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23rd Aug 2016

New documents likely to prove Adnan Syed is guilty

Cassie Delaney

News that Adnan Syed’s case had been re-opened broke six months ago.

Adnan was the subject of the internationally acclaimed podcast Serial in which journalists recounted the details of the murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999. Adnan, then 17, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

Adnan has protested his innocence and as journalist Sarah Koenig relayed the details of the crime, listeners veered towards Adnan’s innocence. Major mishaps occurred during the trial, the most crucial of which was the absence of testimony from Asia McClain who claimed to be an alibi for the teenage.

McClain even penned a book on her alibi entitled Confessions of a Serial Alibi which was released earlier this year.

The reexamination of Adnan’s case is largely linked to this missing testimony and many rely on such testimony to prove Adnan’s innocence.

However, new documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun, state classmates of Asia McClain believe the woman is continuously lying about the alibi.

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The documents come from two classmates who recall a conversation with Asia in class in which she states she believes so fully in Adnan’s innocence that she would be willing to lie on oath to protect him.

Both students back up the claims.

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This news comes as no surprise to fans of the podcast who doubted the initial claims. In interviews, Adnan himself seemed surprised by Asia’s revelations that she had seen him in the library. His vague explanation is that her testimony evokes memories in his head and firms up his recollection of the day.

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Further documents reveal that Adnan’s story varies significantly from time to time. On the podcast, one of his main areas of defense is that he would not have requested a lift from Lee that afternoon as he knew she had to collect her cousin and would have been unavailable. Elsewhere in interviews documented, he said he and Lee would often meet up after school for sex. On the days she had to collect her cousin they would drive to Best Buy near school, have sex quickly and then collect her cousin and drop her home. This testimony is particularly damning as the presumed location of the murder is Best Buy.

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