The Final Wrap-Up...Perhaps?

All's quiet on the Söring front; time to tie up a few loose ends.

Over the past few months, things have gone quiet in Söringland. True, Söring did release 10 interviews with supporters from Virginia on his YouTube channel, among them Chuck Reid, Stan Lapekas, J. Thomas McClintock, Chuck Harding, and Steven Northup. However, these interviews didn’t contain anything new. The state of knowledge of these men remains stuck in 2019. As far as I can remember, only Chuck Reid claims to have read the Wright report, which refuted their arguments more than 4 years ago. None of them mentions me or my book, of course, because Söring has ordered them to ignore me, and they have obeyed. I have sent a few requests for comment to various of these interviewees, often pointing out missing context and factual errors in what they’ve said about the case. None has responded.

The only new aspects of the videos are false allegations of dishonesty against people Söring hates. One of the interviewees, I forget whom, basically accused Ricky Gardner of intentionally covering up the existence of an “FBI profile” in the case. I presume Ricky’s too busy enjoying his retirement to respond. Steven Northup also falsely accused the Small Town, Big Crime podcasters of intentional dishonesty, but I doubt they care enough to take action — the interviews have attracted very little attention; the last interview, with Steven Northup, has racked up only 836 views in three weeks. For people well-versed in the case, the interviews are old news. For people who are new to it, they contain many references which will be hard to follow.

Söring has spent much more time on TikTok, creating short German-language videos discussing his case and other famous American cases. The TikTok commenters he responds to are clueless and, judging by their grammar, not very bright. Their ignorance allows Soering to wheel out all the old familiar tropes and tales, from scheming Lady Macbeth Elizabeth to the bloody sockprint.

However, his heart really doesn’t seem to be in it. He has to know at some level that if these TikTok viewers bother to do any independent research, they will find many credible sources refuting Soering’s claims, whether the Netflix documentary, the Soering System podcast, my book (which has a current rating of 4.7 on Amazon— thanks!), or the devastating German-language documentaries released in early November 2023. Daniela Hillers’ error-riddled German-language book about the case sank without a trace, and I rather doubt the promised English version will be coming anytime soon. Söring, for his part, never mentions her or her book.

John Grisham just released a book, “Framed”, containing 10 profiles of wrongfully-convicted Americans. Soering is not one of them, no doubt to his great chagrin.

Söring still gives sporadic readings in Germany from his books, and apparently is still offering lessons as a “life coach” teaching people about resilience and how to overcome “toxic relationships”. No major media outlet has shown any interest in his case in months, and even the discussion boards about his case have gone quiet. Over and over, whether on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or elsewhere, commenters keep asking him why he’s seemingly still obsessed with trying to convince people of his version of events. He often responds, claiming that he would love to “move on”, but constant “attacks on his reputation” by people like Netflix and Amanda Knox require a response.

So this blog will probably remain dormant from now on. I’ll leave it online, since it contains lots of material which might interest those new to the case. There might also be some new developments down the line, but I doubt it. Jens Soering took his shot at convincing people he was innocent, and he failed, mainly due to Terry Wright’s indefatigable research. Almost everyone who does more than superficial research into the case now concludes that Soering in fact murdered Derek and Nancy Haysom, and not many people wish to associate with an unrepentant double-murderer.

In any event, I’d like to thank everyone for the comments, encouragement, and support you’ve shown over the years. I have enjoyed discussing this case with all of you, and am grateful for the cash donations you’ve sent my way, which have allowed me to keep myself supplied with Johnnie Walker. I plan to launch another Substack focusing on German society and politics and culture more generally; to get a feel for what that will be like, you can follow me on Twitter. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch if you have any new information about the case.