Adnan Syed

How a true crime podcast made a local news story from Baltimore, Maryland, go international.

They also said they believed people had been misinformed by the podcast and regretted that "so few [were] willing to speak up for Hae". The show premiered in autumn 2014 and each episode tried to piece together a timeline of what happened the night Lee was killed. But a judge also denied his request for bail. Serial helped ignite the popularity of podcasts. He remained imprisoned for years as his legal team argued for a new trial and tried to appeal his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court. For nearly 25 years Syed has maintained his innocence.

Adnan Syed, now 41, has spent more than 20 years behind bars after being convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. | ITV National News.

The open-ended conclusion to the podcast spawned a huge debate about the case and the wider US justice system. Mr Syed had always maintained his innocence. She ordered Mr Syed to be placed on home detention with GPS location monitoring.

Prosecutors filed a motion saying that a lengthy investigation conducted with the defence had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the 2000 ...

The 12-episode podcast won a Peabody Award and was transformative in popularising podcasts for a wide audience. Prosecutors said they were not asserting that Mr Syed is innocent, but they lacked confidence “in the integrity of the conviction” and recommended he be released on his own recognisance or bail. In 2016, a lower court ordered a retrial for Mr Syed on grounds that his lawyer, Cristina Gutierrez, who died in 2004, did not contact an alibi witness and provided ineffective counsel. Last week, prosecutors filed a motion saying that a lengthy investigation conducted with the defence had uncovered new evidence that could undermine the 2000 conviction of Mr Syed, who was Ms Lee’s ex-boyfriend. The investigation “revealed undisclosed and newly developed information regarding two alternative suspects, as well as unreliable cell phone tower data”, state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office said in a news release last week. At the behest of prosecutors in Baltimore, Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered that Adnan Syed’s conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee be vacated and she approved the release of the 41-year-old who has spent more than two decades behind bars.

On the podcast, a team of journalists led by Sarah Koenig, the host of “Serial,” documented major problems with the case against Syed: The prosecution's ...

After, [use our bot](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/upshot/wordle-bot.html) to get better. [The Daily](https://www.nytimes.com/thedaily)” is about Adnan Syed. Huw Green thinks the term “mental health” [has become overly broad](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/opinion/us-mental-health-awareness.html). [expected to lower](https://theathletic.com/3607520/2022/09/19/nba-draft-age-rule-change-nbpa/) its entry age to 18 in the next collective bargaining agreement, clearing the way for high schoolers to re-enter the draft process. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). [has grown stronger](https://www.nytimes.com/article/tropical-storm-fiona-hurricane.html), after deluging Puerto Rico with rain. [a special episode of “Serial,” released this morning](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/podcasts/serial-adnan-syed.html), about the huge turn in the case. It will be years before any show approaches the record set by “Phantom.” The next-longest-running productions (as of Sept. [Wrongful conviction](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/briefing/wrongful-convictions-parole.html) seems to be a major problem in the U.S. [whose reporting helped free Curtis Flowers](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/briefing/winter-storm-adam-kinzinger-pelosi-congress.html), a Mississippi man who’d been jailed for more than 20 years, for murders he evidently did not commit. [but exacerbated others](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/opinion/us-mental-health-insight.html), Rachel Aviv writes. Barring some smoking-gun evidence, which we didn’t find (and it seems like no one else has either), there was no way for us to say definitively what happened.

Adnan Syed was sentenced to life in prison for the death of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999.

Chris Dawson was charged with the murder of his wife Lynette in 2018 after the podcast, The Teacher's Pet, garnered global attention and prompted a renewed investigation. [Australian man who became the subject of a popular crime podcast was found guilty of his wife's murder](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-62719515) - 40 years after she went missing. His death remains unsolved but Police Scotland's major investigations team said earlier this year they believe a planning dispute was the likely motive. It was the 2014 podcast Serial that focused worldwide attention on the case and cast doubt on Syed's guilt. Neither suspect has been named, but officials said both had documented records of violence towards women, including convictions that occurred after Syed's trial. It's killing me," said Young Lee. [Alistair Wilson, a father-of-two who was shot on his doorstep in the seaside town of Nairn](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/the_doorstep_murder_alistair_wilson) in the Scottish Highlands in 2004, was the focus of the BBC's podcast The Doorstep Murder, which came out in 2018. They relied in part on mobile phone location data that has since been proven unreliable. "Everyday when I think it's over... The series brought international attention to the murder of Hae Min Lee and was one of the first hit podcasts of the past decade's boom in audio content. Steve Kelly, a victim's rights lawyer for the family, said the Lees had been "shut out of the legal process" and were "deeply disappointed" with the way they had been treated. The case has also spawned other works, including an HBO docuseries in 2019.

Syed's case went viral after it featured on the first season of Sarah Koenig's hit true crime podcast.

[Adnan Syed](https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/adnan-syed) has been released from prison after 23 years following a Maryland judge’s decision to overturn [his conviction](https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/a-huge-announcement-has-been-made-in-the-case-of-serial-star-adnan-syed/63324) for the murder of his high school girlfriend, [Hae Min Lee](https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/case-against-adnan-syed-documentary-review-hae-min-lee-story/258273). Chaudry was also the one who brought Syed’s case to Koenig and the Serial team in the first place. “All they wanted was information,” Kelly said. This is real life – a never-ending nightmare for 20-plus years.” [Stylist’s coverage of the investigation](https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/adnan-syed). “This is not a podcast for me. To say this decision has been long-awaited would be an understatement. Syed – who has always maintained his innocence – will now be released to home detention. It has now [overturned by the supreme court in 2019](https://www.stylist.co.uk/people/adnan-syed-denied-retrial-court-appeals-serial/256034). [Sarah Koenig](https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/sarah-koenig) on the first season of the hit [true crime podcast](https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/podcasts/best-true-crime-podcasts/244331) [Serial](https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/serial) – was released after state [prosecutors filed a motion](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62963466) asking the court to throw out the murder conviction he was sentenced to in 2000 after new information about “two alternative suspects” came to light. [Sarah Koenig](https://www.stylist.co.uk/tag/sarah-koenig)’s hit [true crime podcast](https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/podcasts/best-true-crime-podcasts/244331) dives into the reasons behind his release.