Is Jens Söring Retreating into Private Life?

Don’t forget, new episode drops next Tuesday!

For nearly a month now, Jens Söring’s social-media presences have been almost dormant, and what posts there are are generally harmless descriptions of what he’s doing — taking a walk by a lake, holding a puppy, etc. He hasn’t posted anything about his case in weeks.

His latest speaking engagement to promote his book took place in Wilster, Germany, (g) population 4,301. It took place in the St. Bartholomew’s Church (g), which seems an odd venue indeed for a double-murderer who has never expressed remorse for his crimes. According to someone who was there and who described the event in the Allmystery forum (g), Söring’s reading was preceded by rather odd statements from the organizers and from Söring’s own lawyer to the effect that although Söring was convicted of murder and has not been pardoned, he has never been convicted of a crime in Germany and has a clean criminal record in Germany.

Well, you could say the same thing about Anders Breivik or even Vladimir Putin, for that matter. Söring’s speech consisted mainly of rehashing his innocence story, less about his life in prison. According to the participant, Söring’s presentation seemed rehearsed. The crowd of about 100 seemed nonplussed by his innocence tale. This isn’t surprising — when Söring begins explaining why he’s innocent, he gets into minutiae and technicalities which will prove confusing for people unfamiliar with his case. During the questioning period, the audience asked mainly about prison life. Söring’s upcoming speaking engagement (g) at a restaurant in Nördlingen, Germany — which includes a 4-course dinner from a Michelin-starred chef for €120 — doesn’t seem to be attracting much attention; there have been 52 available tickets for weeks now.

Söring’s recent appearances have all been private, invitation/ticket-only. Gone are the days when Söring appeared with journalists and interviewers in recorded events which would later be published online. Either Söring has decided not to accept such invitations, or he’s no longer getting them. I have it on good authority that German journalists are — finally — wary of any contact with Söring, since previous interviews have given rise to numerous complaints which resulted in embarrassing public corrections and even cancellations. The dilemma of how to interview Söring while maintaining some journalistic integrity is a complex test which, as the recent 5,000-word article in the German media-criticism website Übermedien argues (g), many German journalists have failed. Few seem to be willing to take on the challenge now.

Perhaps Söring is slowly retreating into private life. His book likely resulted in a significant loss for the publishers, since they not only paid him a six-figure advance but also hired a ghostwriter. To recoup that huge investment, the book would have had to top the bestseller list for weeks, which … didn’t happen. Meanwhile, the podcast moves ever forward, with dozens of revelations large and small that chip away not only at Söring’s bizarre innocence story but also demonstrate his lack of credibility.

Söring will likely never retreat voluntarily from the public stage. Further, there are not just one but two new Netflix series about his case in production, so surely Netflix would like him to keep up interest in his case. Yet at some point Söring may realize that there is now so much accurate information about his case and his story out there that nobody will ever take his story at face value again. Further, the longer he goes on appearing in public, the more likely it is that he will finally face his worst nightmare — an informed skeptic who asks questions he cannot answer.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Söring, whether voluntarily or not, starts to gradually retreat into private life. I for one hope he does: The sooner he stops lying to gullible audiences, the sooner everyone who’s working to correct the historical record can move on to more promising occupations.