WHO WAS HAE MIN LEE?
Hae Min Lee was a Korean-American high school student who was born on October 15, 1980. Sadly, she was last seen alive on January 13, 1999, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Hae Min Lee was born in South Korea and moved to Baltimore, United States of America in 1992 with her mother, Youn Kim, and her brother, Young Lee. Lee attended Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. She was a lacrosse and field hockey player.
HAE MIN LEE’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ADNAH SYED
Adnan Syed was born on May 21, 1981, in Baltimore, Maryland, to conservative Muslim parents, Shamim and Syed Rahman. He attended the same high school as Hae Min Lee and was also popular and athletic. Adnan and Hae Min Lee were romantically involved, but they kept their relationship a secret from their conservative immigrant families. However, the secrecy began irritating Hae Min Lee, which led to the end of their relationship.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HAE MIN LEE
On January 13, 1999, Hae Min Lee, didn’t return home and was reported missing by her family. She was last seen by fellow students at her high school at around 2:15 p.m. When the police were notified, they called various friends of Lee in an attempt to locate her. They also reached out to Adnan Syed, who said he had last seen her around the time classes ended at school. Unfortunately, all the efforts to locate her were unsuccessful.
Almost four weeks later, on February 9th, Hae Min Lee’s half-buried body was discovered in a shallow grave in Leakin Park, Baltimore by a passerby. It was determined that she had been killed by manual strangulation.
ARREST AND CONVICTION OF ADNAN SYED
Adnan Syed was arrested and charged with Hae Min Lee’s murder on February 28, 1999, when he was 17 years old. An anonymous phone call had been made to the Homicide Division of the Baltimore City Police accusing Syed of killing Min Lee.
Additionally, one of Syed’s friends, Jay Wilds, told the police that Syed had expressed intentions of killing Lee and later admitted to killing her on January 13. Wilds claimed that Syed was enraged that Lee had broken up with him and murdered her out of revenge.
Syed entered a not-guilty plea at the start of his 1999 trial. The prosecution relied on Wilds’ testimony and that of Jennifer Pusateri, a witness who said Wilds had told her that Syed had confessed to the killing of Lee and had shown him the body. Cell tower records, which had validated some of Wilds’ timeline of how events occurred, were the other piece of evidence that aided the prosecution’s case.
The Prosecution also relied on cell tower records, which confirmed some of the details in Jay Wilds’ timeline of events.
After a six-week trial, the jury found Syed guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and robbery on February 25, 2000. He was given a life sentence plus 30 years in prison.
Adnan Syed’s conviction was primarily based on the testimony of his friend and suspected accomplice, Jay Wilds, who claimed that Syed had strangled Hae Min Lee in the Best Buy parking lot after school on the day she went missing. According to Wilds, Syed called him later that evening and asked him to meet at the Best Buy parking lot, where he admitted to the crime and requested his assistance in disposing of the body.
Despite being found guilty and sentenced, Adnan Syed maintained his innocence throughout the entire process and continued to appeal while in prison.
ADNAN SYED IS FREED
Adnan Syed started appealing his case in 2003, citing “ineffective assistance of counsel.” He alleged that his attorney at the time, failed to investigate an alibi witness, Asia McClain, who claimed to have been with Syed at Woodlawn High School’s library during the time of the murder.
Syed’s appeals lawyer also cast doubt on the reliability of the cell tower records evidence presented in the original trial.
On September 14, 2022, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby asked a judge to overturn Syed’s conviction and release him from prison, citing “doubts about the reliability of cellphone records used in the initial trial as well as fresh evidence about the possible involvement of two unnamed suspects.”
Adnan Syed was released on home detention in September 2022 after spending more than 23 years in prison.
Adnan Syed leaving the courthouse a free man
Unfortunately for Adnan Syed, his conviction was reinstated by the appellate court in a 2-1 decision on March 28, 2023. The decision was based on the fact that the Lee family did not receive adequate notice to attend the hearing on the state’s motion to vacate the conviction.