Elizabeth Haysom

Early Life and Family Background

Elizabeth Haysom was born on April 15, 1964, in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, which is now Harare, Zimbabwe. Her mother, Nancy Astor Benedict Haysom, was an American artist, and her father, Derek William Reginald Haysom, was originally from South Africa and later became a naturalized Canadian citizen. Derek Haysom was a steel executive who held significant positions in Nova Scotia, including serving as president of the crown corporation Sydney Steel Corporation (Sysco) and later as president of Metropolitan Area Growth Investments (MAGI). The couple had a combined total of five children from previous marriages. Elizabeth attended boarding schools in Switzerland and England, including Wycombe Abbey, before enrolling at the University of Virginia. It was at the University of Virginia that she met Jens Söring, an 18-year-old son of a West German diplomat, who quickly became her boyfriend. Her father's high-profile career in Nova Scotia, particularly his involvement in the controversial Mercator One ship purchase that contributed to a provincial political scandal, connected the family firmly to Canadian public life. The Mercator One was a Bermuda-registered cruise ship purchased with public funds that lost an estimated $8 to $9 million and never operated in Canadian waters, contributing to the electoral defeat of Premier Gerald Regan's Liberal government in 1978.

The Murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom

The bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were discovered on the morning of April 3, 1985, in their home in the Boonsboro section of Bedford County, Virginia, just outside Lynchburg. The couple had been brutally attacked, slashed and stabbed multiple times. Both victims were nearly decapitated from the severity of the wounds. Their bodies were not found until several days after the murders had occurred. At the time of the killings, Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring had rented a car and driven to Washington, D.C., to establish an alibi for themselves. The murders sent shockwaves through their communities in both Virginia and Nova Scotia, where Derek Haysom was still remembered for his business career and the family maintained a summer home near Lunenburg. In Nova Scotia, Derek Haysom was known as an athletic family man who enjoyed driving his BMW and had gained local renown for attempts to cultivate a new strain of apple on his property. The initial police investigation did not immediately focus on Elizabeth and Jens, as they appeared to have a solid alibi. Elizabeth Haysom even organized all the details of her parents' funerals in the immediate aftermath of their deaths.

Investigation, Flight and Arrest

The investigation took a decisive turn within weeks of the murders when authorities examined the rental car records. The mileage on the vehicle far exceeded the distance for a single round trip from the Haysom home to Washington, D.C., undermining the couple's alibi and suggesting additional travel. This discrepancy led Virginia police to focus on Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring as suspects in the brutal double homicide. Upon realizing they were under suspicion, the couple fled the United States and began travelling through a number of countries over the following six months. They eventually went to England, where they lived under false names and attempted to pass bad cheques. While living in England under these false identities, they were arrested on April 30, 1986, not for murder initially, but for cheque fraud. British officials subsequently discovered letters Elizabeth had written to Söring that implicated them in the Haysom murders, leading to contact with Virginia authorities and the start of extradition proceedings. Their arrest and the discovery of the letters made international news.

Legal Proceedings and Conflicting Narratives

The legal cases against Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring proceeded separately and produced starkly different outcomes, with their stories changing multiple times. In 1987, at age 23, Elizabeth Haysom pleaded guilty to two counts of accessory to murder before the fact in a Bedford County court. She admitted to helping plan the murders but contended she did not physically take part in the killings, and she was sentenced to 90 years in prison, composed of two consecutive 45-year terms. Jens Söring pleaded not guilty and stood trial in 1990, where he was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. The trials were complicated by shifting stories from both defendants, with Söring initially confessing to the murders, claiming he acted alone while Haysom waited at a hotel. He later stated he made this false confession believing he had diplomatic immunity as a diplomat's son and to protect Haysom from the death penalty, and he then recanted entirely, claiming Haysom was the actual killer. Haysom, in a 2016 interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, stated Söring killed her parents in a rage after learning her mother had sexually abused her, a claim she had originally denied. She also expressed being ashamed of her role and criticized Söring for maintaining his innocence, creating a persistent he-said-she-said dynamic that has defined the case.

Imprisonment and Parole Process

Elizabeth Haysom began serving her sentence at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia, in 1987. She first became eligible for parole in 1995, and under Virginia law, she submitted a formal parole request every three years thereafter as part of the standard process. Under the specific terms of her sentence, she would have been mandatorily released in 2032 after serving 45 years, which was half of her total 90-year term. Jens Söring, incarcerated in a different facility, had his parole requests rejected multiple times prior to the final decision in 2019. The Virginia Parole Board's review of their cases culminated on November 25, 2019, when Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced that both Haysom and Söring would be granted parole, though he emphasized they were not receiving pardons. The chair of the Virginia Parole Board, Adrianne L. Bennett, provided a detailed justification for the unprecedented decision to release both individuals concurrently, citing their youth, institutional adjustment, length of incarceration, and lack of public safety risk. U.S. Representative Ben Cline, whose district included the area of the murders, condemned the release as a cost-cutting measure not based on merit or justice for the victims, highlighting the political controversy surrounding the decision.

The Virginia Parole Board granted parole to Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring on November 25, 2019. The board chair, Adrianne L. Bennett, stated the decision was justified by their youth at the time of the offences. She also cited their institutional adjustment and the length of their incarceration as factors. The board determined their release did not pose a public safety risk. U.S. Representative Ben Cline condemned the release as a cost-cutting attempt by the state of Virginia.

• Their youth at the time of the offences (Haysom was 20, Söring was 18).
• Their documented institutional adjustment and behaviour during decades of incarceration.
• The sheer length of their incarceration, which was over 30 years at that point.
• A determination that their release did not pose a public safety risk to the community.
• The significant cost-benefit to Virginia taxpayers from their release and permanent expulsion from the United States.

Following the parole grant, Haysom was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. She was deported to Canada on January 22, 2020, due to her Canadian citizenship through her father. Jens Söring was deported to his home country of Germany on the same day. Both are permanently barred from returning to the United States. They are also barred from having any contact with the victims' surviving family members, which includes each other.

Media Depictions and Documentary Coverage

The Haysom murder case has been a frequent subject of true crime media for decades. It has been profiled on numerous television shows including 20/20, The Investigators, Geraldo Rivera, The New Detectives, City Confidential, Wicked Attraction, Deadly Women, On the Case with Paula Zahn, Snapped: Killer Couples, and Southern Fried Homicide. A feature documentary film titled Killing for Love, also known as The Promise, premiered at the Munich International Film Festival and was released theatrically in October 2016. The most recent and comprehensive examination is the 2023 Netflix limited series Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs. Haysom, which contrasts their conflicting accounts in an attempt to discover the truth. This four-episode documentary features an interview with Jens Söring but not with Elizabeth Haysom, who is believed to have declined participation at the request of her half-siblings on her father's side. The series highlights the case's unanswered questions and its particular resonance in Nova Scotia due to Derek Haysom's former role there.

• 20/20 (ABC News magazine program)
• The Investigators (CBS News program)
• City Confidential (A&E Network series)
• Deadly Women (Investigation Discovery series)
• Snapped: Killer Couples (Oxygen network series)
• Wicked Attraction (Investigation Discovery series)
• Killing for Love (2016 feature documentary)
• Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs. Haysom (2023 Netflix documentary series)

Life After Release and Current Status

Since her deportation to Canada in January 2020, Elizabeth Haysom has lived outside the United States under the strict conditions of her parole. The terms permanently ban her from re entering the U.S. and from having any contact with the victims' family, which includes her half siblings and Jens Söring. She has maintained a notably low public profile, refusing interviews and declining to participate in the 2023 Netflix documentary series about the case, a decision reportedly influenced by the wishes of her family. Jens Söring, upon his release and deportation to Germany, stated at a news conference that it was the best day of his life and indicated plans to turn his experience into motivational speaking on resilience. He is reported to be estranged from his father and brother, and he has claimed he was a free man imprisoned against his will who fought his way out. The parole board's decision effectively ended their incarceration but did not resolve the fundamental disagreement over who was directly responsible for the murders, a question that continues to be debated in the media and among those who follow the case. Their separate deportations to different continents have physically cemented the separation mandated by their parole conditions.

The Nova Scotia Connection and Lasting Impact

The murder of Derek Haysom resonated deeply in Nova Scotia due to his influential career and the family's local ties. Derek Haysom was not only the president of Sydney Steel Corporation but also led Metropolitan Area Growth Investments (MAGI), a venture capital organization funded by provincial and federal governments. After retiring, Derek and Nancy Haysom moved to Virginia but kept their summer home near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and were considered part of the community. Following the murders, Nova Scotia media extensively covered the crime, and the discovery of the Nova Scotia-plated BMW at the murder scene visually showed the Canadian connection. For many Canadians, the case transformed from a distant American crime story into a personal tragedy involving a well-known local figure. The 2023 Netflix documentary series mentions this connection but, according to Canadian media reports, does not explore the depth of the family's roots in the province or the impact of the scandal surrounding Derek Haysom's business dealings. The case remains a stark example of how a violent crime committed in the United States can have lasting echoes in Canadian communities.

Questions about Elizabeth Haysom

What was Elizabeth Haysom convicted of?

Elizabeth Haysom was convicted of two counts of accessory to murder before the fact for the 1985 killings of her parents, Derek and Nancy Haysom. She pleaded guilty to these charges in 1987, admitting she helped orchestrate the murders but did not physically commit them. The court sentenced her to 90 years in prison, which consisted of two consecutive 45-year terms. She served 32 years of this sentence at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia before being paroled.

Where is Elizabeth Haysom now?

Elizabeth Haysom was paroled on November 25, 2019, and subsequently deported from the United States. On January 22, 2020, she was deported to Canada, a country of which she is a citizen through her father. She is barred from returning to the United States and from contacting the victims' family. She has maintained a low public profile since her release.

How are the Haysom murders connected to Canada?

The connection to Canada is through Elizabeth Haysom's father, Derek Haysom. He was originally from South Africa but became a naturalized Canadian citizen and a steel executive. Derek Haysom served as president of two Nova Scotia crown corporations, specifically Sydney Steel and Metropolitan Area Growth Investments. The family maintained ties to Canada, including a summer home near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Did Elizabeth Haysom kill her parents?

Elizabeth Haysom did not admit to physically killing her parents. She pleaded guilty to being an accessory before the fact, meaning she helped plan the 1985 murders. Her then boyfriend Jens Söring was convicted of the actual first-degree murders and given two consecutive life sentences. In a 2016 interview, Haysom stated that Söring killed her parents in a rage, while Söring has at times contended that Haysom was the one who committed the murders.

Why were Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring released from prison?

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced the release of Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring on November 25, 2019. The Virginia Parole Board, then chaired by Adrianne L. Bennett, granted them parole but did not issue a pardon. The board's decision was based on factors including their young ages of 20 and 18 at the time of the 1985 crime and their adjustment during over 30 years of incarceration. It was also asserted that their release and subsequent deportation represented a cost saving for the state of Virginia.

Is there a Netflix documentary about the case?

Yes, Netflix released a four episode true crime documentary series titled Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs. Haysom on November 1, 2023. The series examines the conflicting stories of Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Söring. It features an interview with Söring himself. Elizabeth Haysom did not participate in the series. She is believed to have declined further media participation at the request of her half siblings on her father's side.

Sources and further reading

• Elizabeth Haysom (Wikipedia)
• Where are Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering now? (radiotimes.com)
• 'Till Murder Do Us Part': Where Is Elizabeth Haysom Now? (menshealth.com)
• Netflix revisits Virginia murders that resonated in Nova ... (cbc.ca)

Checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-20.