Murder of Hae Min Lee

Hae Min Lee
Born October 15, 1980[1]
South Korea
Disappeared January 13, 1999
Died Baltimore, Maryland
Cause of death Manual strangulation
Body discovered February 9, 1999
in Leakin Park
Occupation High school student
Employer LensCrafters
(part-time employee)
Known for Murder victim
Subject of Serial (podcast)

Hae Min Lee (Hangul: 이해민; 1980–1999) was a Woodlawn High School senior in Baltimore, Maryland who disappeared on January 13, 1999. Her body was found February 9, 1999, in Leakin Park, the victim of murder by manual strangulation. Adnan Masud Syed, a Pakistani American and her ex-boyfriend, was convicted of first degree murder and is currently serving a life sentence plus 30 years.[2]

While her murder initially generated only local interest, it was the subject of the podcast Serial in 2014, which brought international attention to Syed's trial.[3]

Background

Hae Min Lee was born in South Korea in 1980 and immigrated with her mother Youn Kim and her brother Young Lee to the United States in 1992 to live with her grandparents.[4] Lee attended the magnet program at Woodlawn High School near Baltimore, Maryland.[5] She was an athlete who played lacrosse and field hockey.[6]

Investigation

Lee disappeared on January 13, 1999, and her family reported her missing that day, after she failed to pick up her young cousin from school at about 3:15 pm. On February 9, 1999, Lee's body was found by a passerby in Leakin Park. On February 1, 1999, the Baltimore County Police received an anonymous phone call suggesting that Lee's ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed, was responsible for her murder, and that Syed had threatened to kill Lee. On February 3, Baltimore Police received call records for a cell phone belonging to Syed. They noticed a number of calls on the day of Lee's disappearance to a woman named Jen Pusateri. When questioned, Pusateri told police that a friend of hers, Jay Wilds, who had known Syed from high school, told her that Syed had killed Lee. The police questioned Wilds, who told them that he had helped Syed bury Lee's body and dispose of her car. Syed was arrested on February 28, 1999, and charged with first degree murder.[7]

Trials and appeals

Syed's family hired defense attorney Cristina Gutierrez to represent him. During Syed's first trial, jurors accidentally overheard a sidebar dispute between Gutierrez and the presiding judge in which he referred to her as a "liar". After learning that the jury had heard his characterization, the judge declared a mistrial. A second trial lasted six weeks and Syed was found guilty of first degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and robbery on February 25, 2000.[8] Syed was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.[9]

On February 6, 2015, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals approved Syed's application for leave to appeal.[10]

On May 19, 2015, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals remanded the case to Superior Court for potential hearing on the admissibility of alibi testimony of Asia McClain, who claimed to have been talking with Syed in the library at the exact time the evidence the prosecutor said Syed attacked Lee in a Best Buy parking lot several miles away.[11] On November 9, 2015, the Superior Court decided it would hear the case.[12] According to the investigation by Serial, McClain's account of her encounter with Syed on the day of the disappearance would have been helpful at trial.

Justin Brown, Syed's current appeals lawyer, has claimed that new evidence about the reliability of incoming call data from AT&T is suspect and should be reviewed by an appeals court, stating, "the cell tower evidence was misleading and should have never been admitted at trial."[13]

On November 6, 2015, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin Welch ordered that Syed's post-conviction relief proceedings, which determines if he deserves a new trial, would be re-opened "in the interests of justice for all parties."[14]

The post-conviction relief hearing, originally scheduled to last two days, lasted five days from February 3 – 9, 2016.[15] The hearing was attended by people from across the US, including Koenig and McClain, who testified that she talked to Syed at the library on January 13, 1999.[16]

Aftermath

Serial and Undisclosed podcasts

For more details on this topic, see Serial (podcast) § Season 1 (2014).

From October 3 to December 18, 2014, the murder trial of Adnan Syed was the subject of the first season of the podcast Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig. The podcast episodes generated international interest in the trial, and had been downloaded more than 68 million times by mid-February 2015.[17] In 2015, lawyer Rabia Chaudry (an advocate for Syed who had introduced the case to Koenig) and others began producing a podcast called Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed.[18]

The Innocence Project DNA testing

The Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Virginia Law School has identified several other potential suspects responsible for similar crimes in the area and will be requesting new DNA tests, specific to Hae's case, be taken.[19] Deirdre Enright of the Innocence Project said that they are waiting to hear back from Maryland whether they can file for DNA testing while the appeal motion is pending.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Missing person report Baltimore County" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ Francke, Caitlin (July 7, 2000). "19-year-old gets life sentence for killing former girlfriend". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ Carr, David (November 24, 2014). "'Serial,' Podcasting's First Breakout Hit, Sets Stage for More". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  4. ↑ Oakes, Amy (March 1, 1999). "Ex-boyfriend is charged in teen's killing". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Episode 2: The Breakup Transcript". October 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  6. ↑ Apperson, Jay (March 12, 1999). "Slain teen remembered as joyful, 'full of love'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ Oakes, Amy (March 1, 1999). "Ex-boyfriend is charged in teen's killing". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ Francke, Caitlin (February 26, 2000). "Jury finds teen guilty of killing ex-girlfriend". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  9. ↑ Francke, Caitlin (June 7, 2000). "19-year-old gets life sentence for killing former girlfriend". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ Phillip, Abby (February 7, 2015). "Md. court allows Adnan Syed to appeal his conviction in Serial case". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  11. ↑ S.M. (10 February 2016). "How a podcast spurred a new hearing for a murder convict". The Economist. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Kim Bellware (May 18, 2015). "Adnan Syed of 'Serial' Gets Major Breakthrough that Paves the Way for Asia McClain's Testimony – at Last". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Serial: Adnan Syed lawyer finds evidence 'questioning case'". BBC News. August 25, 2015. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  14. ↑ Izadi, Elahe (November 6, 2015). "Judge reopens 'Serial' case, allowing Adnan Syed to introduce new evidence". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hearing for 'Serial's' Adnan Syed moved up a day". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ ‘Serial’ takes the stand: How a podcast became a character in its own narrative Washington Post. February 8, 2016
  17. ↑ "New hope for inmate from Serial podcast". CBS News. February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ Everett, Christine (August 24, 2015). "5 key findings from Undisclosed that Serial missed". Entertainment Weekly.
  19. ↑ Dockterman, Eliana. "The Innocence Project Tells Serial Fans What Might Happen Next". Time. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  20. ↑ ""The Deal with 'Serial' at UVA Law," with Deirdre Enright". Soundcloud. pp. at 111 minutes. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
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