Albemarle sheriff, forensic scientists find mismatch in DNA samples of former U.Va. student convicted of murder

Soering was convicted in 1990 for matching blood type, but not matching DNA

By Anna Higgins | 09/28/2017

Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding, forensic scientists Dr. J. Thomas McClintock and Richard L. Hudson, Jr., the former Detective Sergeant to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to disprove the 1990 murder conviction of former University student and Jefferson Scholar Jens Soering.

Soering was convicted for the 1985 murders of ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom’s parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom. He is currently serving two life sentences. ... Soering had originally confessed to the murders but recanted his confession and said Haysom, also a former University student, had committed the murders and informed him of her guilt later. ... Haysom is currently incarcerated at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women until May 2032.

In 2009, then-Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration allowed for a review of convictions that were made before DNA testing was available. Because Soering’s evidence still existed, he was eligible for the review.

In the summer of 2016, Soering petitioned McAuliffe for a pardon on the basis that the blood tested did not match Soering’s DNA, but only his blood type. ... According to Hudson, only blood typing serology was used in 1985. Soering was convicted based on the assumption that the type O blood found at the scene was his type O blood.