Kaine denies clemency for killer Soering

RICHMOND, Va., July 13 (UPI) -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says he will not grant clemency to prison author Jens Soering, who is serving a double life sentence for two 1985 killings.

The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Monday the governor denied the former honor student's clemency request, as well as the prisoner's bid for a transfer to his homeland of Germany.

Soering was convicted of killing Derek and Nancy Haysom, parents of his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom. The couple fled to Europe following the 1985 slayings and later blamed one another after being arrested in London.

Soering initially confessed to stabbing Haysom's parents, but later claimed he had simply been attempting to spare Haysom the death penalty.

"A knight in shining armor, sacrificing myself for her. That's how I saw myself," he said in 2007 of his confession. Haysom is serving a 90-year prison sentence as an accessory to murder.

The Virginian-Pilot said during his 23 years in prison, Soering has written five books and earned the support of German Ambassador to the United States Klaus Scharioth and the Rev. Walter Sullivan, bishop emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Va.