Elizabeth Haysom's Trial and Sentencing, Part II
The second and final edited transcripts of Elizabeth Haysom's 1987 trial
For a general introduction to the trial of Elizabeth Haysom, please see:
This post is part 2 of 2 of excerpts of the verbatim written trial transcript of the trial of Elizabeth Haysom in Bedford County, Virginia. I have chosen them using my own editorial judgment (attack it at will in the comments), focusing on testimony that illuminates Jens Söring’s character and the circumstances of the crime. Overall, I’ve provided a large chunk, perhaps half, of the testimony in this case. I hope you find the post interesting. Comments welcome as always.
6 October 1987
APPEARANCES:
THE HONORABLE WILLIAM W. SWEENEY, PRESIDING
For the Commonwealth: James W. Updike, Jr., Esq.
Bedford County Courthouse Bedford, VA 24523
For the Defendant:
R. Andrew Davis, Esq., Bedford, VA 24523
Hugh J.M. Jones, III., Esq., Lynchburg, VA 24502
Cross-examination of Elizabeth Haysom by District Attorney Jim Updike:
Q Then on Page Eleven [of the 40-page letter Jens Söring wrote to Elizabeth Haysom during Christmas 1984], first paragraph, referring to your father, Jens Soering writes depending on his mental and emotional flexibility--
A Sir, where is this?
Q Excuse me, first paragraph, top of Page Eleven, middle of the paragraph beginning with the word depending.
A Yes.
Q Depending on his mental and emotional flexibility, your father for example could quite well die from a confrontation with him.
A Yes.
Q Now here we are at Christmas and Mr. Soering's writing about the death of your father as well, why?
A I have no idea, sir.
Q Just coincidence that he is fantasizing about their deaths while you are also here in Virginia fantasizing about their deaths as well?
A I believe you'll find he also fantasized about his own parents' deaths as well in this letter.
(258)
Q Proceeding from January then, in February of '85 you said that Mr. Soering came into your room with a very interesting statement. What was that again, please, concerning your parents?
A He walked in and said I could blow their bloody heads off.
Q I could blow their bloody heads off.
A Yes, sir.
Q At that point in time of course you had communicated to him with this diary your fantasies as you now call them.
A Yes, sir.
Q He had written to you, and though you say you didn't read all of it, even in the first ten pages there are references to weapons against your parents.
A I have no idea if I got that far but maybe I did, I don't know, I can't say whether I did or I didn't.
Q Regardless of whether you read it or not, I'm interested in the fact that he wrote it in response to you. But at any rate, Ms. Haysom--
A I believe at Page Ten or whatever is not a response to me, it's of his own free thinking.
Q Excuse me, you're exactly right, it's Page Nineteen. Now, my point being though, after you have written what you did during Christmas--
A Yes, sir.
Q --and Mr. Soering bursts into your room talking about he could blow your parents' brains out.
(273)
A Yes, sir.
Q Didn't it occur to you at that moment hey, wait a minute, this boy's taking this stuff serious?
A Yes, it did, sir.
Q What did you do to stop him?
A Absolutely nothing, sir, and that's why I'm guilty.
Q Ms. Haysom, it would seem to me that if somebody said something about murdering one's parents—
A Yes, sir.
Q --that one would not acquiesce to a suggestion such as that unless that person actually wanted those parents murdered.
A Sir, I did not want my parents murdered, but there was a large part of me which did want my parents out of my life. And I think that I chose to ignore his statement or not do anything about it as you say because of that, because I did not necessarily want my parents murdered but I wanted them out of my life.
Q Couldn't you have very easily have said that to Jens Soering, look, Jens, I don't want them dead, I would like them out of my life, I don't want them dead. I love you, don't you ever say anything of that nature against my mother and father again.
A I certainly was very angry with him. I told him that I thought it was a disgusting thing to say, and I said to him, my God, you are serious about this and it's outrageous. But he obviously knew from, as you pointed out, my letters that I had feelings about my parents that I didn't want them in my life, yes.
Q And he would also have feelings that you wanted them dead because of your exact words in the diary, concentrations on their death, willing them to death.
A That probably had remained in his mind. I actually had forgotten about those letters until a much later time.
Q So you admit that you placed the idea of your parents' death in the mind of Jens Soering?
A No, sir.
Q Ms. Haysom, then, you did absolutely nothing, you said absolutely nothing, and you say that you did not want them dead, you just ignored that statement, is that correct?
A To a certain extent.
Q To a certain extent.
A What is your question then, sir, excuse me, maybe I misunderstood.
(272-274)
Q Can you explain why after writing all the correspondence about the deaths of your parents, about telling the investigators in England about wanting them dead, and about telling this man here about wanting your parents dead, and about having said all of that and knowing all of that and doing what you did there in Washington, you here today say that you did not want them murdered?
A The distinction I'm trying to make, and I know it's very--it's a very difficult one to understand-- yes, I said to Investigator Gardner when I came back here, which is approximately two years after my parents were killed, that I did want them dead, yes, but I did not want them murdered.
I lived in--I'm sure you can tell from my letters that I lived. in a world of fantasy to a large extent. I deceived people, I lied to them, I exaggerated it, I played roles, I acted out roles. But in reality I still find it very difficult to believe, although obviously I know that it's true, that Jens, or in fact that anybody could kill somebody, particularly with a knife. I don't--to have known Jens, I had never known anybody who was particularly violent or criminal.
To kill somebody, it's so very definite and so very real; I just never really imagined somebody could do that, would do that. For all the talk and hard times, it's just not something that people do, they don't go around killing other people even if they have talked about it, written about it. It's not something one does.
Q I see. Then are you saying despite everything that had been written and said between the two of you and despite what Jens Soering said as he was leaving Washington, are you saying that you did not know he was going to murder your parents?
A (Pause.)
Q You knew what he was going to do, didn't you?
A No, sir.
Q You didn't. Did you think he was going to drive that distance after all of this just for a little chat?
A I never thought that Jens would murder my parents. I thought he might do a lot of things, but kill somebody, stick a knife in my mother and father, butcher them, no. I never believed he would do that to my parents, I still can hardly believe it.
Q Then if you did not think that, why did you think he was driving so far under those circumstances?
A He went down there to confront them over his anger and frustrations about my relationship with them.
(293-295)
A Sir, what I want you to understand is I do not mean to minimize my guilt. What I did, what I said, what I failed to do, my irresponsibility, my manipulation of Jens, yes, I'm totally guilty, I'm totally responsible for my parents' death, I accept that. But what I want you to realize is that Jens acted of his own free will, he had a choice; he had a choice, he had a four-hour drive. No matter what I said to him before that, no matter what I had written to him in months before that, he had a choice whether he killed my parents or not. He sat and talked with them. He had some kind of meal with them or something. He didn't have to do anything, nobody forced him to do anything.: And I never once believed that somebody like Jens could do something like that.
(295-296)
A And when I discovered--I admit my sole purpose at this time was to continue to cover up for Jens and to continue to cover up my coverup, any participation that I had. And when I discovered, when Sergeant Beaver confronted me in the cell with Jens's statement he was very careful to tell me a couple of details about Jens's statement, and so I was fully aware of the fact that Jens had been talking to them.
Any my response was one of anger that JenE had let me down, that he had confessed while I was continuing to betray and lie and cover up for him, and meanwhile he was confessing. And I felt like I had been set up by him.
And so what--my response was one of anger. And when I spoke to Sergeant Beaver in the beginning, yes, I did, I tried to put the entire mess on to Jens, I said that I didn't know what was going on.
(303)
A Yes. He started off by saying that he had killed this dog and then he said he killed my parents.
Q He was more worried about the dog first, but then he came along and included your parents, he killed your parents as well, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
(310)
A I didn't say that, sir. I said that my statements were not--they were not made to encourage him to kill my parents. I was using his love of money, his need for security in financial terms to manipulate him to leave the university. I firmly believe today that Jens did think there was money in it.
Q He did, didn't he?
A Yes, he did.
Q He believed that if he killed your parents that you would inherit money and that he would get a portion of it, didn't he?
A I told him many, many, many times, many times, that my inheritance was my education.
Q Ms. Haysom, that's not what you have said in the March letter to him, because there you're talking about Eaton Square.
A I told him I had lost all that.
Q But you're saying that if you do certain things you'll be rich, if you do what your parents want.
A Yes, if I do what my parents want, they hold the golden carrot before me. They never gave me that money and I make that clear to him. I would say if you want to stay at the university, you must behave in a manner, tow [sic] the line, and that golden carrot is before us. But from previous experience, we'll never receive that money.
Q Again referring you to the letter written a couple of weeks afterwards, in that letter you start talking to him again about the money, don't you?
A Which money?
Q Well for example the third page of the letter you state, "Never again demand money from me." The next page--
A Excuse me, sir, where is that?
Q Last paragraph at the bottom of that page, beginning with the word never, "Never again demand money from me. To say to me I want $200 out of you tomorrow morning is to behave like a bastard.” That page begins with the word Genesis.
A Yes, I found it.
Q So within two weeks of the murders Jens Soering was demanding money from you, wasn't he?
A Yes, he was. My brother Howard was extremely generous, and he knew that I needed some money and he gave me some money, I believe he gave me $500. And Jens demanded that money from me and that's what I'm referring to.
Q And that confirms the point, doesn't it, that Jens Soering believed by the murder of your parents he would get some money, because two weeks later, within two weeks, he's demanding money.
A Very possibly he believed that, but I made it very clear to him, I made it very clear to him. But he has what's known as a selective memory and he chooses to remember what's convenient for him when it's convenient for him.
Q The next page you state also, "Yes, there's more; don't you ever assume verbally to me anyway, that half of my father's estate is yours."
A Yes, sir.
(323)
Q So he had made indications that he thought a portion of the father's estate was now his, hadn't he? Otherwise there would be no reason for you to chastise him for making that request.
A Yes, sir. What happened was that around about the time of the funeral, obviously I was presented with a copy of my parents' will which Jens insisted on reading. And he was extremely upset by the wording of the will that my two brothers would be executors of the estate and that I would have no control over the financial aspect of the money that was to go towards my education. It wasn't cash in hand, it was cash for my education to be designated by them. And he wanted me, and he quite successfully got me to badger and demand money from my brothers Howard and Verian.
Q Ms. Haysom, that statement just directly contradicts what you said a few moments ago, doesn't it?
A No, sir.
Q You just now stated at the reading of the will, which was after the death of your parents, he learned of the specific provisions of the will, those being that you would not inherit a share of the estate, but rather the estate would be managed by an executor.
A Yes, sir.
(324)
Q That's what you said he learned at the reading of the will after the murders.
A Yes, sir.
Q A few moments ago you you were saying that you made it abundantly clear to him before the murders that your only inheritance was your education, that you wouldn't get anything.
A That's correct.
Q He would not have gotten upset after the murders at the reading of the wills if you had made it so clear to him before.
A That's not true, sir. He did not believe me obviously. He thought I was holding out on him.
Q You obviously didn't make it as abundantly clear--
A I made it very clear to him. I made it extremely clear to him.
Q Clear as you did here today?
A Jens thought I was made of money.
Q And you wrote him letters about Eaton Square, and you had nothing to do with him getting that impression.
A That's true, I manipulated him, I led him_ to believe that. But I did make it clear to him that in terms of my inheritance that there was absolutely no financial gain. I made that abundantly clear to him many, many times.
Q He just didn't believe it because he was demanding afterwards money from you, as you have already indicated.
A Yes.
(321-326)
A I believe that I am thoroughly guilty, thoroughly responsible for what happened. And I believe that as I said in my statements to Investigator Gardner that I deserve life for what I've done. I agreed with all of that, I agreed that I betrayed, lied, deceived, and I wouldn't be in this position today if I had not done those things.
And worst of all, I stayed with him, and worst of all, I stayed with him willingly, and continued for so long, even after we were in custody, to love him and to need him, and to support him, and to try every which way I could to prevent him from coming back here. But my attitude has changed on that.
MR. UPDIKE: Thank you, ma'am, I don't have any further questions.
(348-349)
Direct Examination of Robert Showalter, M.D.
Q If you would, can you give us an indication of how many occasions Elizabeth came to Charlottesville for an evaluation, what was taken into account in preparing the evaluation.
A In general, I--let me start with my own involvement which consisted of four separate face-to-face contacts, interviews on four different days beginning in mid July and ending about mid September, early September.
In addition to my direct examination and evaluation of Ms. Haysom, she was evaluated by Dr. Janet Warren, the forensic social worker, was a member of the Forensic Psychiatry Clinic staff. She was also given a battery of psychological tests by several individuals that are affiliated with our clinic, and also she was interviewed on at least two, possibly three occasions by Dr. Lisa Hogerban who is our senior fellow in forensic psychiatry in the clinic at this time.
Q And I believe she's in the courtroom here today, is that right?
A Yes, that is correct.
(360-361)
Q In preparing an evaluation, how would you rate this one in terms of comprehensiveness, the one that's been prepared?
A Well I like to believe that every examination that we carry out is comprehensive. I might say that this particular examination, evaluation, has been very far reaching and very extensive due to the wide range of facts and issues related to the case, facts and issues which seem to have a bearing on the case. So it has taken a tremendous amount of work and countless hours of staff time to prepare.
And in that respect, it's probably one of our most involved cases as far as time allotments were concerned in the forensic psychiatry clinic at the university.
Q Is it your understanding that you and the clinic were provided with basically every document that came to Mr. Jones' and my possession?
(365)
A That is my understanding.
Q Including statements of Ms. Haysom as well as the co-defendant?
A That is my understanding, right.
Q However, in the course of our workup, it became quite obvious that although Ms. Haysom did not meet
(366)
these threshhold criteria for any consideration of incompetency to stand trial or insanity in any sort of exculpatory sense, we were very struck by the presence of significant symptoms of psychiatric dysfunction.
After our thorough clinical workup, we identified a number of symptoms which meet the diagnostic criteria of the borderline personality disorder as it is described in the diagnostic and statistic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, which is the standard for meeting--that is used now for establishing psychiatric diagnosis.
Q And that is the recognized standard in the United States, is that correct?
A That is the recognized standard, yes.
(367)
I should add also that we could make a diagnosis of a chronic and long-term substance abuse disorder in Ms. Haysom. We did not isolate that out as a separate category because the substance abuse that characterized much of her developmental years, or most of her developmental years, is assumed under the heading as I'll point out here in a few minutes, it's one of the characteristics of the borderline personality disorder.
(370)
The supporting data for that is as follows: Elizabeth Haysom described all of her significant relationships with other individuals in terms of intense and volatile dynamics. Her mother was seen as seductively attentive yet critically rejecting in her evaluation of Elizabeth and her activities.
Melissa was an understanding albeit possessive friend with whom Elizabeth lived and traveled and then from whom she abruptly separated.
Jens was her passionate paramour with whom she played out highly charged physical and emotional scenes here and across Europe.
All of these relationships reflected a state of enmeshment in which Elizabeth found herself
(372)
fluctuating between a sense of submissiveness and dependence and resentment and manipulation.
Criteria Number Three is termed technically affective instability, which can be defined as a marked shift or marked shifts from base line mood to depression, irritability or anxiety, usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days. And the supporting history and clinical data for this centered around Ms. Haysom's chronical long history of plunges into depression, usually stimulated by environmental stresses.
This no doubt represented one of the reasons that she turned to drugs in an attempt to override her symptoms of depression and utter aloneness and despair.
Throughout her interviews, Ms. Haysom also documented the development of intense anxiety feelings relating to interactions with significant others in her life. She identified here particularly her relationship with her mother and her relationship with Jens Soering.
(374-375)
Criteria Number Four, for sake of completeness I will read, but we did not find the data or evidence clinically to support the Criteria Number Four, and this is the one out of the eight that we did not diagnose. Presence of inappropriate intense anger or lack of control of anger as characterized by frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights.
Q Would that be basically a diagnosis that Elizabeth is a nonviolent person?
A It would suggest that.
Q And was there anything in your report or in your diagnosis that would portray Elizabeth as a violent person?
A No. To the contrary, Ms. Haysom tends to be very withdrawn and has been throughout most of her life. I would characterize her as long suffering in quietly and meekly accepting a wide range of abuses from
(375)
significant others in her life without responding in ways that as I recall some of her family members suggested, you know, why don't you get a little upset, why don't you react. But she very meekly and docilely accepted the abuse and went from there.
(376)
Ms. Haysom also reported a sense of inadequacy in establishing significant interpersonal relationships and viewed herself as not the type of person who could sustain relationships with healthy and successful peers. Rather she felt driven to find the "odd type" of people that reflected the confusion that she found in herself.
She was plagued by a sense of boredom when confronted with the normal routines and lifestyles of her peers and because of this appeared compelled to search out the more bizarre elements of life. Finally her sense
(378)
of emptiness and boredom created a strong need to engage 2 in fanciful and metaphorical thinking, and this issue cannot be over emphasized….
A I would say that that was the overriding element of the vast majority of that correspondence. It is my impression that they did not use correspondence to transact business as you or I may use correspondence to transact business, it was purely used--taking into consideration here that you're dealing with two highly intelligent, bright people suffering, certainly in the case of Elizabeth Haysom, severe personality disorder, and she used with her verbal linguistic skills, would fill up hours and hours writing that otherwise in a more normal well adjusted young adult would have been spent socializing, fraternizing with friends and hopefully family members.
(380)
Ms. Haysom proved incapable of separating from significant others, despite the pathological nature of her relationship with her mother and her disclaim for her mother’s status-conscious values, she felt incapable of rebelling against her mother and establishing a life of her own. Rather she felt compelled to placate and appease her mother, agreeing even at one point to pose nude for her upon request.
Ms. Haysom also found herself unable to terminate her relationship with Jens, attempting instead to convince him that she had a brain tumor or a date with a member of the IRA when in Europe.
In Europe she accepted physical beatings from Mr. Soering, his insults and participated in his bizarre sexual interests. Again, rather than separate from him, again, underscoring this fear of abandonment and demonstrating the ends to which one would put oneself through troublesome situations for maintaining--the price of maintaining the relationship. When they were arrested and placed in different parts of the jail, she felt that she would die if she had to suffer any prolonged period of separation from him.
(381)
[This] clearly establishes a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
Q How would that diagnosis impact upon her relationship with Jens Soering?
A It would impact probably most clearly in two arenas; number one, and this is earlier on, Mr. Soering proved to be a very interesting person to her. She acknowledged that just as soon as she laid on eyes on him at the University of Virginia--and they were housed in the same dormitory I understand--she realized as she said at one point, and I think I'm quoting correctly, certainly the gist of this is correct, that he was European and weird, and those seemed to be two criteria that were very, very important to her.
She was looking for an individual with whom she could relate. Elizabeth looked at herself from a very early age, as I've mentioned earlier, as weird, strange, quite likely unloveable. And it's very characteristic for a person like this having these feelings about himself or herself to gravitate toward other individuals that appear to be suffering the same plight. That was Category Number One.
And Category Number Two then deals with the capacity that both Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering had
(382)
for interacting on a very high cognity [sic: cognitive] plane. Ms. Haysom felt that this was a fanciful, metaphorical series of head games, an attempt to see who could be the more outlandish, a term that she used not infrequently during my discussions with her. This, again, was a substitute for more normal, more wholesome socialization, but she found an individual that could spar with her or meet her in this metaphorical, fanciful, outrageous head game approach to life.
(383)
[In this] metaphorical thinking … Elizabeth began talking with Mr. Soering about the very troublesome home life that she had experienced. It's my understanding that he identified similar sentiments about his own parents and possibly even a grandmother, and that seemed to be another element that brought the two of them closer together around that issue of disdain, dislike, frustration with their developmental years.
Q In your perusal of the letters and the staff perusal and evaluation, in the relationship between Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering, who was the dominant character in that relationship?
A There is no question in my mind that throughout this relationship Mr. Soering was the dominant, stronger of the two personalities. Ms. Haysom was able to, by virtue of her own academic, literary, creative skills, continue to serve up new ideas, new entertainments as it were. But these were done in the interest frequently of attempting to retain and hold on to this relationship that at least had some moments of gratification.
As the relationship progressed, however, these positive moments seemed to diminish and the negative moments seemed to predominate. But yet she could not, she did not have the self assertive capability characteristic of this diagnostic syndrome, the syndrome that we've diagnosed her as suffering from, did not have the personal strength or sufficient aggression or assertiveness to extricate herself or even begin a serious process of attempting to extricate herself from her emotional bond with Mr. Soering.
Q: You are aware of the different accounts of her parents' deaths that Elizabeth has given to different
(385)
police authorities, is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q And as you are aware, she has stated that the alibi which was provided essentially was created after the fact.
A That's my understanding.
Q How can that be connected to the diagnosis that you've made here in overwhelming demonstration which she's made not only back in August but before she even came over here to plead guilty?
A As has come out previously and been stated in some of the clinical data, one of the head games played by Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering was that of getting rid of her parents, getting rid of his parents, possibly including his grandmother, I think there's some reference somewhere to that in one of the writings.
Ms. Haysom very clearly acknowledged, and I think quite credibly, that this would relieve tension, to talk about this would relieve tension and thereby bring her a little closer to a reasonable level of psychological functioning and it would lessen the pain a little bit to diffuse this.
And people do this all the time, often through humor, bizarre jokes, whatever, you can actually work out anxiety, frustration, pain and hurt. This is the purpose that this was serving as well as continuing this 2 back and forth sort of written reparte, if there is such a 3 thing, in which they would try to ever produce something 4 more outlandish, more grandiose.
(387)
Q I believe that you were provided on Saturday, and as I said we got them on Friday and you got them on Saturday, a cluster of letters, one of which has
(389)
been described as being to Neal Woodall from Jens Soering.
A Yes.
Q Could you basically outline the significance of that letter and how it applies to Elizabeth Haysom?
A My reading of that letter, Mr. [Haysom defense lawyer R. Andrew Davis, Esq.] Davis, established for me or underscored I should say, ideas that were already emerging, gestating in my mind. And I think very broadly stated, this letter suggests the--or outlines in a sense Mr. Soerinq's philosophy on a number of things, most specifically and most relevant for our consideration here, his philosophy relationship, and particularly his relationship with Ms. Haysom.
I think if there were any issues or unresolved issues or questions about who was in the ascendency or who controlled the relationship, I think that that letter should very clearly establish the fact that Mr. Soering saw himself as the sort of prime mover and certainly a self-contained young man fully capable of carrying out whatever deeds or acts he wanted to do.
Q Based upon your evaluation and all the information that you gathered concerning Elizabeth Haysom, is that the overall impression you get from Mr. Soering?
A Yes. Yes, it is.
(389)
Q Can you explain why she would remain with him for the next several months after she knew that he had killed her parents?
A It goes back to the diagnosis, this fear of
(392)
abandonment. If she were to - she didn’t have the requisite strength, initiative to separate herself from this situation; she did not have the psychological strength, maturity to do that.
Number two, by following him she was not abandoned, there WdE a relationship. She was paying an exorbitant price for this relationship at that time and she's been very, very clear about that. But still, the price was not high enough that she could separate; a graphic demonstration of this one criteria for the diagnosis of borderline personality disorders.
Q It was stated here earlier today by Ms. Haysom in response to questions from Mr. Updike that she felt more guilty than Mr. Soering was and that in her opinion she was more guilty and she deserved life in prison. How do you characterize that into the diagnosis?
A Well I think there are several comments that I can make on that. In the first place, before I relate it specifically to the diagnosis, from my first meeting with Elizabeth Haysom, I was struck by the intense remorse and sorrow. Even though the quality of parenting that she experienced was marginal at best, she still felt sorry, all of her metaphors and all of her head games again aside, that her parents were dead, that her parents had been brutally and tragically murdered in the way that
(393)
they were.
She feels that, you know, obviously Mr. and Mrs. Haysom were her parents, and so she feels because of the relationship that she has a closer, did have a closer allegiance to her parents and hence has felt extreme unrelenting guilt about this.
She also, although she understands to some extent the psychopathology involved in this, she's still very clear about the reality issues that they did do these head games and that maybe in some way that contributed to the actual physical enactment of one of these head games, which was the destruction of her parents.
Q And that particular act which resulted in the destruction of her parents, was that in your opinion based on what you have seen, heard and read concerning this matter, based on a selfish motive of Jens Soering or out of love?
A Would you restate that?
Q Based on everything that you've seen and heard regarding this particular matter, and in your interviews with Elizabeth Haysom, there arose the driving force or the question of the impetus for the reason that Jens Soering killed Elizabeth's parents, was it out of love or was it out of selfishness?
A Well the way this has finally come
(394)
together, I think after extensive research and study, it's my impression that Mr. Soerinq carried out the murders largely motivated by his fear that he was losing Elizabeth.
As you may recall, the weekend before their tragic death, the death of the Haysoms, Elizabeth had had what she characterized as probably one of the best weekends that she had ever had with her parents. She explained to them some of her goals, some of her frustrations with her involvement with them evidently, particularly with respect to her father; it was a candid, forthright exchange that she felt very good about.
I take it she came back to school and went over a fair amount of this interchange, exchange, with Mr. Soerinq, announcing that she had reconciled some issues in her own mind with her parents, she announced that she had intentions to pursue further education in Europe at the Gerte Institute specifically, if I recall correctly. And further, although it was her impression that her father did not really agree with this next step in her education, he agreed to make provisions to make that financially possibly for her to do.
In retrospect, she looking back over this feels that Mr. Soering became extremely upset at what appeared to be some reconciliation or some lessening of
(395)
the anger toward her parents, and because of that reason she said let's go to Washington, let's have a nice weekend. I had a nice weekend with my parents last weekend, we'll go to Washington, I'll have a nice weekend with you this weekend in an attempt to placate what seemed to be heightening anger and frustration demonstrated towards her by Mr. Soering.
…
Q Dr. Showalter, I believe you and your staff prepared a report which is some thirty-nine pages long, plus a copy of the psychological evaluation.
A That is correct.
Q The psychological evaluation that was conducted, what if any corroboration or emphasis does that place upon your diagnosis?
A It is remarkably supportive. We use psychological testing, I as a psychiatrist use psychological testing as a surgeon may use radiographs, X- rays, to essentially tell you whether or not you're in the right ball park sometimes or to confirm in ambiguous situations.
In the situation with this degree of psychopathology and magnitude of the issues at hand, careful psychological evaluation took place and in essence very closely corroborated the clinical findings.
Q Dr. Showalter, were many of these conclusions based on information that was given to you by members of the family?
A The report reflects a considered assessment and evaluation of everything I read at the outset of my testimony, which obviously includes a lot of direct input from Ms. Elizabeth Haysom, copies of reports, statements that she made to investigators, law enforcement individuals, and telephone conversations, possibly one direct contact, I'm not sure on that, with family members or friends, individuals, peers who were in contact with Elizabeth Haysom, knew her and could give credible comment about their perceptions of her life.
Q And particularly the information regarding her family life was derived as you understand it from some members of her family.
A Yes.
Q Brothers and sisters.
A Yes.
Q And not just what Elizabeth Haysom said.
(399)
A No. The comingling of insights and perceptions, with possibly one exception, were amazingly similar.
(400)
Cross Examination of Dr. Robert Showalter by District Attorney Jim Updike
Q My point, Dr. Showalter, as I go down this list very quickly, it looks like you're going to have to base your analysis and your opinion almost entirely on what Elizabeth Haysom told you yourself.
A That certainly is the centerpiece.
Q The centerpiece.
A Uh-huh, Mr. Updike. These other matters or other inclusions are--
Q Right, you know, like things like the last will and testament?
A Uh-huh. One could argue the fine points of the purpose of that if you chose to.
Q Uh-huh. But the actual analysis of her state of mind at the time this happened is primarily based upon what she told you or what she told some of the police officers, wouldn't you agree with that?
A Or other members of our staff at the institute.
Q Now the Court, Dr. Showalter, and the people that have been present in this courtroom have heard some several versions from Ms. Haysom. Now in formulating this opinion that you have offered, which one of the versions did you use?
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A I would say that to come up with this report we--or this report reflects a composite no doubt of all of the versions. Again, a clinical fact that I think is important to lay out here is if you'll note there that our examination and evaluation process began in July and was completed only in late September.
Probably one of the most significant and useful bits of data clinically speaking is the progression over the course of our work with Ms. Haysom from the very strong position of total responsibility toward movement from that position to a position that more openly implicated her paramour.
Q I see, more openly implicated. Are you familiar with the interview that she gave to Kenneth Beaver and Terry Wright?
A I read that at one time.
Q Do you recall what it said?
A I do not recall specifically.
Q You don't recall that version.
A No.
Q You wouldn’t know then that at that particular time, I mean she really put it to him. Now she started out by saying that she established the alibi, she bought the tickets at the hotel, she made the reservations, she did all of this, and that Mr. Soering
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left to kill her parents and she didn't know anything about it.
But once Ken Beaver [sic] confronted her with the fact that it didn't make any sense, she came around to the fact and she admitted she did actively participate in the alibi ahead of time, she knew that Jens Soering was going to kill her parents when he left Washington headed for Holcomb Rock Road. Now if this was a progression towards implicating him, it seems like the progression's going the wrong way now, isn't it?
A But you fail to take into account this pendulum aspect that I talked about which is so characteristic of the diagnosis of the borderline personality, Mr. Updike.
Q What is a borderline? Then she doesn't have a personality disorder, it's only borderline then as I understand it.
A By no means. That is confusing; the terminology is not good and there are many members of the psychiatric profession who are searching for alternate designations. But the borderline doesn't refer to borderline in the sense of maybe it's there and maybe it isn't there.
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Q For example, I think you put quite a bit of emphasis on the fact that her mother forced her to pose for nude photographs, didn't you?
A That was mentioned, I don't think it was emphasized, Mr. Updike.
Q How do you know the mother forced her pose for nude photographs?
A I think two aspects of reality testing there. Number one, Elizabeth's statement to this effect.
Q Elizabeth's statement.
A And then rather poor quality Xerox copies of photographs, some photographs.
Q Poor quality of the photograph indicate that mamma took it?
A No, I'm just adding that in. We didn't see the direct photographs, we had Xerox copies. Elizabeth told us that her mother took these photographs.
Q That's my point, Elizabeth told you. And based upon that, you assumed that she was telling the truth and you used that in formulating your opinion, didn't you?
A That's a very--that in itself is a small--
Q It's an example, though.
A But it's one example. And we laboriously
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sought out dozens of examples. This information that I 2 read to you about Verian Haysom I might add is--you know, 3 all the information, again, as a clinician that's 4 important, doesn't have to bear directly on the issue at point. And his characterization of Mrs. Nancy Haysom is very useful in substantiating some of the emotion characteristics of Elizabeth's mother. It gets quite complicated.
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Q Just how did you get into Elizabeth Haysom's mind when she's telling you all these different things?
A We didn't physically get inside her head.
Q Well thank goodness. How did you get in there metaphorically?
A We didn't get in there metaphorically, we got in there clinically.
Q Clinically, well I'm glad we got that straight. How did you get into her head clinically?
A After hours and hours and hours of repeated conversation and asking her questions, assessing and evaluating her responses.
Q I asked her questions all day today, Dr. Showalter, got a number of different answers.
A That is correct. And to you that comes across differently than it does to me as a psychiatrist, as a clinician.
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A Anyone is capable of lying, Mr. Updike.
Q I don't doubt that. But she's capable of deception as well, quite good at deception, isn't she?
A Again, that's a common human property and I don't see her having any particular expertise in deception.
Q Oh, really? Well perhaps we could go around the courtroom here and ask these people, each one of them, how many of them have been through Europe forging and bouncing checks with forged forms of identity, have you seen those?
A Uh-huh, some of them.
Q And she admitted on the stand--
A Yes.
Q --one of the few things that she admitted, that she actually had those prepared.
A UJ huh.
Q Now she can go from country to country to country, I don't know how she gets these papers and all this, but she was able to do it with his stuff that she drew up, and you're saying that she has no special ability at deception?
A Well she's very bright.
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Q And she also has a special ability at deception, doesn't she?
A She has the capability to deceive commensurate with her intelligence.
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Q When she said during the early morning hour of June the 9th that she willed Jens Soering to kill her mother and father, did you think from reading the transcript and not being there that she was fantasizing or lying when she said that?
A No.
Q She stated, I requested--after she says why she requested the further statement, this being at 2:00 in the morning, and she asked to give this statement.
A Uh-huh.
Q "We did it together, and in some ways I'm more guilty than he is. And she goes on down to say, "For it was my will that made him kill my parents and he wouldn’t have done it, I'm sure, if he hadn't loved me so much and I him." But she's saying it was my will that made him kill them.
A You're reporting one statement on one occasion. And there are, as you know, and what has frustrated all of us here, there are a number of statements, some supporting that and some widely divergent
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from that.
Q Dr. Showalter, I'm suggesting that you're doing exactly the same thing.
A No, I'm not.
Q And that you're accepting the very last statement that she gave.
A The difference is I'm not picking and choosing, I'm painting wit a broad brush. You're absolutely correct, my perceptions and observations are broad and that is the value of clinical expertise.
Q Dr. Showalter, the last time we talked to her, Ricky Gardner did, was in May, and at that time she admitted her involvement, the planning of the alibi, the purchasing of the knife, her entire involvement, and she said that she was guilty, said that she wanted her father dead, she'd say it a hundred times. She walks into the courtroom this morning and she says something entirely different. And I asked her, I said now what is that sudden revelation that has caused you to change in these past several months. She's 21 been talking to you these several months, hasn't she?
A That has nothing to do with this. This has--that's an excellent demonstration of sort of an in vivo or in real life demonstration of what I've been talking about here all afternoon, Mr. Updike. You
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witnessed a clinical phenomenon.
Q A clinical phenomenon, that's what this was?
A Yes.
Q But yet, Dr. Showalter, your statement under oath today that--you're saying that she acquiesced in the killing of her parents, that she passively acquiesced and that she had no active participation in the planning of the alibi ahead of time, aren't you?
A Yes.
Q Would you be surprised then to hear that that's right close to what she said on the stand yesterday and today as opposed to what she has said time and time again to police officers? She said basically the same thing that you're saying. Now why is that?
A That's a very good question, I wonder why too, because she's not asking for mercy, she feels very guilty and feels that probably the rest of her life should be spent as a sacrifice, offering herself as a sacrifice for her involvement in the death of her parents.
Q Do you think being as bright as she is and sitting up there talking to you all that she got a pretty good idea of where you all were coming from and she modified her testimony accordingly so that it would match what you were going to come in here and say?
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I'm not saying that you intentionally did it. I'm just saying in talking to somebody, they can get an idea of what you're talking about.
A I would beg to disagree with that.
Q You would?
A I certainly would.
Q Why is that so impossible, sir.
A Simply we don't fashion defenses.
Q You don't?
A No. That's not my job.
MR. UPDIKE: Thank you, Dr. Showalter, I don't have any more questions.
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Direct Examination of Howard Haysom, Half-Brother of Elizabeth Haysom
Q Dr. Haysom, you've mentioned Verian [sic] Haysom, your brother, was his feelings about the disposition of this case. He was not allowed of course to make any specific comments, specific statements as to sentence, but he did make some statements concerning his general feelings regarding disposition, and at this time I would like to ask you as a brother that same question.
A With regard to a sentence?
Q Or just the disposition of this case, the sentence, yes.
A: WA ell, you know, I think that this evolves [sic: revolves] upon one thing and that is, is Elizabeth remorseful, and it's my judgment that she is not. And the reasons for that is that she continues I think to tell untrue statements, give twists, spins to pieces of information, data, that are favorable to her but that are not true. I
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think that she has lied to me in the past and, frankly, continues to lie.
I personally am not satisfied with the explanation that her guilty plea provided. I think Elizabeth was in the house at the time of the crime and I have reasons for that, too.
Cross-Examination of Dr. Howard Haysom by R. Andrew Davis, Esq.
Q Dr. Haysom, concerning--you've been in Bedford now for what, three days?
A Yes, sir.
Q And I believe you're staying with the Annie Massie family, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And you stayed with them earlier, is that correct?
A Yes, sir.
Q And in fact you and Annie Massie share the belief that Elizabeth was present in Lynchburg or Bedford County when this happened.
A That Elizabeth was at the scene of the crime?
Q Yes.
A I think that you ought to address that to Annie Massie, sir.
Q Yes, sir, I understand that. Dr. Haysom, you understand that the prosecution has stated unequivocally in its presentation of evidence, it's never suggested and in fact as far as I know in the four or five days I've been here in the evidence and the people that I've talked to, in no way believe that Elizabeth was at your parents' home on the day or the night that these murders took place, you realize that?
A I respectfully and unequivocally disagree with the prosecution's theory on that, and I have reasons and I will go into those reasons if you like, sir,
Q No, sir, you've answered my question, thank you very much.
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Cross-Examination of Annie Robertson Massie by R. Andrew Davis, Esq.
Q Right. Do you also share the belief with Howard Haysom that Elizabeth was in Lynchburg or in Bedford County when--
A That is correct, I do.
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Q All right Ms. Massie, to move on, there was an implication made by the prosecution concerning some photographs which I don't want to bring up, but it was implied that Mrs. Haysom did not take nude photographs of Elizabeth. Do you know that in fact she did take those photographs?
A I was shown some nude photographs that were taken I assumed after we had been down to an art--a figure drawing workshop. I have some nude photographs as well.
Q Of any of your children?
A No, but it would be very easy for me to see, as most artists do their families, it would be very easy for me to see that you might ask a member of your family to pose. In fact, my art friends were appalled at the inference.
Q The only question I had was did Mrs. Haysom take the photographs of Elizabeth?
A You know, it appeared, they were in Elizabeth's bedroom, I assume she would. My husband and I found it very natural that this would be so.
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Once again Andrew Hammel quotes passages out of her guilty play. A great proof that she could have had the abilty to become a great actress. Unfortunately she says in 1990 that she was much more concerned that Soering won't kill her parents. Well the logical consequence out of such concern would to participate and help him to make sure it will be real - isn't it. The detailed incrimination of Soering by her is absolute fabulous. Unfortunately she had missed that all out during her "confession" on June tge 8th and 9th of 1985 and had a great span of one a half year to think about it, what she might say to produce incrimination to bring herself to the more shiny and "remorseful" side of the isle
'The time table of Bismark?' Herr Bensleben, her German professor, told me that writing about an historical figure such as Bismark would not have been a topic he assigned to his first year German students. This message is not about Jens helping her with class work.
I think that unstable Elizabeth has confused Bismark with the war plan of Alfred, graf Von Schlieffen, the most famous time-table in German history. Elizabeth is sitting in her room contemplating her university and schedule and the whole question of what if she loses her deadly emotional power over Jens Soering when the semester comes to an end and they go their separate ways is distressing her. Everything could change. The window of opportunity could close fast. She is both looking ahead and keeping the heat on. I think murder became a topic by late November. Even at this time Soering is writing a screen-play about a successful murder. (Whatever happened to that screen play?)
'Ob from wenn, wenn from wann? ' My translation would be: 'Whether from [or] if, if from [or] when?'
"Beware the flame thrower." I think this is a reference to her tendency to speak sometimes to someone in those years when it suited her, and even later, when she was in prison, say, to a visitor, even when that visitor was a good deal older, in very authoritative, demanding tones. I think she got it from her mother, who was charming and complex, but could also be "an aggressive little woman," as a family friend of hers told me in Nova Scotia. Adding immediately: "She did if for him." Meaning Derek, her embattled CEO husband. I suspect that the order from her mother would invariably end with: DO YOU UNDERSTAND? And there was one moment when Elizabeth mysteriously but genuinely mourned someone in her past life who remains unidentified, who always "would pick up the pieces".
The mention of Cupid suggests that this message might have been written around the time of Valentine's day, 1985, but I am uncertain about this. The remark about "an effective Germanic experience" is a sign of her mental illness, her BPD. She was 'splitting', as the psychiatrists say. You were all good or all bad. Good German or bad German. That phrase appears in her travel journal. She means that an "effective Germanic experience" is murder. And she knows that Jens Soering understands that.
She is the driving force in a conspiracy to commit unprovoked murder and he is a willing participant in the plan.