“Whatever the motivation is to kill someone, I had absolutely-- it didn't exist in me”. Serial, a podcast told weekly, narrated by Sarah Koenig is a ‘whodunit’ story about a high school couple in Baltimore, (Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee), where Min Lee ends up dead. Jay Wilds’ states that after school on January 13, 1999, Adnan Syed killed Hae Min Lee. Adnan Syed adamantly denies having anything to do with the murder, and everything that Wilds said is false. Family and friends of Syed have mixed feeling on in about his guilt. They consider him being capable but wouldn’t necessarily say he is the one. Even though Jay’s story has some flaws and changes, Jay Wilds is the one to believe, Adnan Syed is the killer of Hae Min Lee. During this podcast, Jay Wilds (Syed’s best friend) gives a variety of “evidence”, that can not be used as “sturdy evidence”, since there is so many different sides to his story. Even though Adnan Syed denies everything Wilds has stated, Wilds provides detailed evidence that might lead us to the truth. Wilds’ first testimony states that after school on January 13, 1999, Adnan Syed killed Hae Min Lee. Wilds first testimony states that on January 13, 1999, Syed had murdered Min Lee in the parking lot of the local Best Buy. Afterward, Syed called Wilds, from the Best Buy phone booth, to come pick him and the body up. “That b**** is dead. Сome and get me. I'm at Best Buy. ” (Ep. 1) Wilds says that later on they went back to school, for Syed’s track practice to have an “alby”, then drove to Leakin Park and buried the body where they both disposed the body. Also, in Wilds’ first testimony, he said that Syed had mentioned his plot to kill Min Lee for a month or so. Syed saying “. . . going to kill that b****. ” (Ep. 1) Later on in the podcast, Wilds story began to change saying that he wasn’t close to Syed, and only smoked weed with him a few times, and he also said Syed only said he was going to kill Min Lee the day he did it and the day before. This information is critical to the case because it shows that Wilds has multiple versions of what happened to Min Lee, and the day of the murder, showing he is not a reliable source. Syed, when asked if he killed Min Lee, and was told Wilds’ story of what happened, he denied everything and only said he had much empathy and love for Min Lee and was worried about her when the police called, looking for her. Syed “says he’s innocent, though he can’t exactly remember what he was doin that January afternoon. ” (Serial Website) If Wilds wasn’t involved in the murder then why would he admit to the case? Why would he put Syed in a bad place if Syed wasn’t the one to do it? We’re going to cover the question in this who killed hae min lee essay.
During the podcast we found out a lot about Syed. But, we have many different opinions on him and his actions. Min Lee thought Syed was “the sweetest guy”, and didn’t think he was overbearing in anyway, yet according to her, he came off harsh at sometimes. For example, in Min Lee’s diary, it showed that she once wrote about how she didn’t respond back to a call/ text, resulting to Syed calling her a “devil”. Friends of Syed and Min Lee’s said he was clingy and “overbearing”. Aisha thought he was annoying because he called too much. Becky thought their relationship was a “normal high school relationship” and remembers nothing weird about it. Syed’s mother (Shamin)had similar thoughts about Syed, but also seemed like an unreliable source because she didn’t know that Syed was dating, drinking or smoking. In Syed’s religion, it is against the rules to date, smoke, have sex, or drink. Taking the different opinions from these people shows that Syed has multiple personalities, which can support the fact that even though Syed is portrayed as a “nice guy” to many people, he could still be capable of snapping and killing Min Lee.
There are many pieces of evidence that might support the thesis. Some of them are important, others not as much. Episode 6 is really where I start to question Syed’s innocence. On the night that Min Lee was murdered, Cathy (fake name) says that her friend, Wilds, came over, and brought a friend, which would be Syed. She remembers them coming over, with no invitation or “heads up”. When they showed up she said they weren’t talking, only came to smoke. Cathy thought it was weird that they, at least Wilds, wasn’t taking. “I remember the guy wasn’t doing a whole lot of talking, he was just kinda like slumped over amidst all my cushions, and I thought it was really kinda strange, ‘who is this guy?’ you know? Who is this guy?” (Ep. 6, Cathy) She thought that might just be his personality, quiet and all, but still thought the situation was really weird.
Toward the end of Wilds and Syed being there, Cathy said she remembers Syed getting a phone call. She remembers him saying “‘. . . what am I going to do? What am I gonna say? They’re gonna come talk to me. What am I supposed to say?” (Adnan, Ep. 6), and she said she felt he sounded worried and concerned and that she was eavesdropping. Then quickly after, Wilds and Syed left, no goodbye, no why they were leaving nothing. When Koenig asked Syed about these calls, Syed said that those were the calls finding out Min Lee went missing, and he was only getting prepared for the cops to call, so he could not answer his phone.
Hae Min Lee was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed. Both Wilds and Syed have stories that ultimately make sense, but one is too vague and the other doesn’t have any evidence to back up what the claim says. As of right now, Syed is in prison. His next retrial will not be for another year or so, yet we all know he did it. . .
