Adnan Syed: is he really. guilty?

At the age of 18, Adnan Syed was convinced of kidnapping and murdering an 18 year old girl, Hae Min Lee. But did he really do it?

On the left, Adnan Syed, age 18. On the right, Hae Min Lee, age 18

In my opinion no, but let me tell you why.

Leakin Park, Baltimore: Hae Min’s body was discovered here

On January 13, 1999, Hae Min Lee was reported missing. One month later, her body was found in Leakin Park, Baltimore, MD. She had been strangled. After an investigation in which one of Adnan’s friends, Jay Wilds, confessed to helping Adnan bury Hae Min’s body, authorities arrested Adnan Syed for the kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend. During the trial, the prosecutors could not bring forth any physical evidence to prove Adnan to be the killer. All they had was Jay’s confession but for the court, this was enough.

While listening to the Serial podcast, one thing that stuck out to me was that Adnan’s first lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, had not focused on the right evidence (she was also disbarred a year after Adnan’s trial for the mismanagement of client money). For example, a girl named Asia who Adnan attended school with, claimed to have seen Adnan at the time of the murder (they allegedly talked for 15 minutes or so at around 2:40 pm on January 13, 1999). Asia wrote two letters to Adnan, one on March 1, 1999 and another on March 2, 1999, asking why he didn’t tell the police about them talking in the library that afternoon and that she believed he was innocent. These letters, and Asia’s story were Adnan’s only alibi, but Cristina Gutierrez, who even wrote a note about them in her notebook, never made the effort to contact Asia or bring the letters into evidence. For more information about Asia’s letters, click here. This alone shows that Adnan was not given the ability to properly defend himself. Had Cristina used the letters and brought Asia to the stand, Adnan may have never been convicted.

Asia’s first letter to Adnan, dated March 1, 1999

Not only did Asia write two letters to Adnan in March of 1999, but she also wrote an affidavit on March 25, 2000. In this affidavit, Asia outlines that her and Adnan spoke for about 20 minutes at the Woodlawn Public Library and in that time, they talked about Hae Min. Asia writes that Adnan seemed “extremely calm and very caring” as he explained that they had broken up. She also states that no attorney had ever contacted her. The fact that Asia had an alibi for Adnan and no one even bothered to follow up on it is absurd to me.

Asia’s second affidavit (January 13, 2015)

The whole situation with the letters and Cristina Gutierrez not being focused on the right evidence makes me think there is more to the story. Could Gutierrez have purposely thrown the case? Could Adnan have been set up? These are questions I have often asked myself since listening to the podcast.

Another thing I continue to wonder about is Jay Wilds confession. He says that he knew Adnan planned to kill Hae Min and that he actually helped him to bury the body. I personally don’t believe a teenager with their whole life ahead of them would just up and help a friend bury a body, especially if that body is a friends, if he had no reason to be upset with the victim. I also find it extremely strange how much his story changed from his first interview to his second. He adds much more detail, adds that he helped bury the body, and manages to change the timing of these things. I do believe there is a chance he is telling the truth, but when something traumatic and significant happens, like burying a body, you don’t simply forget the fact that you helped to bury it! Click here to view Jay’s interviews and testimony timelines.

I do not, and never did think Adnan Syed was guilty of the murder of Hae Min Lee. I think that the trial was rushed and that Adnan’s first lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, did not try her best to prove Adnan’s innocence. Although there is some proof to suggest Adnan killed Hae Min, I think that some phone call records and one persons confession is not enough. There was no DNA match, no pictures, no security footage, nothing at all really except one persons story that happened to explain some phone calls. I believe in “innocent until proven guilty” and Adnan was not proven guilty, he was simply guilty.