About This Episode
Adnan Syed was 17 when police identified him as the prime suspect in Hae Min Lee's murder, following an anonymous phone call. Lee's body was discovered partially buried in Leakin Park on February 9, 1999. Syed maintained his innocence throughout his trial and conviction in 2000, but his insistence fell largely on deaf ears—until a podcast changed everything.
In 2013, Rabia Chaudry, a lawyer and friend of Syed's family, reached out to journalist Sarah Koenig with an unusual request: investigate the case. Chaudry believed the conviction was fundamentally flawed. Koenig accepted the challenge, launching what would become one of the most consequential true crime investigations ever broadcast.
When *Serial* premiered in 2014, it was unlike anything listeners had encountered. Rather than presenting a neat, solved case, Koenig methodically worked through the evidence—or lack thereof—while the case remained officially closed. The podcast's 12 episodes attracted millions of downloads globally and sparked unprecedented public scrutiny of Syed's conviction.