Adnan Syed: The Killer of Hae Min Lee Essay Example

How many coincidences does it take to distinguish a killer from an ordinary person? The podcast “Serial”, narrated by Sarah Koenig reinvestigates the murder of a Korean high school student, Hae Min Lee. She reports evidence arguing the ex-boyfriend’s (Syed’s) conviction, leaving the listeners with an unfinished ending. Syed denies his involvement, but as Koenig says “If you ask me to swear that Adnan Syed is innocent, I couldn’t do it. I nurse doubt” (Episode 12: What We Know). It is evident that the murder of Hae Min Lee was committed by Adnan Syed, because he shows psychopathic tendencies, a strong motive for the homicide, and fails to present a strong defence to prove his innocence.

It may come as no surprise that psychopathic individuals are more likely to commit crimes than other people, especially murder. Approximately 93% end up in prison (Kiehl and Hoffman). Psychopaths are manipulative, lack remorse, and violate social norms - which are all traits that Syed possesses. Along with his sweet persona, the podcast highlights Adnan’s darker personality as well. . Unlike the perfect child everyone knows, Adnan is mendacious and lacks guilt for his actions. Koenig mentions that “Adnan stole money from the mosque. Donation money ... every Friday” (Episode 11: Rumors). This demonstrates that Adnan is not that innocent, as he feels no shame in stealing money that would benefit the community, from a place of worship. Shoplifting a CD or some chocolate is petty theft, but this money was close to hundreds of dollars. This theft continued until Shamim, his mother caught him red-handed. His dishonest character reflects that Adnan committed murder/murdered Hae Min Lee because he would not have felt remorse at that young age. He uses his charm to make it seem that he did not do it because he has no other way of defending himself. Adnan has a violent alter-ego shown in the podcast, as he threatens others around him during multiple situations. Jay admits to this saying “..He told me that almost joking ‘I think I’m going to kill her, yeah, I think I’m going to kill her’” (Episode 2: The Breakup). Adnan mentions killing Hae several times to Jay, foreshadowing the murder. His psychopathic personality is apparent when he writes, "I'm going to kill" (Episode 6: The Case Against Adnan Syed) on the top of Hae’s note. Thoughts of hurting loved ones prove that Syed was capable of the careful planning and execution of the tight, time-framed murder. The similarity between Adnan’s personality and the behaviour of a psychopath shows he murdered his ex-girlfriend in response to the break-up.

Psychopaths suffer emotionally when they are separated from their loved ones. As their affliction worsens, the severity of their crimes increases (Martens). This similarity in Adnan’s situation suggests he killed Hae. Since her death was by manual strangulation, there had to be an intention behind the crime. The only person with a definite motive is Adnan. Even after considering the other suspects, they are all crossed off the list, pointing to Syed. Adnan’s separation from Hae brought unendurable pain, motivating him to kill her. Prosecutor Kevin Urick agrees “He became enraged. He felt betrayed that his honour had been besmirched, and he became very angry, and he set out to kill Hae Min Lee” (Episode 2: The Breakup). He concludes the murder was caused by Adnan’s jealousy that Hae had moved on; he held pride in himself and his ego was triggered when she started seeing Don. Koenig mentions that their relationship had been called on and off several times - meaning that Adnan may have thought they still had a chance. Since this was not the case, he couldn’t handle his feelings and decided to get revenge. Ultimately, Syed had put everything on the line to be with her - his family and religion, only to end up with nothing. Apart from Adnan, possible people linked to the crime include Don, Jay, Mr.S, or maybe a serial killer. However, upon a closer look, they are innocent, pointing to Adnan. Sarah discovers the new boyfriend - Don has a solid alibi: “His computer-generated time card said he’d arrived at work at 9:02 a.m. on the 13th, taken lunch from 1:10 to 1:42, clocked out at 6 p.m” (Episode 12: What We Know).

This proves him innocent because Jay’s testimony does not match his timeline. Additionally, Jay does not have hostile feelings towards Hae. Arguably, he may have killed her because Adnan was close with Stephanie (his girlfriend), but it would make more sense to kill Adnan instead. If he did kill her, he would not turn to Adnan - the “good kid”, as he would attempt to stop it because he has no reason to fear the police. If Jay killed her and tried to frame it on him, Adnan would have an alibi. Even if he does not have one, Jay would need to be certain of this. Therefore, it is too risky to blame him, meaning Jay could not have done it. Furthermore, being killed by a stranger is rare, and 72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). By confirming the innocence of the others, it is clear that Adnan has an unquestionably strong motive behind Hae’s murder. His guilt is proven because his motive also lines up with the evidence used against him.

Multiple pieces of evidence are against Syed, and there is no effective reasoning that proves his innocence. The alignment of Jay’s strong testimony causes suspicion that Adnan is lying to avoid conviction. This is apparent as Adnan cannot recall his actions on January 13th, the day Hae first went missing. Unlike Adnan, Don remembers the day because he exclaims: “When someone calls you up and tells you ‘have you seen this person? They went missing, they haven’t been seen since school,’ you automatically retrace everything you did that day.” This relates that memory is evoked by a significant event, such as a call from the police. Alongside, Stephanies birthday and heavy snowfall occurred that day, which questions Syed’s obliviousness. This supports that Adnan may be lying to remain innocent, as nobody can poke holes in his story if he has no story. Moreover, the cellphone records matching the state’s timeline and Jay’s testimony explicitly conjecture Adnan as the criminal. Dana Chivvis examines the events and does not believe Adnan is innocent. She points out “That sucks for you that your phone butt-dialled a girl … [the] day that your ex-girlfriend goes missing, that you happen to loan your car and your phone out to the guy who ends up pointing the finger at you” (Episode 12: What We Know). She explains that the evidence lines up at the exact moment he had no memory of the day. The number of coincidences restrains from believing Adnan is innocent, unless if he had extremely bad luck. Although insignificant at first, the tiny bits of evidence such as the cell phone records, handprints on the map, statements of others, and Adnan being the last person to see Hae, all add up to create a complete puzzle of the crime scene. The strong connection between the arguments against Syed and the lack of support for his innocence, claims him guilty for the murder.

Adnan’s psychopathic behaviour, the clear motive to kill Hae Lee, and the solid case against him, tie together to prove Adnan was responsible for the crime. This real-life tragedy acts as the basis for Sarah Koenig’s podcast “Serial”. His conviction has made worldwide listeners aware that murderers can resemble ordinary people in society, and guilt can often be proven from the lack of innocence. Only the real murderer knows who is responsible for the crime, but if not Syed, then who could it possibly be?

Works Cited:

Kiehl, Kent A, and Morris B Hoffman. “THE CRIMINAL PSYCHOPATH: HISTORY, NEUROSCIENCE, TREATMENT, and ECONOMICS.” Jurimetrics, vol. 51, 2011, pp. 355–397, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4059069/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.

Koenig, Sarah. Complete Transcripts for Serial Podcast Season One. , 2014.

Martens, Willem H.J. “What Lies Behind: The Hidden Suffering of the Psychopath.” Psychiatric Times, 7 July 2020, www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-lays-behind-the-hidden-suffering-of-the-psychopath.Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “NCADV | National Coalition against Domestic Violence.” Ncadv.org, 2010, ncadv.org/statistics. Accessed 6 Apr. 2021.