Episode 5: Route Talk

In this episode, Koenig and Dana attempt to replicate the day’s events according to Jay and
the state. She also examines the significance of the cell phone records as related to the route.

Label each part of the map with how long Koenig spent there. (1:00-14:00)

• The Police interview Adnan’s friend Ju’uan who says they sometimes went to Best Buy to
smoke because “Nobody’s going to be over there”. This happens after Hae’s murder. Why is
this significant?
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• What does Koenig do to try and confirm the existence of a pay phone at Best Buy?
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• Why does she go to all of this trouble? Why is this significant to the case?
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Route Part 2: After Murder- Before Track

(15:00)

• THE NISHA CALL: Why does Koenig say this call is significant? Do you think there is an
explanation for this?
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• Patapsco State Park: What is the problem with the timeline for the park stop?
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• What happens to this stop when Jay tells this story during the trial?
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• Why does Will think it is unlikely that Adnan was late for Track?
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• Dana notes that although the State tested 14 cell phone tower sites, they only
brought up _________ in trial. Why do they omit the others?
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• What is wrong with Jay’s story about the time between 12:07 and 6:07?
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• What happens with the cell tower testimony that might affect the jury? How
might this affect the outcome of the trial?
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• The cell tower tests that are brought up are about Kathy’s apartment- that one is
okay- matches the cell tower, call log, Jay’s Adnan’s, and Kathy’s timelines. Why is
the 6:24 p.m. call significant?
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• What is important about the calls between 6:24 and 8:05?
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• The most incriminating are Leakin Park pings (7:09 and 7:16). Dana says that it
is possible that they were somewhere else- close to that tower like Patrick’s or a
strip mall, but she thinks that they were probably at Leakin Park. Why does she
think that?
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• Does this mean then that Dana thinks Jay is telling the truth? Do you agree?
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• Why does this look bad for Adnan?
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 • How does the cell phone record undermine Jay’s story?
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• What are the things Jay has been consistent about with his stories?
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Understanding Media: Audience Connection
• How might Koenig’s attempt to recreate the route appeal to its target audience?
(*hint* consider how a teen compared to an adult would understand leaving after
school).
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• An audience listening to this podcast has a lot of information to think about call logs,
multiple testimonies from different people, trial evidence, how the persecution uses
all of this information, and how it all matches or fails to match…). Given this
information, what visual aids would be useful when listening to this podcast?
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• If you were to make this podcast a video, what images would you show? Choose 3
key moments from this episode and explain.
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• How do Koenig and Dana maintain the audience’s attention throughout the podcast
given the multitude of information being presented? Is this effective?
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 Episode 5: Route Talk
KEY
Label each part of the map with how long Koenig spent there. (1:00-14:00)

1. 11:38 2. 18 minutes 3. 22:02

• The Police interview Adnan’s friend Ju’uan who says they sometimes went to Best Buy to
smoke because “Nobody’s going to be over there”. This happens after Hae’s murder. Why is
this significant?

Happened AFTER Hae went missing, possibly taking Ja’aun back to the scene of the crime…

• What does Koenig do to try and confirm the existence of a pay phone at Best Buy?
- asked people who worked there, found blueprints, looked for a property manager, looked for
pictures, and see if they had a contract with a pay phone provider 8:20
• Why does she go to all of this trouble? Why is this significant to the case?
Explains the 2:36 call which is the one the state assumes marks Hae’s death
Total time: 22 minutes and 2 seconds leaving a minute and ½ in the car for the killing part. – It
could be done, but it seems far-fetched (no room for errors or pauses)

Route Part 2: After Murder- Before Track

(15:00)

• THE NISHA CALL: Why does Koenig say this call is significant? Do you think there is an
explanation for this?
- only one in the call log that is to someone Adnan knew; puts Jay and Adnan together in the
middle of the afternoon when Adnan says he’s at school.
- handed the phone to Jay at the golf course. (time works)- Matches the timing but not the
pinging tower- i.e. wrong location.
- All the calls from the afternoon failed to meet where Jay said they were

• Patapsco State Park: What is the problem with the timeline for the park stop?
• not enough time to get there and back to school for track
• Why would they drive that far to smoke?
• he has a lot of details about this ( sun off the mountains meets the right time, detailed
account of the conversation…)

• What happens to this stop when Jay tells this story during the trial?
on the stand, this doesn’t happen and this happens in Adnan’s car

• Why does Will think it is unlikely that Adnan was late for track?
They had a lot of time to get ready- no reason to be late for track + extra laps (400s)
 • Dana notes that although the State tested 14 cell phone tower sites, they only
brought up 4 in trial. Why do they omit the others?
-doesn’t help their case

• What is wrong with Jay’s story about the time between 12:07 and 6:07?
The towers, the times and Jay’s story don’t match.

• What happens with the cell tower testimony that might affect the jury? How
might this affect the outcome of the trial?
boring and confusing

• The cell tower tests that are brought up are about Kathy’s apartment- that one is
okay- matches the cell tower, call log, Jay’s Adnan’s, and Kathy’s timelines. Why is
the 6:24 p.m. call significant?
(Puts Jay and Adnan together at a specific time)

• What is important about the calls between 6:24 and 8:05?

6:24 and 8:05 support the locations in Jay’s story

• The most incriminating are Leakin Park pings (7:09 and 7:16). Dana says that it
is possible that they were somewhere else- close to that tower like Patrick’s or a
strip mall, but she thinks that they were probably at Leakin Park. Why does she
think that?
- to make up a story and have the cell phone records to corroborate them would
require a lot of luck.

• Does this mean then that Dana thinks Jay is telling the truth? Do you agree?
-not necessarily, she thinks the phone was in Leakin Park (35:56)
Opinion
15. Why does this look bad for Adnan?
This looks bad for Adnan because Adnan thinks he was with his phone he
remembers dropping Jay off and going to the mosque
• How does the cell phone record undermine Jay’s story?
Jay lists a bunch of things they do when they leave Kathy’s:
Get shovels, then to Hae’s car, Jay goes to McDonald's, then back to the park,
dogwood before they get to the Park- takes 1:20 – twice as long as the call records
indicate

•What are the things Jay has been consistent about with his stories?
about what Adnan did where
Adnan told him he was going to do it, he showed Jay the body, they ditched her
car, they buried her in Leakin Park
Understanding Media: Audience Connection
• How might Koenig’s attempt to recreate the route appeal to its target audience?
(*hint* consider how a teen compared to an adult would understand leaving after
school).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
• An audience listening to this podcast has a lot of information to think about call logs,
 multiple testimonies from different people, trial evidence, how the persecution uses
all of this information, and how it all matches or fails to match…). Given this
information, what visual aids would be useful when listening to this podcast?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
• If you were to make this podcast a video, what images would you show? Choose 3
key moments from this episode and explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
• How do Koenig and Dana maintain the audience’s attention throughout the podcast
given the multitude of information being presented? Is this effective?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________