I Lied to My Family -- Or Did I?
Inconsistency #...344? in Jens Söring's Stories
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For now, let’s return to a time period which has always been a critical problem for Söring — the period between 1986, when he confessed repeatedly to murdering Derek and Nancy Haysom, and 1990, when he first unveiled his alternate history of the case: namely, that he had actually falsely confessed to killing the Haysoms to protect Elizabeth, their daughter, who was the real killer. This three-and-a-half year gap has always been a huge problem for Söring. He somehow must explain why he didn’t reveal that his confessions were false even after December of 1986, when Elizabeth Haysom told him she was going to agree to return to Virginia and plead guilty to the charges against her, which did not carry (and never had carried) a potential death sentence.
What did Söring tell his family during this time? Did he tell them “the truth” (in his alternate universe) — that is, he confessed falsely to protect Elizabeth? Or did he tell them a “lie”, namely that his confessions were true? One presumes the issue came up.
As always, the answer to this question depends on which day you ask Söring, and who he thinks his audience is. Let’s revisit the legendary 2007 interview with Johannes B. Kerner with Jens Söring. We’ll focus on one short segment.1 (Footnotes lead to original German.) Kerner is asking Söring whether his family visited him in prison.
Kerner: [00:42:08] … Did you have contact with your parents during that time?
Söring: [00:42:11] Of course, of course. That’s what I’m saying. My parents visited me constantly.
Kerner: [00:42:14] What did you tell them?
Söring: [00:42:15] The truth. But that is, you know…
Kerner: [00:42:19] Did they believe you?
Söring: [00:42:20] Yes, of course.”
“The truth,” of course, in Söring’s telling, is that he only confessed to protect Elizabeth, and that he was innocent of the murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom. So here he is saying that he told his parents this version of the story (false confession), apparently from the outset.
And he’s stuck by that story to this day. Oh wait, no he hasn’t. In his 2021 German-language book “Return to Life”, book, he says the following (page 81):2
“What I did to my family three decades ago is unforgivable. I was obsessed with saving my girlfriend's life and accepted that I would bring misfortune to my parents and brother. Yet they all stood by me, even when I lied to the police and confessed to murdering Derek and Nancy Haysom. Initially, my family did not know that I had deliberately lied. So they had to assume I had really committed the crime. Later, after I told the truth and explained the circumstances of my false confession, they all continued to stand firmly by my side. True, they now knew that I was not a murderer, but after all, I had led them to believe that for years.”
So, what did he tell his family, and when did he tell them? We’ll likely never know. His family has broken off all contact with him and has avoided all publicity. Unless they get fed up with him and break their silence, we’ll likely have no idea what he told them about his guilt and when.
Söring has had very, very good luck in that people who know a huge amount of potentially problematic information, such as Elizabeth Haysom and his own family members, have largely chosen to avoid the press.
This allows Söring to simply invent subtly different versions of events according to what he thinks his current audience will be prepared to swallow. In 2007, few Germans knew who he was, and he could be sure almost nobody who heard the interview knew anything about his case. In 2021, however, the case had become a minor cause célèbre, and, worst of all, there were people actively questioning his version and looking into the documentary record.
So, as per routine, he simply changed his tune, without informing anyone he’d done so. It’s a pattern that repeats itself dozens and dozens of times, but there are, of course, still thousands of Germans who don’t know about it.
But not the ones who read this blog!
Kerner: [00:42:08] Ich schon. Irgendwann in der Zwischenzeit noch mal Kontakt mit Ihren Eltern gehabt?
Söring: [00:42:11] Natürlich, natürlich. Was ich meine. Eltern haben mich andauernd besucht.
Kerner: [00:42:14] Was haben Sie denen gesagt?
Söring: [00:42:15] Die Wahrheit. Aber ich meine, das ist — Also.
Kerner: [00:42:19] Haben die Ihnen das geglaubt?
Söring: [00:42:20] Ja, natürlich.”
"Was ich meiner Familie vor drei Jahrzehnten angetan habe ist unverzeihlich. Ich war besessen von dem Gedanken das Leben meiner Freundin zu retten und nahm in Kauf, dass ich meine Eltern und meinen Bruder dadurch ins Unglück stürzte. Trotzdem hielten sie alle zu mir, selbst als ich die Polizei belog und gestand Derek und Nancy Haysom ermordet zu haben. Anfänglich wusste meine Familie nicht, dass ich vorsätzlich gelogen hatte. Sie musste also davon ausgehen, ich hätte die Tat wirklich begangen. Später, nachdem ich die Wahrheit gesagt und die Umstände meines falschen Geständnisses erklärt hatte, standen alle weiter fest an meiner Seite. Zwar wussten sie nun, dass ich kein Mörder war, aber immerhin hatte ich auch sie jahrelang in dem Glauben gelassen." (RiL, S. 81)