Small Town Big Crime

The weekend Derek and Nancy Haysom were brutally murdered in their home in Bedford County, their youngest daughter Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Jens Soering, had rented a car and driven to Washington, DC. After the killings, Elizabeth maintained Jens drove the 200 miles from Washington to Bedford County to confront her parents about their disapproval of their relationship and ended up stabbing them to death. But Jens has a very different story to tell. From behind bars at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Virginia, Jens gives his version of events that night in March 1985 and the days and months after the crime. He explains why he falsely confessed to murdering the Haysoms and how a DNA discovery supports his innocence. An attorney working pro bono for Jens discusses his 1990 trial in Bedford and several issues related to the Haysom murder investigation.
To support the investigative efforts of Small Town Big Crime, please visit https://www.patreon.com/SmallTownBigCrime
Written and Reported by Rachel Ryan and Courteney Stuart
Sound production by Jaclyn Piermarini
Sound engineering by Taylor Thomas

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The announcement this week that Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom had been granted parole after spending 33 years in prison sent shockwaves across the world and surprised even Soering's staunchest supporters. This bonus episode features the phone call where Jason Flom and Amanda Knox learned of Soering's release, and reaction from a local sheriff who says he still firmly believes the murder investigation of Derek and Nancy Haysom should be reopened.

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In 1985 Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom were bright, promising students at the University of Virginia when Haysom's parents were found brutally murdered in their Bedford County home. The young couple became the prime suspects in the crime and fled the country. They were arrested in London several months later, and British detectives found some disturbing letters. Haysom pleaded guilty to being an accessory before the fact in her parents' murders and testified against Soering, saying he committed the murders because her parents didn't approve of their relationship. Forensic evidence presented at the trial sealed Soering's fate, and he was sentenced to two life sentences for the murders. But not everyone was convinced Soering could have committed the crimes.
To support the investigative efforts of Small Town Big Crime, please visit https://www.patreon.com/SmallTownBigCrime
Written and Reported by Rachel Ryan and Courteney Stuart
Sound production by Jaclyn Piermarini
Sound engineering by Taylor Thomas

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With new DNA evidence showing two unidentified men bled at the Haysom crime scene, our focus turns to the two so-called "drifters" who were convicted of a separate fatal stabbing that happened a week after the Haysom murders. Who were these men, and could they have been involved? We track them down to a Virginia prison, where they had both been sent to serve life sentences, and we find another surprising source: William Shifflett's son. He has plenty to say about his father, who he says was anything but a drifter.
To support the investigative efforts of Small Town Big Crime, please visit https://www.patreon.com/SmallTownBigCrime
Written and reported by Rachel Ryan and Courteney Stuart
Hosted and sound production by Jaclyn Piermarini
Sound editing by Taylor Thomas

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The night after brutally stabbing a homeless man in Roanoke, Virginia in 1985, William Shifflett and Robert Albright checked into a nearby emergency shelter called the RAFT. In 2018, a volunteer from the RAFT wrote a letter to the Virginia governor and to one of the original investigators in the Haysom murders stating she believed Jens Soering was wrongfully convicted. She cited incriminating conversations volunteers at the shelter overheard between Shifflett and Albright including reference to a "rich bitch" who'd refused to pay. She has refused all interviews since writing those letters until now. For the first time, that volunteer, Sandra Thornton, talks publicly about the night the two men checked into the RAFT.
To support the investigative efforts of Small Town Big Crime, please visit https://www.patreon.com/SmallTownBigCrime
Written and Reported by Rachel Ryan and Courteney Stuart
Hosted and Sound production by Jaclyn Piermarini
Sound engineering by Taylor Thomas

Support the show