ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 29, 1996 TAG: 9611290127
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: GRUNDY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMO: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.
In another twist in his struggles to get a new trial for a 1985 double murder, Jens Soering is asking his former girlfriend to confess that she killed her parents.
In a letter released by his lawyer, Soering asked Elizabeth Haysom to ``tell the truth at last.''
``As only you and I know, there is already one innocent man in prison for the crimes you committed: me,'' wrote Soering, who is serving two life terms in Keen Mountain Correctional Center for fatally stabbing Derek and Nancy Haysom in their Bedford County home.
Soering told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a story published Thursday that he sent the letter because of an appeal hearing scheduled in Bedford County Circuit Court on Dec. 9.
He is seeking to overturn his conviction on grounds that evidence was withheld at his June 1990 trial. The dispute concerns a knife that was confiscated from a pair of drifters near the Haysom home shortly after the Haysoms' bodies were discovered.
When police stopped William L. Shifflett and Robert L. Albright, they confiscated a knife that medical examiners have said is consistent with the type of weapon that made many of the Haysoms' wounds.
The two later were convicted of stabbing a Roanoke vagrant to death.
``Now two more men, Shifflett and Albright, are about to be dragged into the quagmire of this case, and only you can say whether they or someone else helped you kill Derek and Nancy Haysom,'' Soering wrote.
Soering, son of a German diplomat, contends Haysom knifed her parents to death, possibly with accomplices. Soering confessed to the crimes several times but recanted the confessions at his trial. He said he was only trying to protect his girlfriend and thought his father's diplomatic immunity would shield him.
Elizabeth Haysom is serving a 90-year prison term for her part in the slayings. She testified that Soering killed the Haysoms with her encouragement, though she said she wasn't there.
The two met while they were students at the University of Virginia.
Officials at the Goochland County prison where Haysom is incarcerated said she has told authorities that she will not give telephone interviews.
In his letter, Soering said that ``admitting your guilt and freeing an innocent man, me, will show the parole board you have truly changed and are sorry for your actions. If you continue as before, everyone will continue to see you as an unrepentant liar.''
Soering's lawyer, Gail Marshall, said he asked her to make the letter public. If state courts deny him a new trial, she said, she'll appeal at the federal level.
``Realistically, I don't have a great deal of hope she'll respond,'' Soering said. ``It's probably just a case of kidding myself.''
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines Type first letter of feature OR type help for list of commands FIND S-DB DB OPT SS WRD QUIT QUIT Save options? YES NO GROUP YOU'VE SELECTED: QUIT YES login: cby CNB