Adnan Syed Murder Case

Adnan Syed Murder Case

Summer Campbell, Reporter

When Adnan Syed was 18, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Her body was discovered in the woods in 1999. Last week, the court was asked by prosecutors to throw out Adnan’s conviction since a year-long case review had shown two different suspects.

Now Adnan is being released to home detention. Before his release on Monday, September 19, Mr. Syed spent almost 23 years in prison. This murder case gained a lot of attention worldwide because of a podcast called Serial. There’s also an HBO docuseries that was released in 2019 about the murder of Ms. Lee. The new suspects have not been named, but some officials say they had records of violence and convictions that happened after Adnan’s trial. One of the suspects was removed from the investigation after failing a lie detector test at trial. This method is no longer used in many U.S. courts.

A victim’s rights lawyer named Steve Kelly spoke on behalf of the family saying they have been “shut out from the legal process” and they feel upset about the way they’ve been treated. The victim’s family has been desperate to find closure for their daughter’s death. “If the truth is that somebody else killed their daughter, they want to know that more than anyone,” said Mr. Kelly. This podcast has deeply affected this case by spiraling more theories on Mr. Syed’s innocence.