jens Soering sat in prison for decades after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s parents, who were found stabbed to death inside their rural Bedford County home in 1985. The case made headlines around the world, in part, because Soering, then a University of Virginia student who was the son of a German diplomat, initially confessed to the shocking crimes.
But he later recanted, claiming that he had only admitted guilt to try to protect his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom.
For years, Soering has sought a pardon. While no Virginia governor has ever granted one, he was released on parole in 2019. Now, seven years after being set free, Soering is asking the Court of Appeals of Virginia to officially clear his name.
His attorney, Elliott Harding, sat down with Catie Beck on the most recent episode of ‘Untold – A WTVR Podcast.’ They discussed the petition for a writ of actual innocence they recently filed, and why Harding is certain his client is an innocent man.
“I was always skeptical of his prosecution,” said Harding. “But now having reviewed everything, thousands of pages, boxes of things, and there's even more to review, but knowing what I know, I'm pretty adamant, I mean, I am adamant about his innocence.”
Soering’s DNA was not found at the crime scene. Instead, Harding said prosecutors were able to convince the jury that Soering was guilty because he had type O blood.
“Twenty six times in closing argument, they just hammered that type O blood was on the scene, but that’s like 43% of the population or so,” said Harding. “That's effectively saying like a white guy did it or it rained that night. It's like, okay, how relevant is that?”
Harding also pointed out that, if they are granted a hearing before the appeals court, per Virginia law, they don’t technically have to prove that Soering is innocent, they just need to convince the judges that no reasonable jury could convict him if the case were tried in 2026.
“That is ultimately what we're trying to show,” said Harding. “Based on what we know, based on the lack of connection to the case, based on the flaws with the evidence that was brought in, and the lack of veracity or corroboration in Jens’s confession, there's no way a jury would find beyond a reasonable doubt that he did these things.”
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