Running head: RESEARCH PAPER

Guilty or Not Guilty?

Caitlin Lydon
Period 5
English 12 Honors
Glenelg High School

Guilty or Not Guilty?

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Who can remember what one did from 2:10 to 2:40 p.m. on March 18, 2016? It was six
weeks ago to this day to be exact. Since this question is not hard enough, if one cannot answer
the question, one could spend a life-time in prison for first degree murder. Should that person go
to prison if they cannot remember? If that day was not significant, why would one remember
that day at that specific moment? The truth is one would not remember that specific moment.
There should only be a vague response if that day was not significant; however, that was not the
case for Adnan Syed. A Woodlawn high school senior named Adnan Syed was accused of
strangling his ex-girlfriend named Hae Lee on January 13, 1999 (Koenig, 2014). The judgement
of Adnan Syed vs. The State of Maryland seemed unfair, so fifteen years later Sarah Koenig
created a podcast to try to expose the truth. With twelve episodes in the podcast, there is more
than enough reason to believe that Adnan Syed is not guilty for the murder of Hae Lee.
Hae Lee went missing on January 13, 1999. She was last seen leaving school to pick up
her 6-year old niece and go to work, police said, but she did not do either (Johnson). During
this time, Jay used Adnans car to get his girlfriend a birthday present, and Adnan was at the
library after school and then headed to track practice. Adnan worried about Hae when he found
out she went missing, but he never tried to get in touch with her unlike her other friends. Hae
was missing for six weeks until a man named Mr. S found her body in Leakin Park buried with
only a little hair peaking out between the leaves (Koenig, 2014). Three days later an anonymous
caller revealed to the police that Adnan is a suspect, however, nobody ever found out who this
anonymous caller was. After the detectives checked Adnans phone calls and two acquaintances,
Jen and Jay, told the police Adnan killed Hae, Adnan was arrested on February 28, 1999 (Koenig,
2014). There was three more interviews for Jay to tell the story of how Adnan killed Hae
because Jay was so inconsistent with his stories, and he eventually pleaded guilty for first degree

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murder. Adnans trial started on December 8, and on June 6, 1999, Adnan was sentenced to life
plus 30 years (Koenig, 2014). This was the overview of the case, however, there were so many
holes to believe that Adnan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
First, the detectives should be very skeptical about Jay, for he was definitely a part of this
murder because his stories were so elaborate. Since Jay's stories were so detailed, the detectives
did have a reason to accuse Adnan for the murder. The fact Jay pleaded guilty and accused
Adnan on this circumstantial homicide was extremely smart because Adnan would have a
difficulty defending himself and end up taking the blame for the murder of Hae. However, the
detectives should have been a lot more skeptical about Jay because his stories were very
inconsistent and contradicted a lot of other peoples stories.
A lot of people would wonder why a detective would use a story that was so inconsistent?
However, it is the only lead the detectives have on the homicide, so they continue with the
inconsistent stories so build a case against Adnan. For example, the first inconsistency is that Jay
said he is the criminal element of Woodlawn (Koenig, 2014); however, when the detective
brought up this title again Jay said that he was only perceived as that, for it is not true. Since Jay
is trying to cover up that he is not always related to crime, it displays his negative activity in the
community. His background information creates a bad reputation for himself that would be more
reasonable to pin the murder on Jay than Adnan. The second inconsistency is that the first time
Jay was interviewed he said he went to the West View mall, but in the second interview he
explained it was the Security Square mall to get a birthday present for his girlfriend, Stephanie.
Even though this is a small inconsistency, this displays that Jay confuses the smallest details that
could change the entire story and where it was located for the detectives. The third inconsistency
is that Jay explained that Adnan said he explained his whole plan to kill Hae the same day he

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killed her except the next interview Jay stated that the plan was revealed four or five days before
(Koenig, 2014). Jay is confusing a lot of his timelines when he talks to the detectives multiple
times about the same topic, and this creates suspicion if Jay might be covering up for someone
else.
Not only being inconsistent is a problem, Jay also seems very influenced by other people.
First, the inconsistencies seemed to change after Jens story to match up more evenly, so it will
be easier to pin Adnan to the murder. For example, the first time Jay said he saw Haes dead
body was at the strip on Edmondson Avenue; however, the second time Jay said he saw Haes
body was at Best Buy (Koenig, 2014). Sarah believes that Jay is changing his stories to match
Jens story to create a more believable scenario about how Jay saw the body of Hae (Koenig,
2014). Another major influence was the prosecutor for the State of Maryland, Urick. Adnans
lawyer gets so excited when she discovers that the Urick provided a lawyer for Jay if he testified
and fixed his story to help the State of Marylands case against Adnan (Koenig, 2014). This is
not allowed because Jay has changed his story so many times to make Adnan look even worse
than he already looks.
Even though Jay looks suspicious, another suspect is Mr. S. Mr. S. is an anonymous
person in the podcast because he has a very unique background about himself that could give
him a negative reputation. Haes body was buried in Leakin Park, a huge park in Baltimore that
is known to find missing deceased bodies. Woodlawn High School is very far away from Leakin
Park, so Adnan never goes to that park. He barely knows where the park is let alone trying to
create a plan to bury Hae thereafter he strangles her. Mr. S. is a unique person, for he is a
streaker. Mr. S. is a grown man running naked through the streets for all the people to see him in
all his glory and is comfortable with. He has also come across the law with his personal choices

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and got arrested for streaking in front of a police officer. Not only has he been arrested, but he
has also filed a theft report about someone taking his clothes even though it was the police
officer who stole them. When the detectives saw pictures of Hae buried, it was almost
impossible to see her because she blended so well with the ground and the leaves. However,
when Mr. S. stopped on the side of the road to go into Leakin Park to go to the bathroom, he saw
her hair peaking out of the leaves deep in the park. Even though Mr. S. passed the lie detector, it
seems like it was so effortless for him to find her which makes Mr. S. a prime suspect because he
found Hae with ease (Koenig, 2014).
After listening to everyone, Sarah Koenig went on a route walk to see if the timing
matches up to what was recorded. First, the evidence says that Adnan took twenty-one minutes
to drive from school to Best Buy and strangle Hae. However, when Sarah took the drive it took
around twenty-one minutes to just get to Best Buy, so it would be almost impossible for him to
drive and strangle her in those twenty-one minutes (Koenig, 2014). Next, Jay drew a picture of
the Best Buy parking lot and where the pay-phone was; however, when Sarah was at Best Buy
she did not see a pay-phone where the phone was drawn on Jays map (Koenig, 2014). Also, the
calls to Adnans phone and the time of the important calls does not match up to the cell towers,
so Adnan had to be at a different time of the murder (Koenig, 2014). There are many more
incidences that do not match up with timing, but those are the most concerning issues with the
route that clearly display Adnans innocence.
On the other hand, some people may believe that Adnan is guilty for the murder of Hae
and that he belongs in prison for the rest of his life for the justice of Hae. First, Adnan is the exboyfriend of Hae Lee, and she broke his heart. With a broken heart, people could believe that he
had a motive to kill her because the relationship affected his religion and culture. However,

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Adnan had a normal break-up like any other break-up in high school as he stated when Sarah
talked about the break up with him. He still loved her and cared for her, so he was surprised that
other people believed he strangled her (Koenig, 2014). Next, the detectives looked at Adnans
phone call records, and they saw some similarities with Jays and Jens stories. This was enough
to accuse Adnan; however, the detectives may know who he called, but they do not know what it
is about (Koenig, 2014). The phone call could have been about homework or complaining about
a teacher, for they will never know because there is no recording of it. Overall, people may
believe that Adnan killed Hae, but there is not solid evidence for him to be in jail only
circumstantial evidence that his attorney was not able to defend him.
In the end, Adnan Syed is not guilty for the circumstantial homicide of Hae Lee, and he
should be bailed out of prison with a sincere apology from the State of Maryland. Adnan was
just unlucky being the boyfriend of Hae, and in touch with the wrong people at the wrong time.
Jay, Jen, and Mr. S. should all be investigated a little closer because they have a lot more
evidence on them that could change the story forever. Even though the investigation is still in
motion, somebody will find a hole in the case, and Adnan will be free and rejoin society once
again. Adnan Syed is not guilty, and it should have been stated from the start.
References
Johnson, D. (1999). In Baltimore CountyInformation sought on woman missing [Article].
Retrieved March 15, 2016 from http://articles.balitmoresun.com
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 3). The Alibi [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 3). The Breakup [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 10). Leakin Park [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org

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Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 16). Inconsistencies [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 23). Route Talk [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, October 30). The Case Against Adnan Syed [Audio
podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, November 6). The Opposite of the Prosecution [Audio
podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, November 13). The Deal with Jay [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, November 20). To be Suspected [Audio podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org
Koenig, S. (Producer). (2014, December 4). The Best Defense is a Good Defense [Audio
podcast].
Retrieved from http://www.serialpodcast.org