The Case Against Adnan Syed

Or, probably more appropriately - the murder of Hae Min Lee.

Halway through this not having listened to the original podcast.

I find it intriguing.

The basic premise as per wikipedia is:

Hae Min Lee was a Korean-American high school senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, who disappeared on January 13, 1999. Her body was found four weeks later in Leakin Park, the victim of murder by manual strangulation.

Adnan Syed, her ex-boyfriend, was convicted in February 2000 of first-degree murder and given a life sentence plus 30 years.

Syed was convicted essentially based on the eye witness account of Jay Wilds, who stated he helped bury the body and saw her strangled in the boot.

Lee's murder initially only generated local interest until it became the subject of the first season of the podcast Serial in 2014, which brought international attention to the crime and to Syed's trial; bringing the conviction into question. In July 2016, Judge Martin P. Welch vacated Syed's conviction and ordered a new trial. On March 29, 2018, Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the decision to grant Syed a new trial. This decision was later overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals on March 8, 2019.


I find it amazing that there was a conviction in this case at all. Wilds as a witness is incredibly unreliable, I wouldn't believe a word that came out of his mouth.
Other side is that it's an absolutely bizarre lie to make up.

There's no DNA evidence linking Syed to the crime. There is some slight (but highly refuted) cellphone tower location evidence, but imo there's not even nearly enough to say beyond a reasonable doubt that he's guilty.

All they have is this eye witness who isn't at all credible.

In terms of who else might have done it?

Well first we have Don Clinedinst - the 20 something year old current boyfriend who was supposed to have met with Hae Min on the night of her disappearance. His alibi for the night in question was that he was working, according to the rosters provided.

Problem is, the general manager for the store? His mother. Quite why this guy wasn't in the minimum dragged over the coals about this I have no clue.


Then - there is Alonzo Sellers - the man who discovered her body after pulling over to urinate and walking into dense forest to do so.
A man with a shady past nonetheless, never really challenged on the details as far as I can see.

So have others watched the new documentary/listened to the podcast?

What do ye reckon?