After the Serial podcast became popular all over the world, a lot of people were left doubting that Adnan Syed, the convicted murderer of Hae Min Lee is guilty of the crime. After following Serial and reading articles about this case I admit it is hard to distinguish between who is lying and who is telling the truth. However, I believe that Adnan Syed is not guilty for the murder of Hae Min Lee.
To the naked eye, Baltimore’s Leakin Park — which adjoins Gwynns Falls Park — is a 485-hectare expanse of greenery, shadowed by romantic woodland and a natural forest largely untouched. The prosecution's case against Adnan can be summed up in three words: Leakin Park Pings. Again and again, the prosecution argued (and is still arguing) that Adnan's guilt can be shown simply from the fact that his cellphone pinged a cell tower in Leakin Park at the same time that Jay, eventually, told police that.
The state’s case against Adnan Syed only relied on two things
- Jays Testimony
- Adnan’s cell phone call log
Leakin Park Map Serial .pdf In Excel
Jay’s Credibility
Jay Wilds, a former acquaintance of Adnan Syed is supposedly the key eyewitness in the murder case against Adnan Syed. Jay had several different interviews and testimonies where he explains what he remembers happened the day Hae Min Lee disappeared. Problem was Jay’s stories changed several different times leading me to believe he is not a credible witness. The only thing that remains consistent is his story is that Hae Min Lee died and Adnan is responsible for her death. However, that is not the type of consistency that makes a witness credible. Thus, I believe that Adnan was wrongfully committed due to Jay’s side of the story.
Jay lied several times to the cops and the jury about what he remembers from January 13th, 1999. He even admits to the jury over and over again that he indeed did lie the first time because he was scared of getting in trouble. Jay would sell drugs and do marijuana and he was scared that Adnan could get him in trouble for that. He says ““Like I said, he knows I sold drugs, I mean . . . that was, I mean, that’s . . . he could get me locked up for that, I mean.” (Serial Podcast). Jay will do anything he can in order to save himself from criminal punishment. If Jay is constantly lying about whatever he can to make sure he does not get in trouble, what’s to say that he is not lying about Hae Min Lee’s death?
Jay’s Inconsistency
As I’ve already mentioned, Jay is very inconsistent with his stories. He further shows inconsistency in his stories when he is asked what Adnan’s motive behind killing Hae Min Lee was. First Jay says Adnan killed Hae because “Hae made him mad” (Serial Podcast). Then he says “Hae broke his heart” (Serial Podcast). Later he says that Adnan confronted Hae about flirting with a car salesman, and then Hae called Adnan crazy he “snapped and strangled her” out of anger (Serial Podcast). How come the story keeps changing?
Then Jay is asked if he knew if Adnan was going to kill Hae. Jay says Adnan told him he was going to kill Hae on the same day she disappeared. Then he says that Adnan said he told him was going to do it a day before it happened. Next he says that Adnan planned it a few days, like 4-5 days in advance. Yet he goes on to say that Adnan “snapped and strangled her” after she called him crazy. So which one was it? Did he plan it or did it happen in the moment out of anger? Everything that comes out of Jay’s mouth is inconsistent.
Jay’s inconsistency continues even when he explains where Adnan shows him Hae’s body in the trunk of her car. Jay first says it was on a street called Edmonston Ave. Then later he says he lied and it was at the Best Buy parking lot. Then Jay’s friend Chris says that it was at a pool hall in Catonsville. Apparently Jay was playing pool and Adnan kept calling trying Jay to try and get him outside. How could Jay not remember where he saw Hae’s dead body? It’s not every day that you see a dead girls body lying in the back of a trunk.
With Jay’s interviews and testimonies changing several times I believe that Jay is hiding something. I do not think he is a credible witness and his word should not be used as evidence against Adnan Syed.
Cell Phone Call Log
Adnan and Jay both admit that Adnan gave his car and phone to Jay on January 13th, 1999. Prosecutors have used the cell phone call log against Adnan as their major source of evidence. However, Jay’s second testimony does not match with the phone call log completely. Prosecutors against Adnan say that the incoming call at 2:36 p.m. was from Adnan calling Jay to pick him up from Best Buy. However, Jay and Jenn both agree that Jay left her house at 3:30 to 3:45 p.m. This would make Jay’s story an hour off from what the cell phone records show. Another one of Jay’s stories that doesn’t match with the phone records is that there was an incoming call at around 7:00 p.m. from Adnan. They found that this 7:00p.m. call was near the Leakin park (where Hae was buried). There are two problems with this “evidence”.
- With further investigation Susan Simpson, co-host of Rabia Chaudry’s podcast Disclosed, found a fax cover sheet that came along with the AT&T cell phone records. Susan noticed that the cover sheet stated that incoming call information is not reliable for placing the location of the phone. This is a big problem as Adnan’s attorney at trial did not have this information.
- During a recent interview with The Intercept Jay claims that Hae’s body was buried during midnight. This invalidates any significance that the cell phone records have in placing Adnan near the burial site at 7:00 p.m.
The phone call log provided on the Serial website and Jay’s several different series of events do not match up.
Hetronic bms control manual. Autopsy
Jay Wilds testimonies all state that Hae Min Lee was stuffed in the the back of her car’s trunk. Despite where Adnan supposedly showed Jay Hae’s body, Jay does stay consistent with Hae’s body in a trunk. Jay says that him and Adnan drove to Leakin Park and buried Hae at around 7:00 p.m. Assuming this story is right, Hae min would have to be all squished up in the trunk for at least 4 hours. Her body would have to be bent in all sorts of ways in order to fit into a small trunk. However, the autopsy records show that this scenario is impossible considering Hae was killed no later than 3:30 p.m. Autopsy records state that Hae’s body showed “fixed frontal lividity, the phenomenon in which, after death, all the blood pools to the part of the body closest to the ground” (Chaudry). This basically means when Hae was killed she must have been lying flat down on her face for at least 8-10 hours. Considering that Hae’s body was buried while her body was twisted and it was resting mostly towards the right side of her body, Hae’s body must have been moved to Leakin Park after lividity became permanent. Meaning after Hae was killed she must have been lying somewhere flat down on her face for at least 8 to 10 hours before she was left in the park. Problem is, Jay’s multiple stories never match up with what the autopsy records show. First, Hae could not have possibly been shoved in the trunk of the car considering the position she must had to be in for at least 8 hours. Second, Jay’s second testimony states that he got home at approximately 11:00 p.m. but if Hae had to be lying somewhere flat down on her face for 10 hours before being buried, the earliest she could have been buried would be 11:00 p.m. How could Jay get home and help bury Hae at the same time. It just doesn’t add up. Adnan could not have possibly done this.
Asia McClain
Asia Mcclain a high school classmate of Adnan says that she sat with him in the library during the time that the prosecutors said Hae was murdered. After Adnan was arrested, Asia wrote him two letters where she reminds him of that day when they talked until around 2:40 p.m. Adnan gave the letters to his lawyer at the time but his lawyer never contacted Asia for her to testify as Adnan’s alibi. Now this blows my mind because Asia is an alibi for Adnan! How could they let an alibi go by like that? Asia was not Adnan’s friend by any means, they did not even share the same friend group. She was just a random classmate who knew of Adnan and decided to have a conversation with him that same very day Hae went missing. It does not make sense for Asia to be lying about her conversation with Adnan as getting herself involved does not benefit her in any way. Even now, 16 years later, the letter Asia wrote about what happened that day remain relatively the same as her first. This shows that Asia is telling the truth as she has no other version of events to tell.
To conclude, Adnan was a 17 year old boy that did not get a fair trial. There was not enough evidence against him to prove him guilty and there was false evidence used against him too as the phone call log is not reliable information. There was also evidence in favour of Adnan not used either, such as Asia McClain not being called in for testimony. I believe Adnan is not guilty and he got an unfair trial.
Works Cited
“Cell Phone Call Log.” Serial. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2017. <https://serialpodcast.org/maps/cell-phone-call-log>.
Chaudry, Rabia. “Adnan Syed is innocent. Now find Hae Min Lee’s real killer | Rabia Chaudry.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 06 July 2016. Web. 28 July 2017. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/06/adnan-syed-new-trial-hae-min-lee-rabia-choudry>.
“Consistency.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 28 July 2017. <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/consistency>.
Herbst, Diane. “Adnan Syed is Innocent and I Can Prove It: Lawyer Rabia Chaudry.” PEOPLE.com. Time Inc, 03 Aug. 2016. Web. 28 July 2017. <http://people.com/crime/adnan-syed-is-innocent-and-i-can-prove-it-lawyer-rabia-chaudry/>.
“Serial Podcast”. Audio blog post. <https://serialpodcast.org/season-one>.
“Serial Podcast – Episode 8: The Deal With Jay.” Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2017. <https://genius.com/Serial-podcast-episode-8-the-deal-with-jay-annotated>.
“Timelines: January 13, 1999.” Serial. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2017. <https://serialpodcast.org/maps/timelines-january-13-1999>.
“What the Crime Scene Photographs Show.” The View From LL2. N.p., 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 28 July 2017. <https://viewfromll2.com/2015/09/30/what-the-crime-scene-photographs-show/>.
Virtual serial ports emulator x64 cracked. Yuhas, Alan. “Adnan Syed: document casts doubt on case against Serial convict, lawyer says.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 July 2017.
PDF https://viewfromll2.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/autopsy-report.pdf
Disneyland Park Map
Pictures Cited
Hidden away within the western boundaries of Baltimore, Leakin Park is technically one area of a larger park known as the Gwynn Falls-Leakin Park area. The park offers numerous acres of forests and streams to explore. Unlike other urban parks in Baltimore, Leakin Park has only limited access to drivers. Visitors can find abundant wildlife in the park including deer, waterfowl, birds and other animals. The park also has a nature conservatory and a sports field.
How to get to Leakin Park
The best way to get to Leakin Park is by car. One of the more popular parking areas can be found off Franklintown Rd in the Dead Run Branch area. Other parking areas include lots found on Ridgetop Rd and Eagle Dr. First time visitors will want to use a map or GPS to locate the park. Once parked, most areas can only be reached on foot.
Best and worst time to go to Leakin Park
The best time to visit Leakin Park is during the day, preferably when it's sunny outside. Generally the park has a low number of visitors, even during the weekends. During the winter months the park is open but much of the vegetation dies back.
Admission to Leakin Park
Admission to the park is free year around. Parking is free at the parking lots.
Must see/do at Leakin Park
The Carrie Murray Nature Center is a great first stop when visiting the park. The center offers exhibits on the wildlife found throughout the park and provides maps of the park. Hikers will love the many paths that wander through countless wooded areas along streams. Bicyclists will love the Gwynn Falls Trail which runs from the park for 14 miles into the city.
Other places to visit near Leakin Park
Nearby places to visit include Coppin State University, Lake Ashburton and Druid Hill Park.
Insider tip for visitors to Leakin Park
Be sure to get a detailed map of the park with many of the park's attractions noted. Since the park is heavily wooded, consider using tick repellent when visiting.
Author's bio: Bruce Emmerling is a freelance writer residing in Baltimore, MD. He's been writing independent articles about technology, travel, events and news for six years.
How to get to Leakin Park
The best way to get to Leakin Park is by car. One of the more popular parking areas can be found off Franklintown Rd in the Dead Run Branch area. Other parking areas include lots found on Ridgetop Rd and Eagle Dr. First time visitors will want to use a map or GPS to locate the park. Once parked, most areas can only be reached on foot.
Best and worst time to go to Leakin Park
The best time to visit Leakin Park is during the day, preferably when it's sunny outside. Generally the park has a low number of visitors, even during the weekends. During the winter months the park is open but much of the vegetation dies back.
Admission to Leakin Park
Admission to the park is free year around. Parking is free at the parking lots.
Must see/do at Leakin Park
The Carrie Murray Nature Center is a great first stop when visiting the park. The center offers exhibits on the wildlife found throughout the park and provides maps of the park. Hikers will love the many paths that wander through countless wooded areas along streams. Bicyclists will love the Gwynn Falls Trail which runs from the park for 14 miles into the city.
Other places to visit near Leakin Park
Nearby places to visit include Coppin State University, Lake Ashburton and Druid Hill Park.
Insider tip for visitors to Leakin Park
Be sure to get a detailed map of the park with many of the park's attractions noted. Since the park is heavily wooded, consider using tick repellent when visiting.
Author's bio: Bruce Emmerling is a freelance writer residing in Baltimore, MD. He's been writing independent articles about technology, travel, events and news for six years.