Evidence Against Syed Crumbles Under Pressure

There could have been someone else, who could have killed Hae Lee but, used Adnan’s relationship with her as their alibi. In episode four, Koenig narrates: “the call came in to Detective Massey, a Baltimore county cop...a mystery caller says look at the ex-boyfriend... The caller further advised that the boyfriend has taken the victim to Leakin park on past occasions for sexual encounters. Prior to concluding the phone interview, the caller further stated that the victim broke off the relationship with her boyfriend about a week before she was reported missing” (Koenig 2014). This call was indeed a mysterious one.

No one really knows what happened to Hae Min Lee that afternoon, except the one who killed her. But, with no evidence, the jury and the judge decided to sentence Adnan for a crime that were not sure he committed. The inconsistencies alone in Jay’s story show that there is not enough solid evidence to show that Adnan truly killed Hae. Plus, the phone records clearly show that Jay is lying about what happened or where they were at what time. The statements from the classmates or people that knew Adnan also show that Adnan was not with Jay or Hae at the time of her “death” and that Hae was not dead by 2:36 that afternoon.

When it was Jay turn to tell his side of the story to the police, he told his story three times and three different ways. He kept adding different details to each story where in his second and third story it says that Adnan showed Jay Hae’s body in Best Buy, but in the first story it says that Adnan showed him the body in Edmondson Ave. This is very unclear for me because you can’t just forget where someone shows you a dead body, the person would most likely be traumatized of seeing the dead body. Then Jay says he saw making a phone call in a nearby booth by Best Buy, but evidence shows that there was never a phone booth that ever existed in the first place. Another evidence that shows a change of Jay’s story is that he keeps adding to his story by putting specific things he was doing at specific times like saying in his third story that after they dropped off Hae’s car they went to go buy weed for a friend, but in the other two stories is says they go directly to Patapsco State Park to go and smoke weed.

No Proof Adnan Syed is guilty of killing Hae Min Lee. But, the podcast Serial by Sarah Koenig will give you a different look into the situation, that might just change your mind on it, like it did to mine. Adnan Syed he's the ex-boyfriend, and doesn’t have reasonable alibi that was looked into, so he must’ve done it, right? He even had a witness, Jay Wilds testify against him, pointing all facts that he did it. But would you believe anything from someone who’s story changes constantly about what happened?

Jay’s story is that he helped Adnan bury Haes body, thus Adnan killed Hae. He lays out their whole day to the cops, but his story consistently changes. He told the cops one story during the taped interviews and then drops parts of it during trial, every time he tells the story details shift. One person’s story should not be enough evidence that someone committed a murder, there needs to be hard physical proof behind it. The state uses Jays story as proof that Adnan must have killed Hae, but people lie under oath all the time and Jay could easily be framing Adnan.

However, despite the conviction the whereabouts of Adnan Syed are very blurry on the day of Hae Min Lee’s death. Asia McClain,

Jay had Adnan’s phone because when Adnan was done with Hae he’ll call so he did. Adnan called Jay to come for him. Hae’s body was placed in the trunk of her car. Adnan open the trunk to show Jay, Jay was terrified and shocked

When Adnan was arrested on February 28, 1999 after Jay’s interview with the police regarding the day Hae Min Lee was declared missing, his alibi contradicts Jay’s alibi and claims that what Jay said was incorrect, according to Adnan. Adnan Syed is not guilty because of his alibi. His alibi did not consist anything that would get him from being put in jail. Yes, if someone does not have a good alibi, it could signify that they are guilty. Although Adnan’s alibi was weak, it was weak because when they interrogated him it was the middle of the night and was taken right out of bed.

We could also look at the fact that Jay seemed to remember so much of this day, like it happened just the day before he was interviewed. “The human brain is coded for compassion, for guilt, for some kind of empathic pain that causes the person inflicting harm to feel a degree of suffering that is in many ways as intense as what the victim is experiencing” (Here's What Happens in the Brain When People Kill, Kluger). This could be one of the reasons why, if he committed the murder, Jay was able to remember in so much detail what

So let’s start with what we know about the day the state says Hae was killed, January 13, 1999. Adnan gave his phone and his car to Jay to use. Adnan said he let Jay borrow these things so he could get something for his girlfriend, Stephanie. Jay tells a different story and

Two weeks later, Jay says that Adnan had started talking about it beforehand – four or five days before.” Jay changed his statement to later state that he was an accessory to the crime. He may have done this so that it would be easier to convict Adnan and he would get off scot-free. The change in stories could have been beneficial to Jay and they were definitely beneficial to detectives on the case. Furthermore, Jay’s lies were something that no one besides himself could prove unless they were corroborated like an alibi would have to

These two reasons are all that a person should need to believe that Adnan didn't have enough motive, or time, to kill Hae. Jays testimony sets the timeline and proves there is enough evidence, which is not presented by Adnan’s lawyer, to say Adnan is innocent by a straying story. The time period where Hae could've been killed does not match Adnan’s timeline. Jay, who is a convicted felon, was the only witness and is trusted to give a good story. Cristina Gutierrez, who was Adnan’s lawyer, had medical issues that distracted her from using useful information in his case.

Imagine your significant other’s body getting discovered at a park after he/she went missing for about three weeks. This is exactly what happened to Don MacGillivray when his girlfriend Hae Min Lee’s body was found in Leakin park in Baltimore, Maryland in 1999. In the podcast Serial, Sarah Koenig discusses the possibilities of who’s guilty and shows evidence to prove him innocent or guilty. One of the suspected murderers? Hae’s ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed.

In court, the state of Maryland uses Jay’s testimony to prove Adnan’s innocence. Police interview Jay multiple times before the trial. In each of the interviews, Jay testifies differently. “In the first taped interview, Jay says Adnan only told him that same day that he was going to kill Hae. Two weeks later, Jay says that Adnan had started talking about it beforehand - four or five days before”(Episode 4. 00:25:39-00:25:51).

Pride and Jealousy are very powerful things! Some people will go to the farthest limits to preserve their own ego and selfish desires. The Serial Podcast by Sarah Koenig is about the very complex murder of Hae Min Lee on January 13th, 1999. Many different people are brought into the Hae Lee case but the one that sticks out the most is Adnan Syed. On the day of January 13th, 1999 Hae Min Lee was strangled to death by Adnan Syed with the assistance of Jay Wilds.