When was the first time you hung out with Adnan? Lee's body was discovered in Baltimore's Leakin Park by a passerby, partially buried in a shallow grave. I believe I told them it was in front of Cathys [not her real name] house, but it was in front of my grandmothers house. Syed will know his fate by August. And then I would only give them information pertaining to my interaction with someone or where I was. Its been more than two decades since the body of Woodlawn High School senior .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Hae Min Lee was found at Leakin Park in West Baltimore, Maryland. He said, Youve gotta help me, or Im gonna tell the cops about you and the weed and all that shit. And then he popped the trunk and I saw Haes body. Jay said that he and Adnan left Haes car in a grassy lot on January 13th, where it remained until Jay took the police there on February 28th. Jay also worked at the Drug Emporium store a short walk from his home. The star witness at Syeds trial was Jay Wilds, a former classmate who testified that he helpedSyed dispose of Lees body. Our product picks are editor-tested, expert-approved. Like she was a junior in college. Now, the case: Undisclosed claims Wilds may have wanted the reward money to buy a motorcyle - something police may have known, too. I asked him where were going and he says, Didnt you say everyone gets dumped in Leakin Park?. When did he first talk to you about hurting her? Lee had disappeared on Jan. 13, and almost a month later, on Feb. 9, her body was found by a passerby in Baltimores Leakin Park. As long as I live, my daughter is buried in my heart. The paper says she almost collapsed as she stepped off the witness stand and that her sobs from outside the courtroom could still be heard inside. After class, he goes to the Woodlawn Public Library to check his email and chats with friend, Asia McClain. We were in the car, we were riding, smoking. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, 'Serial' Recap: Everything About Adnan Syed's Case, Who Is Adnan Syed? 'Serial' Subject Takes HBO, 'Serial' Subject Adnan Syed Will Get a New Trial. Be the first one to comment on this story. He left in his car and I was trying to collect myself at my [grandmothers] house. It was Jay's testimony that helped to put Adnan in prison with a life sentence for the February 1999 murder of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. After the party, Adnan drove Jay home and then dropped Stephanie home afterwards. 10:45-11:15 a.m. I follow him halfway back down the hill, park, smoke some cigarettes. Even though he and Syed were allegedlyjust acquaintances, Wilds police interviews and witness testimony would ultimately be key to convicting Syed despite his storys inconsistencies and contradictions. In Serial you are depicted as a petty weed dealer. How old were you when you first met Adnan Syed? Wilds stated that he helped the 17-year-old Syed, who was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, bury her body, which was later discovered in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Police take evidence from the scene and interview several people in an attempt to find the killer. He says, OK, follow me halfway back down the hill [towards the grave site], so he doesnt have to walk all the way back up the hill to get back to me in his car. . I know I didnt kill her. Photo: Natasha Vargas-Cooper for The Intercept, Natasha Vargas-Cooper[emailprotected]theintercept.org@natashavc. He has a great legal team. In that situation, he was the loser. When did you two get closer to each other? The taps on the recording, some have decided, may have been the sound of someone writing pen to paper very quickly on a hard surface, or just a little physical cue that Wilds needed to come up with the right answer fast. Something definite in both media arguments is Wilds's change in story. The subject of the groundbreaking 2014 podcast "Serial," Syed was arrested in. Her body was found in a forest three weeks later. And thats not necessarily mebut that is my family, that is my uncles and cousins. Then, at 4:15 they drop off Haes car at 1-70 Park and Ride; Wilds drops Syed off at track practice afterward, and then at 6:45 p.m. Syed calls Wilds on the cellphone to pick him up; at 7:15 p.m., after eating McDonalds and Syed receiving a phone call from police looking for Hae, they go to Wilds house to get a shovel and pick, return to Haes car, and then bury Haes body in Leakin Park. This fact seems damning to Syed, and it troubled . Then Jay spoke. We drive over toCathys house to smoke. Jay is the center of gravity in this case. Number of episodes: 25+ (ongoing). Jay Wilds is a former classmate of Adnan Syed from Baltimore, Maryland. From your perspective, what was Adnans reputation at Woodlawn? Hes gone with Haes car. Notably, Wilds declined to be a part of the podcast although he was offered an interview. Lee had disappeared on Jan. 13, and almost a month later, on Feb. 9, her body was found by a passerby in Baltimores Leakin Park. I would like to forgive Adnan Syed, but as of now, I just don't know how I could, she says. He was having a hard enough time with that itself. He remains calm as handcuffs are being put on him, saying, I'll be alrightI have faith in the Lord. . Its in the evening after school, we never hung out in the morning. Your login session has expired. And soon after that, Syed was charged with her murder. Baltimore police were already focusing their investigation on Syed after an anonymous tip told them to look at Lees ex. Feb. 1999: Police built a case against Syed, largely on the testimony of a man named Jay Wilds, who at the time had more than 20 run-ins with police -- including aggravated assault against a . No. Even documentary director Amy Berg openly admitted to questioning Wilds narrative of the events in the case after listening to Serial., The whole Jay storywas so confusing. Did you make the anonymous call to the police to tip them off about Adnan? One big theory being floated around is that Wilds was the anonymous tipster who called Detective Massey and told police to focus on the ex-boyfriend. As described by Syed to Serial, he goes to his photography and English classes and then calls his friend Jay Wilds, offering to lend him his car during his lunch period. Its while hes there that Officer Scott Adcock calls Syed asking if he knew where Lee was. In September, a legal team formed to represent Wilds and also quickly worked out a plea deal to testify against Syed. And the other thing about it, I mean, there looked like there was real hurt and pain. But, like I said, I dont know how to come up with this story about how Adnan did it, why he did it, what he was thinking, how he was thinking, and why he was thinking that. Just after his arrest, McClain writes a letter to Syed and details talking to him in the library on January 13, Serial reported. The popularised podcast series Serial has been central to shedding light on the Adnan Syed case. Adnan did not know that Jay had spoken to the police. The popular podcast detailed an investigation into the 15-year-old murder of . As for Lees family, all they knew was that she didnt show up to pick up her cousin, which is when they reported her missing. December 15, 1999: A mistrial is declared. I don't know what happened, what occurred between them that day," he said of Lee's death. CrimeStoppers rewards are apparently paid out the following month after the police report that months official indictments. Clearly Sarah Koenig was leaning towards Adnans innocence and she got sidetracked by Jay a little bit, too. Please logout and login again. Its starting to get dark, so between 3p.m. Although her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prision in 2000 (Syed's conviction was vacated in September 2022), there may be just as many questions surrounding the case now as there were then. Investigators at the time determined that she died by . Wilds' first taped interview with police occurred on February 28, 1999. She didnt look beat up. Now, Wilds' story is under the microscope again with HBO's new docu-series "The Case Against Adnan Syed," which digs further into Lee's murder and Syed's supposed role in it. With the case back in the headlines and ID's special, Adnan Syed: Overturned, scheduled to air this Tuesday, September 27, 2022, at 9 pm ET, questions are being raised about Jay Wilds' connection to the murder and his witness testimony that may have led to Syed's wrongful conviction. Maintenance worker Alonzo Sellers, known as Mr. I dont think it meant that much to her. Jays post-Serial interviews with The Intercept: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. He just couldnt come to grips with those feelings. Wilds, who gave police multiple interviews and testified in court, was first questioned on Feb. 28, 1999, just hours before police arrested Syed on suspicion of Lee's murder. October 11, 2022: Prosecutors drop charges against Syed. I dont know whether he calls me when hes on his way back to my house, or if he calls me right outside the house. Pusateris first statement to the cops said that shed gotten a call from Wilds on Syeds phone, while a later statement included information that Wilds had confessed to her that hed helped Syed bury Lee, though the police may have already been looking at him as an accomplice before theyd even spoken to Pusateri, and also bringing him him for questioning. When the Serial podcast premiered in October of 2014, many listeners were shocked to find that almost the entirety of the . We met over the weekend at his two-story suburban home. Additionally, two other potential suspects with questionable backgrounds have surfaced. Wilds also makes clear in the interview that Baltimore isnt the place where one who ran afoul with the law wanted to get hooked by the cops or work with them both options were not good. And they wouldnt stop interviewing me or questioning me. It doesnt seem like enough of a reason to not talk to the police. Hae Min Lee was last seen at about 3pm on 13 January 1999. I guess I was being kind of a jury on whether or not people needed to be involved or whatever, but these people didnt have anything to do with it, and I knew they didnt have anything to do with it. The only thing thats certain: The 18-year-old victim was last seen on January 13, 1999, driving her 1998 Nissan Sentra on her way to pick up her 6-year-old cousin and then head to her job at LensCrafters, The Baltimore Sun reported at the time. February 9, 1999 : Lee's body is found. At trial, he said Adnan killed Hae in the parking lot of Best Buy, and then he also said he helped Adnan bury her in Leakin Park, Chaudry notes during the episode. Syed and Lee were seniors at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County when Lee disappeared in January 1999. Jay is a show more content who has spent the past 15 years in jail for the murder of 17-year-old Hae Min Lee, . Jay obviously picks and chooses what he tells, and at this point its created such a mess, she says in the documentary. It wasnt until they made it clear they werent interested in my procurement of pot that I began to open up any. Lees 16-year-old brother, Young Lee, speaking for his grandparents and mom, tells The Baltimore Sun that the news provided some closure and some peace." Syed Adnan, then 17, was convicted of murdering Hae Min Lee, 18, in 1999 after a high school romance in Baltimore, MD. Ill help you dig the hole.. If Wilds did receive the reward money for being the tipster, but that information wasnt disclosed, that would have immediately led to a new trial. Wilds's testimony played a giant part in convicting Syed of murdering his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee in 1999. He just seemed like someone who didnt smoke weed too much. Haes car could have been in the parking lot, but I didnt know what it looked like so I dont remember. I didnt tell the cops it was in front of my house because I didnt want to involve my grandmother. Were sitting there smoking and he receives a phone call from the police and gets all panicky. Phinn's decision came after prosecutors told the court they lost faith in Syed's conviction in light of new evidence and violations in the governments turning over evidence. Like, hes not in a car or anything. Koenig's account of the events that transpired at the time of Lee's murder, publicly rebuked Jay's version of what happened and his reasons for helping Adnan Syed and portrayed him as a petty weed dealer. They had to chase me around before they could corner me to talk to me, and there came a point where I was just sick of talking to them. Jay told the filmmakers that Adnan asked him to procure 10 pounds of marijuana. note: Adnan worked as an emergency medical technician, not a paramedic.]. Its not my job to figure that out. And Wilds was also a professed accomplice to Syeds crime, which further complicated his role as the prosecutions sole witness. This is where people would have their house firebombed and still tell the police they knew nothing about it rather than to try to make some sense of whats going on. Wilds's testimony played a giant part in convicting Syed of murdering his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee in 1999. From Men's Health. What else could motivate you to choke the life out of someone you cared about? I was a bit of an outdoorsman, adventure seeker, fishing, camping, learned to ride a motorcycle. Jay Wilds was a crucial player in Adnan's conviction - he testified that Adnan confessed to him about killing Lee, saw Lee's body in the trunk of her car, and helped bury her body in Leakin Park. In 2000, Syed was found guilty of the murder and given a life sentence as a result of Wilds' witness testimony. "This was true in 1999 when he was a 17-year-old child. Lee was last seen alive on Jan. 13, 1999. It wasnt like, Oh, were going bowling, and lets call it in before we go bowling and call the rest of our friends and call Jay. I dont remember ever going to any kinds of functions or endeavors together, or any concerts or clubs together, you know. He calls me and says Im outside, so I come outside to talk to himand followed him to a different car, not his. He came back with no tools or anything. It helped fan the flames of this story that people had already moved on from, Wilds told The Intercept. The group of people I hung out with were different from the group of people I was from. Why has your story changed over time? How old was Adnan when he went to prison in 1999? For his testimony, Wilds was given probation instead of a jail sentence for his said involvement in the crime. He asked me if I had shovels, so I went inside my house and got some gardening tools. In his testimony at the second trial, he says that he and Syed drove to Security Square Mall and claims that Syed reportedly told him he was going to kill Lee. According to Simpson, whenever Wilds cant recall a detail or pauses for a long period before answering a question, there can be heard a series of taps, after which Wilds always miraculously comes up with the right answer. According to the podcast, there were discrepancies between the statements he gave to authorities and the testimony he delivered during Adnan Syed's trial. in January 1999 . Jays testimony was critical to the states case; indeed,without his testimony its virtually impossible that the state could have even brought Syed to trial. He seemed under alot of pressure to please. maison d'amelie paris clothing. Her body was discovered in Leakin Park in Baltimore, Maryland, and a few weeks later her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed, was . Jay Wilds, Maryland's key (and only) witness at Adnan Syed's 2000 trial for murdering Hae Min Lee which was chronicled on the hotly debated Serial podcast, which launched in October 2014 and completed its 12-episode run earlier this month has consented to a single interview (with The Intercept) in an attempt to tell his side of the story. McClain has fought for Syed's innocence since the case had originally opened. . Adnan Syed is currently serving life in prison, plus 30 years, for a murder he claims he didn't commit, and he may not have ended up there if it weren't for his former classmate, Jay Wilds. There is a separate page withdetails of Jays own court case for the murder of Hae Min Lee. View our online Press Pack. The hugely popular 12-part podcast "Serial" investigated the 1999 murder of teenager Hae Min Lee and the murder conviction the following year of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who is currently. Wilds looms large in Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyders reporting about the trial. I said, Alright, cool. I dropped him off at school, went to the mall, then when I was done, I go back to my friend Jenns house, where I normally go, sit and smoke with my friend. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger. In part 2, Wilds shares his thoughts on the actions he took following the murder, as well as his choice to remain uninvolved as This American Life producers Julie Snyder and Sarah Koenig pieced. After hearings in the Circuit Court between November 2010 and October 2012, Syeds petition for post-conviction relief is denied, according to court papers. I didnt think he was going to go kill her. The student told the official that he was suppose[d] to get a ride home from the victim, but he got detained at school and felt that she just got tired of waiting and left, according to the 2019 appeal. In one police interview, Wilds said he saw the body, it was in a car in the parking lot of a Best Buy. Syed and Wilds were regularly with one another. December 30, 2013: Syed's petition for post-conviction relief is denied. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. Much of the attention came after the case became the subject of the This American Life podcast Serial in 2014. Syed was actually convicted in February 2000. Mr. Syed, 41, had been serving a life sentence after he was convicted in the 1999 murder of his high school classmate Hae Min Lee. Just normal conversation like, I think shes fucking around. He exited the Baltimore courthouse to deafening cheers. READ MORE ON CRIME He has a lot of public support and walking away is not an option.. We got in his car and start driving. November 20, 2014: Syeds family gives their first interview, Syeds brother Yusef talks to CBS This Morning and admits he listens to the show. . March 9, 2019, 2:00 PM. In 1999 18-year-old high school student Hae Min Lee was murdered. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This week, in an interview with The Intercept , Jay Wilds came forward with his account of the January day in 1999 when Hae Min Lee was murdered. She was still in the trunk. I worked a lot. I remember Adnan standing next to me. Syeds lawyers asked the nations highest court to look into reversing the states decision. I had a lot more on the line than just a few bags of weed. Without Jay's testimony, it is highly unlikely that the state could have ever taken him to trial. Syed has maintained his innocence since he was arrested for Lee's murder in February 1999, when he was a 17-year-old in high school. Syed was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years on February 25, 2000 for first degree murder,kidnapping, false imprisonment and robbery. About a month later, police uncovered her body in a nearby park; an. The thing is that the story Jay told at trial is not the same story Jay told police the first time.". I knew him because I knew Muslims in the community from playing basketball at the mosque. She just seemed like an older chick who happened to be in high school. Wilds then drops Syed back off at school, where he has a free period and then arrives late to his psychology class it started at 12:50 p.m., but he entered at 1:27 p.m., as his teacher notes. And it was really hard for him to deal with being on the losing end. Interviewed by other media, since Serial? What the Undisclosed pod offers up for an explanation is that because Wilds himself came under investigation, he could not recover the money. Consequently, Wilds is a looming figure in Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyders reporting about the trial. At the time of her death, she was said to be dating a guy. They also highlighted the inconsistent statements of his co-defendant, Jay Wilds, who testified against him. In an interview with The Intercept_, Jay Wilds alleged that. I wasnt fully cooperating, so if they said, Well, we have on phone records that you talked to Jenn. Id say, Nope, I didnt talk to Jenn. Until Jenn told me that she talked with the cops and that it was ok if I did too. What we do know for sure is this: 18-year-old Lee left her Baltimore high school before 3 p.m. on January 13, 1999, to pick up a cousin.