Hae Min Lee Murder Case

The 2014 Serial podcast, narrated by Sarah Koenig, follows the 1999 murder case of Hae Min Lee, a 17-year-old female who was allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, in Baltimore, Maryland. As information is analyzed from the case and interviews are conducted with individuals close to Adnan and Hae Min Lee, it is clear that Adnan Syed was wrongfully convicted in Hae Min Lee’s murder case, proving that he is innocent. Adnan Syed has the possibility of being innocent considering the fact that Jay Wilds untruthfully made statements in his 1999 interviews, Adnan Syed has an alibi, and there is no concrete evidence linked to the crime scene that proves him guilty. This case is ongoing, however, the lack of deeper investigation into the case has been overlooked for over two decades.

To begin with, as police and detectives discovered the body of the victim, they located a total of four pieces of physical DNA. There was a Brandy beer bottle found in the parameter of where Hae Min Lee was buried, “That bottle of Coronet VSQ Brandy that was found right near Hae’s body[...]A lab report says they recovered nucleated epithelial cells from the mouth of the bottle and from the cap.[...]A lab report says they recovered nucleated epithelial cells from the mouth of ]“retained for future possible analysis.”But the future never came. They never tested those cells for DNA.” (Koenig 164). The cells found in the mouth of the brandy beer bottle never made their way to the forensic testing room; hence, this is one piece of evidence that does not prove that Adnan is guilty. Second, when the investigators were lifting Hae Min Lee’s body from Leakin Park, they reportedly located a few red and blue fibers beneath her body.