Virginia

Jens Söring, a German citizen, was convicted in 1986 of murdering the parents of an American judge in Virginia. After 33 years in prison, the validity of his conviction was heavily questioned due to weak evidence and procedural failures. He was released in 2019 and extradited to Germany, where he was not prosecuted further.

Brendan Banfield, a former IRS special agent from Virginia, was convicted on February 3, 2026, of murdering his wife Christine and a stranger named Joseph Ryan in a scheme allegedly motivated by his affair with the family's live-in au pair.

On February 24, 2023, in Fairfax County, Northern Virginia, a Brazilian au pair shot and killed a stranger lured to the home of her employers under false pretenses. The crime was part of an alleged murder conspiracy involving the au pair's affair with the homeowner—a scheme that would ultimately leave two people dead and expose a web of infidelity, financial motive, and premeditated violence.

On April 3, 1985, Derek and Nancy Haysom were discovered slashed and stabbed to death in their Virginia home. Their 20-year-old daughter Elizabeth Haysom and her teenage boyfriend Jens Söring would become central to one of America's most shocking crimes—now examined in Netflix's documentary Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering & Haysom.

Netflix's four-part true-crime series 'Till Murder Do Us Part: Deadly Women' examines the 1985 murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom in Bedford County, Virginia, presenting evidence that both Jens Söring and Elizabeth Haysom may have been present at the crime scene—a conclusion that has prompted sharp criticism from the convicted killer himself.

A new six-episode podcast from Wondery examines allegations that Liberty Godparent Home, a maternity facility on Liberty University's campus in Virginia, pressured teenage residents to surrender their babies for adoption. The investigation, hosted by T.J. Raphael and released in August 2025, features interviews with former residents and staff.

On February 9, 1864, Colonel Thomas E. Rose of the 77th Pennsylvania Infantry led one of the Civil War's most audacious prison escapes from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Working in secret for 17 days, Rose and fellow officers dug a narrow 50-60 foot tunnel from the dungeon-like basement to freedom—an feat so remarkable that 109 men followed them out.