Running head: RESEARCH PROJECT

Research Project: Serial

Victoria Ball
Course Number
English 12 Honors
Glenelg High School

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2
Research Project: Serial

Adnan Syed is not guilty of the first degree murder of Hae Men Lee. This case is built up
of one persons word over anothers word. There is no definite or justified answer to this awful
crime, and people to this day are still trying to figure out what truly happened on the day of
January 13th, 1999. All people involved within this case are normal, day-to-day high school
students. The three main students who are involved are Hae, Adnan, and Jay. Jay and Adnan
were not close friends, but rather acquaintances at the time. While, Hae and Adnan were not
only best friends but became boyfriend and girlfriend within their time at Woodlawn High
School. After a long time of dating, the two of them broke up and stopped seeing each other.
Because the case deals with a small amount of true evidence, there are many sides of the story
and each person claims a different one, which is what makes this murder so hard to crack. Jay is
the main evidence the court has on Adnan. Jay states that Adnan is guilty, but he was there and
within the plan in the killing of Hae. Overall, he tells the court that he picked Adnan up after he
killed Hae and shows him the dead body. They then drive to Leakin Park to dig a hole together
and lay her body in it. Although, the body was found in the Leakin Park several, important
details of Jays story are inconsistent and leave many questioning the truth. Concluding, Adnan
Syed is wrongly accused of first degree murder on his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee because of
Jays inconsistences, the states cell phone records, and how the body was discovered.
This entire case is mostly based on the several stories and testimonies made by Jay.
However, many of the facts dealing with how that day went on do not match up entirely, and
certain things are changed or left out each time Jay tells it. The story begins after school ends,
and in the timeline of the crime, it states that Hae Min Lee was killed between 2:15 and 2:36 pm
leaving there twenty-one minutes to complete the murder. This is a small time frame for all of

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the things to happen that Jay stated in his story. For example, Hae would have had to get to her
car after school, wait for the buses to clear the school, and then get to the best buy. Once she got
there, there would have to have an amount of time for Adnan to strangle Hae and drag her body
to the truck of his car. Sarah Koenig was able to recreate that day and follow the exact route Jay
had explained to prosecutors. It took her twenty-two minutes and two seconds. This process
would have had to be done insanely fast and without any room for error or pauses. To Koenig
and others working on the case, this seemed quite doubtful and gave hope to Adnan. This was
not the only thing about the several stories that did not make sense. For example, Jay declared
that Adnan had put Haes deceased body in the trunk of his car at best buy. This seems risky
considering it was board daylight, in the middle of a public parking lot, and what he was doing
was very much illegal. After Adnan does this, he essentially calls Jay using a phone booth
outside of Best buy, yet there is no evidence proving there was, in fact, a telephone at the store.
Another thing that doesnt add up is that if Adnan was committing a crime he would probably
want an alibi in this situation. That day Adnan had track practice at four oclock, and after the
body was buried, the two of them ride around for a while making Adnan late for track by fortyfive minutes. The coaches do not recall whether Adnan was present on time for practice or not,
but it just seems strange that he would play around when he needed to at the school. Other minor
things fail to match up in many of Jays confesses, such as where they went that day and who
they called, which makes it difficult for someone to believe him much rather base all evidence
against Adnan on.
Another main evidence point within this case is the cell phone records, cell phone logs,
and cell phone towers, which are hard to follow and raise issues in the evidence. This process
had just come out during the time period, and Adnans case was one of the first to use it. There

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were over thirty calls made within the time that Jay and Adnan were together, and every time a
call was made, prosecutors were able identify the caller and tell what cell tower it pinged at what
certain time. Jay makes a series of calls to different people within the day. For these series of
calls, Jays story pretty much seems to match up with the certain times the call log claims the
calls were made. However, the cell towers do not agree as much. The cell phone towers would
ping locations, such as best buy, when Jay says they are in the opposite side of the county. This
shocking fact barely comes up in trial, according to Sarah, even though it is an important fact
that counter argues the cell phone evidence that is being used against Adnan. This suggests that
Jay story could be incorrect and prove that he is lying about where they were and went that day.
Overall, this fact sparks questioning in Jays testimony and shows hope for Adnan in this case.
From the day Hae went missing, it took police around three, long weeks to locate her
body. Her body was found in a park known as Leakin Park. This park is about seven minutes
away from Woodlawn High School and about one thousand acres long. The park is also
strangely known for having dead bodies found on the property. On police records, there has been
at least sixty-eight bodies found all around and within the park. Considering this and the fact
that Adnan claimed he did not even know where Leakin Park was located, many people
wondering why Adnan, if he did kill her, would be in that area or put Hae there in the first place.
Likewise knowing this about a place nearby the high school, it is strange that police did not think
to conduct a search for her there to begin with. Her body was not located by an officer or official
of any sort, but rather a man identified as Mr. S. That day the man was on duty at work and had
stopped home to grab a specific tool he needed to complete the job. He claims to have come
across her body when he was looking for a place to pee prior to pulling off a road nearby on his
way back to work. The location of Haes body was quite far from where Mr. S had stopped at on

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the street. This piece of information catches Sarah Koenigs attention because why would
someone walk so far off a beaten path to simple go to the bathroom. There were many other
spots around the woods that would have been much more convenient for him to take care of his
business on his long walk to Haes body. The body was hidden very well, almost blended, and
Sarah Koenig claims it was barely visible for someone to randomly discover. Another thing
about Haes body was that it was buried behind a fallen tree, which would make it very difficult
for a person merely trying to find a spot to pee to notice it. Unless, of course, he knew it was
there. On top of that, police found a liquid bottle and rope, which was not tested by police. Even
though in testimony, Mr. S claimed he did drink liquor, as well as beer, similar to what was
discovered at the crime scene. This could have benefitted Adnan, if the police found something
worthwhile on the surrounding items. Mr. S is also a particular man with a criminal record, but
not so much related to murder. Although, it does raises a red flag. Mr. S is known and has got in
trouble with police several times for nudity and striping in front of the public. Sarah explains,
He has indecent exposure charges under circumstances that bizarre doesnt even begin to
define (Sarah Koenig, 2014). Mr. S has had multiple criminal arrest as recent as two months
before Hae went missing. The day of questioning he was given a polygraph test, in which he
failed and detected deception. Because of the lame excuse of nervousness due to an interview
that day, officials give him another one about a week later with different questions, in which he
passes. Even though he passed, police should have taken into accounted his overall state or
personality and recognized that he could have easily committed this murder or at least been
involved considering the other factors within he testimony.
On the other hand, Adnan Syed was charged with first degree murder of Hae Min Lee and
sentenced to life plus thirty years. The court had a motive to why Adnan would do these awful

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action that somewhat glued their evidence together. The court reasoning was that Adnan was so
hurt and broken up about their break up that he decided to kill her. The court supplied numerous
people to provide their perspective of Adnan and Haes relationship. Through these testimonies,
the court was able to conclude that Adnan and his family were a members of a very strict
religion. Within his religion, he was to be either married or singled, and dating was not allowed.
Adnan and Haes relationship was to be kept a secret because of his familys beliefs, which the
court used to call him a betrayer to his family and crazy. Others say that, after they had broken
up, Adnan would often page Hae and try to get her attention because he missed her. According
to prosecutors, Adnan had mixed emotions and in the mist of all of them he killed Hae Min Lee.
In combination of this, Jays inconsistent testimony, and the patchy cell phone records, the state
of Maryland was able to arrest Adnan Syed, which is a very limited amount of information.
However, many people, within Woodlawn High School and the area, had rather positive opinions
of Adnan, and according to Adnan, their motive was false. He makes it clear that Hae was never
in the way of his religion at practice, and their break up was not as hard for him as they were
making it out to be. Adnan suggest, I was upset. She was upset (Sarah Koenig 2014). The
break up seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not a reason to murder someone
over. The claim or motive is very hard to prove and use against someone in trial.
In conclusion, Adnan Syed is not guilty of the first degree murder of Hae Min Lee on
January 13th, 1999. Through the six long weeks of screaming and debating, the state of
Maryland does not have enough, solid evidence to prove the murder on Adnan. Their evidence is
patchy and often leaves holes in important parts of the known timeline. This makes it hard for
anyone to fully believe Jays story or anyones for that matter. The case is mostly based on Jays
word over Adnans. The lack of any sort of real evidence, such as an alibi who saw Adnan at a

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certain place or time that day, video footage or something as small a fingerprint, makes it easy to
conclude that Adnan may be wrongly accused or does not quite deserve the sentence he was
given. To this day, we may never truly know what happened to Hae Min Lee the day she
disappeared and was taken from our world forever. Rest in Peace.

References

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Sarah Koenig, (Dana Chivvis). (2014). Serial Podcast: Season One [Audio podcast]. Retrieved
from https://serialpodcast.org/season-one