Two brilliant students at the University of Virginia. One forbidden romance. And a secret so dark, it ended in blood.

In 1985, the mutilated bodies of Derek and Nancy Haysom were found in their Virginia home. Their daughter, Elizabeth Haysom, and her boyfriend, Jens Soering, quickly became the focus of a case that would span decades, cross international borders, and spark global controversy. In this episode of Murder U, we unravel the shocking story of Jens Soering and Elizabeth Haysom—two elite scholars whose deadly obsession led to a gruesome double murder and a tangled legal saga that still makes headlines today.

We examine their privileged backgrounds, the brutal crime scene, and the explosive letters and confessions that prosecutors said proved their guilt. And we dig into the media storm that followed, including a Netflix documentary and Soering’s release in 2019—despite never undergoing new DNA testing that could supposedly prove his innocence. Was this the wrongful conviction of a young man in love? Or the calculated manipulation of a killer who knew exactly how to play the system?

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