Jens Soering says new blood analysis proves his innocence in 31-year-old case
Jens Soering says new blood analysis proves his innocence in 31-year-old case
Jens Soering speaking during an 2011 interview at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va. (Steve Helber/AP)
By Laura Vozzella
http://twitter.com/LVozzella
August 24 at 6:00 AM
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. A petition submitted to Gov. Terry McAuliffe this week tries to cast doubt on the guilt of Jens Soering, a German national convicted of murdering his girlfriends parents in central Virginia more than 30 years ago in a sensational case with ties to the 2016 presidential race.
Soering asks McAuliffe (D) for an absolute pardon and parole based largely on an analysis that concludes that Soering, who has type-O blood, was not the source of at least some of the type-O blood found at the scene.
This is no longer about believing me, Soering, 50, said in a phone interview with The Washington Post from Buckingham Correctional Center outside Dillwyn, Va. Unless youre a climate-change denier and creationist and you dont believe in DNA, then you have to believe Im innocent. The only other option is I did it with somebody else, whom Ive been protecting for 31 years.
....
Soering has repeatedly asked Virginia governors to send him back to his native Germany. He had success in 2010 with then-Gov. Tim Kaine, who is now the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. ... As he was leaving office, Kaine granted the request on the condition that Germany keep Soering incarcerated for at least two more years. ... But Kaines action which he later justified as a way to save the commonwealth incarceration costs caused an uproar and was reversed by his Republican successor, Robert F. McDonnell.
Previously at DU:
Va. governor denies convicted killer Jens Soerings return to Germany