Why Jens Söring Will Never Agree to DNA Testing

Techniques for analyzing even old, degraded, and contaminated DNA are advancing rapidly. And that's a huge problem for Söring

First, our new regular feature:

Jens Söring DNA Watch

On June 28, 2022, the podcast “Small Town Big Crime” revealed to the world that Jens Söring has been presented with a plan to use cutting-edge DNA analysis methods to test the evidence in his case and, possibly, secure fresh, definitive results. The plan was developed with the help of and/or approved by several members of Team Söring as well as the prosecution. It has now been

22

days since those episodes were broadcast, and Söring has still neither agreed to the testing nor explained why he refuses.

Let’s stick with DNA. The picture above contains links to articles in the New York Times about very old murder cases being cracked by revolutionary new DNA testing and analysis methods. Here’s another:

In February, the authorities followed Mr. Sinopoli — who had lived in the same four-unit apartment building as Ms. Biechler, and had recently been identified as a suspect — into Philadelphia International Airport. They obtained his DNA from a coffee cup he had used and thrown into a trash can before boarding a flight, Ms. Adams said. From there, investigators matched his DNA with samples collected from Ms. Biechler’s underwear.

“This case was solved with the use of DNA and, specifically, DNA genealogy,” Ms. Adams said. “And, quite honestly, without that, I don’t know that we would have ever solved it.”

I’m not a full expert in DNA testing and analysis, but I know a lot about it, and a genuine expert once reviewed my work and found it acceptable.

Recent years have seen major increases in the reliability and scope of DNA analysis. You can now get a full DNA profile from a mere piece of human hair, whereas before this was impossible unless the root of the hair was also present. Contaminated and mixed DNA can now be analyzes using powerful algorithms designed to enable recovery of individual DNA profiles even from impure samples. The number of “loci” — individual bits of DNA which allow reliable profiling — has been increased from 13 to 22, making what were previously 1 in 50 million matches 1 in 50 billion — or up. Since large portions of a person’s genome can now be sequenced quickly and cheaply, comparisons can now be carried out on thousands of loci, increasing the precision of a match to the point where you need scientific notation to express it.

As one of the scientists on the Small Town, Big Crime podcast put it, the technology is advancing so rapidly that labs are cracking cases now which would have been unsolvable just a year ago:

"Small Town, Big Crime": Jens Söring Refuses Reliable, Bipartisan Plan for DNA Testing

The journalist behind STBC did stellar work in creating a DNA testing protocol which promised to maximize the chances of getting reliable results from the Loose Chippings crime scene. They excluded pieces of evidence which were too contaminated and even managed to locate several items which had not yet been tested and which could yield reliable results. Richard Hudson and Chip Harding said they were “ecstatic” at these new possibilities. One of Söring’s own experts, J. Thomas McClintock, recommended which laboratory to use. Even the current Bedford County prosecutor, Wes Nance, agreed to endorse the testing if one of the other case parties agreed to it.

How did Söring respond? By stalling, making excuses, and eventually cutting off contact. Not to toot my own horn too much here, but I predicted exactly this outcome long before the Small Town, Big Crime episodes were aired. Way back on March 23, 2022, I posted an entry on my old blog noting that Jens Söring had never requested DNA testing in his case, even as techniques for getting good results even from ancient, badly-contaminted DNA were advancing dramatically. The last sentence of that post was: “Perhaps someone should recommend to Söring that he file a formal request for new testing by Cybergenetics [a cutting-edge DNA lab]. I bet Söring’s response would be interesting.”

Well, that’s what happened, and, as I predicted, Söring’s response was a resounding “no” wrapped in denial, delay, and obfuscation. Söring will never agree to any kind of new forensic testing on the evidence in his case. It doesn’t matter who proposes it, who supports it, who pays for it, or how reliable the tests are. Söring will never agree. The risk is simply too great. Lawyers and economists calculate risks by multiplying the likelihood of some kind of harm by how significant it is. You’ll risk a 1-in-6 chance of scraping your elbows on a fun waterslide, but you won’t risk a 1-in-6 chance of killing yourself by playing Russian roulette.

What are the odds that new testing will yield results? Of course, this is impossible to say. However, the people interviewed by Small Town, Big Crime seemed to think it was worth taking the chance. But even if the probability that new results would implicate Söring is only 5%, that’s still far too high for Söring, since the stakes couldn’t be higher. DNA placing him at the crime scene would vaporize his fan base. Even those able to “forgive” him for actually being a double-murderer will likely be unable to forgive him for lying to everyone about this for three decades. Söring will go down as one of the most brazen and persistent liars in history, right there next to Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis.

That is why Söring will never agree to DNA testing under any circumstances. He knows that every day brings advances in testing and analysis which open up new possibilities even for the very old and contaminated evidence in his case. It’s a problem which will only get worse as the years progress, and he knows it. His only chance is to never agree to testing, and hope nobody else with a right to ask for testing does so.

But if I’m wrong, and Söring agrees, I hereby promise to donate €1000 to a charity of his choice.