Söring Gives First Interview Without Claiming Innocence

Is he moving on from his threadbare story?

Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, which is sort of like the Associated Press, has just published an interview (g) with Jens Söring on the occasion of the re-publication of his 2008 book “A Day in the Life of 179212”. The title is obviously a reference to Solzhenitzyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, with the important difference that Denisovich was imprisoned despite his innocence, while Söring was imprisoned because of his guilt.

The interview covers familiar ground: Prison life, re-adjusting to freedom in Germany, Söring’s new life as a speaker and celebrity and “expert” on the U.S. criminal-justice system. Söring notes that he’s been “interviewed” for the Netflix series which will be released in Spring 2023, but also observes that the filmmakers spoke to other people as well. (Including yours truly).

But what’s remarkable about this interview is what it doesn’t contain: Söring doesn’t once claim that he is innocent of the crime or was unfairly convicted! The introduction to the piece notes that he “retracted his confessions” and continues to “claim his innocence”, but Söring does not address the issue himself. Söring used to claim his innocence in every interview he gave, no matter what the reporters were interested in, and even when they told him they weren’t interested. As far as I can tell, this is the first extensive press interview in which Söring hasn’t claimed innocence.

Perhaps he’s finally moving on. After all, he has no room to manuever left — almost all of the arguments he used to prop up his innocence clims can now be verified and refuted by online sources. His German-language Wikipedia page, once the site of ferocious sanitizing by Team Söring to prevent its being contaminated with facts, now sets out the overwhelming evidence of his guilt; I can hardly imagine anyone reading it and coming away with any doubts that Söring murdered Derek and Nancy Haysom.

Yet we must remember one thing about Jens Söring: He changes his story based on who he’s talking to. If it’s a reporter who likely did some homework on his case and knows his innocence claims are nothingburgers, he’ll avoid the issue. But if it’s a fresh audience of TikTok teens who know nothing about his case or about the law, he’ll wheel out all the old hits: Elizabeth did it, my confessions were false, my lawyer was incompetent, etc. Yet judging by the comments on these videos, his audience seems more confused than illuminated by these soundbites.

Will Söring finally let go of his innocence story once and for all? Who knows? One thing, however, is certain — I’ll be there to document whatever happens. This “Texan Blogger” ain’t goin’ nowhere: