"I don't know if she said something he couldn't handle, and he went off the edge or if he had been seriously speculating about it. Even to Serial, the podcast that detailed nearly every part of Syed's case, Wild remained off the record to provide background information, according to Rolling Stone. Her body was found in a forest three weeks later. He left in his car and I was trying to collect myself at my [grandmothers] house. Im going to be late for practice, so just drop me off. Adnan left and then returned to my house several hours later, closer to midnight in his own car. I didnt know it was that close. Its while hes there that Officer Scott Adcock calls Syed asking if he knew where Lee was. Now, the case: Undisclosed claims Wilds may have wanted the reward money to buy a motorcyle - something police may have known, too. I know it didnt happen anywhere other than my grandmothers house. Wilds was also an adult who sold marijuana to high school kids, which made him vulnerable. Did you make the anonymous call to the police to tip them off about Adnan? April Wolfe. It wasnt until they made it clear they werent interested in my procurement of pot that I began to open up any. There was a reward of $3,075 from CrimeStoppers for information on the case leading to the indictment. He asked me if I had shovels, so I went inside my house and got some gardening tools. It takes him about half an hour, 45 minutes, and he comes back with gloves on, panting, like, She was really heavy. Thats all he says. I really didnt know much about their relationship, if they hung out, where they hung out, when they hung out. The short version: On January 13th, 1999, Lee was supposed to pick up her younger cousin from daycare at 3:15 p.m. She never showed, which immediately set off alarm bells among those who knew her. Syed has maintained his innocence during his decades in prison, yet a 2019 attempt to hear an appeal for a new trial was turned down by the Supreme Court. 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. We may earn a commission through links on our site. 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. Lee was last seen alive on Jan. 13, 1999. Serial sought to dive deep into the potential failings of the criminal justice system and thoroughly re-examine Syed's case. Justice Martin Welch vacates the original conviction, saying there should be a new trial. Interviewed by other media, since Serial? And they were getting sentenced to three and five years. And I said, Hey, I need to run to the mall cause I need to get a gift for Stephanie., He said then, No, I gotta go do something. I remember the highway traffic to my right, and I remember standing there on the curb. I follow him halfway back down the hill, park, smoke some cigarettes. Why is this story different from what you originally told the police? Jay told the filmmakers that Adnan showed up at his house and thats where he saw Haes body, not Best Buy as he had previously stated. She didnt look beat up. Serial produced a time line which showed the conflicts betweeen just a few of Jays different versions of eventsfor January 13, 1999. Before you would just go down there for drafting, shop, and everyone would co-mingle, and all the students interacted. Please logout and login again. maison d'amelie paris clothing. Anything thats going to make [Syed] innocent doesnt involve me. The following two series stepped away from the whodunnit intensity of the first, and went on to examine an American army deserter and the court system in Ohio. Yes we dig for about 40 minutes and we dig and dig, and hes digging less and less. 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. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. Lee's body was discovered in Baltimore's Leakin Park by a passerby, partially buried in a shallow grave. Everything We Know About Jay Wilds from Serial, Every Song From the Daisy Jones' Soundtrack, police may have already been looking at him as an accomplice, an adult who sold marijuana to high school kids, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Adnan Syed, 41, was released from prison earlier this month after revelations proved that key information which could have proved his innocence was withheld from his defense counsel back then. I got the feeling the few times of interacting with Adnan that there was this enormous pressure from somewhere trying to make him into something he didnt want to be. Went canoeing. Wilds's testimony played a giant part in convicting Syed of murdering his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee in 1999. I said, Isnt he a paramedic? And she said, Nah, hes cool, plus he wants to buy., I didnt trust him at first, since he wasnt like the people I knew pot smokers you know? I think and, look, its been 15 years about 6 p.m. 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. 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. He was a little pompous, a little arrogant, but he seemed really driven as far as his academics, but all those magnet students were. Matt Tinoco provided research for this interview. . I dont think it meant that much to her. That afternoon, he says that Syed asked him to pick him up at Best Buy, where Syed shows him Lees body in the trunk of her car. He'd previously refused to take part in Sarah Koening's podcast, which attempted to retrace the steps taken in. You Can Stream Every 'Rocky' Movie Right Now, 'WoF' Fans Say This Is the 'Biggest Choke' on Show, Daisy Jones & the Six Is a Rock Epic in 10 Parts, See Mariska Hargitays Emotional Tribute on IG. In 1999 18-year-old high school student Hae Min Lee was murdered. Then he goes to track practice. He had a professional job in high school, he was aparamedic or something [Ed. 1999, when police . According to the Undisclosed podcast, Lee goes on her first date with her LensCrafter co-worker Don Clinedinst, who happens to be the son of the store manager. And at a certain point I say, Well fuck, Im finished. Im fucking done. And Adnans like, Oh, well, youre not going to help me move her are you? And Im like No, Im not gonna help you move her. He says, Ok, well, Im gonna need you to drive back to her car., Somewhere up around a corner up a hill, parked in a strange neighborhood. I stonewalled them that way. I dont know. When I pick him up at Best Buy, hes telling me her car is somewhere there, and that he did this in the parking lot. No. November 20, 2014: Syeds family gives their first interview, Syeds brother Yusef talks to CBS This Morning and admits he listens to the show. Her remains were discovered buried in a park a month later. The other thing to understand is something about the culture of Baltimorethis is where the Stop Snitching video comes from. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. He seemed under alot of pressure to please. And the other thing about it, I mean, there looked like there was real hurt and pain. A majority of the state's evidence against Adnan comes from Jay Wilds' testimony. Im being manipulated into whats being done right now.. So where is Wilds today? Syed's case has been publicized in the podcast Serial, as well as the HBO true crime documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed. UFC's Raul Rosas Jr. 18-Year-Old Fighter . All Rights Reserved. This fact seems damning to Syed, and it troubled . Is that why you didntinitiallycooperate with the police? In Adnan's call log was Jay Wilds, who talked to detectives on February 28, 1999. READ MORE ON CRIME His case was chronicled in the first season of the hit podcast. Jay Wilds spoke to The Intercept about the case for an article published Monday. I didnt tell the cops it was in front of my house because I didnt want to involve my grandmother. And then I would only give them information pertaining to my interaction with someone or where I was. Well first of all, I wasnt openly willing to cooperate with the police. If you're a fan of Sarah Koenig's popular podcast, Serial, then you might already know that previously convicted murderer Adnan Syed whose case was the subject of the podcast's . 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. Jays wife and mother entertained the couples young children while Jay and I spoke in the family living room. What do you think? What was your life likeduring1998 and 1999? 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. Wilds' testimony in the murder trial was central to the conviction of Syed due to the nature of his account of events. Yeah. I worked a lot. How old were you when you first met Adnan Syed? Jay was credible on the main facts, and also for the ones saying it some random killer or Don, they are forgetting that Jay knew where the car was. Without Jay's testimony, it is highly unlikely that the state could have ever taken him to trial. But this account somewhat differsfrom Jays second police interview, as well as his court testimony. Syed was sentenced to life in prison. The case was covered in-depth in the first season of the podcast by host Sarah Koenig. Wilds was Syed's classmate at Woodlawn high school, Baltimore. I saw her body later, in front ofof my grandmothers house where I was living. Here, we piece together the accounts as they reportedly happened in the 1999 teen murder case: While their relationship was kept a secret because of both religious and cultural differences, classmates Syed and Lee dated in 1998, and broke up in December of that year, according to court records. We were in the car together during last periodhe was ditching the last period. I had never known anybody who had killed anybody else, so theres no way I could have known. And they wouldnt stop interviewing me or questioning me. Syed and Lee were seniors at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County when Lee disappeared in January 1999. Jay also worked at the Drug Emporium store a short walk from his home. I might have sat next to him in a class, and joked or something. I was also running [drug] operations from my grandmothers house. To better understand this, we need to look back at Feb. 12 . 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. 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. 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. The 18-year-old high school senior played varsity field hockey and lacrosse and managed the boys' wrestling team, and was due to graduate with honors with the class of 1999. Going to work on February 9, 1999, a school maintenance worker stops at Leakin Park to urinate and finds Hae's body. Additionally, since Syed provided no real alibi, Wilds testimony was convincing enough that it allowed prosecutors to nail Syed for the murder. She was still in the trunk. Thats led to some wild and totally unproven ideas on reddit, notably that Adnan hired Jay as a kind of hitman. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. When we were digging the hole, its not like Haes body was just lying next to us. I was also running [drug] operations from my grandmothers house. 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. Wilds . Jay firmly believes that he was wrongfully represented on the podcast. This is the same day Adnan was arrested, at the age of 17. Its in the evening after school, we never hung out in the morning. Like she was a junior in college. In. Other cited factors include the discovery of new suspects and concerns about a detective who worked on Syed's case. In another interview, he said the body was on Edmondson Avenue, while a detective testified in court that Wilds told him the body was on Franklintown Road. Meanwhile,Maryland's highest court denied a new trialfor Syed earlier this month, according to The Associated Press. Got called an Oreo. Syed was just 19 years old when he was convicted of murdering his former high school girlfriend Hae Min Lee and sentenced to life in prison. A star witness in the case against Syed was fellow Woodlawn High School student Jay Wilds, . He seemed a little bit more uptight than the other Muslim kids that I knew. I pick him up he doesnt have any car with him. Wilds and his family have tried to stay out of the spotlight, with Wilds citing the danger his cooperating with the police puts his family in, even though he claims he tried to stonewall the cops for as long as possible until they broke him down. He never said anything like, Hey, what gauge gun should I use? or How many minutes am I supposed to hold somebody under the water for? or, Is there a statute of limitation on murder? I thought he was just blowing off steam and bullshitting. Last seen driving away from the high school in her gray Nissan on January 13, 1999, the 18-year-old Lee was found dead in Baltimore's Leakin Park about a month later. Jay's story was wildly inconsistent. Launch Gallery. Maintenance worker Alonzo Sellers, known as Mr. The following has been edited and condensed for clarity. Evidence page for 2016 State Leave for Remand, 2013-15 Reopening Post Conviction (pre PCR), Evidence in 2015 Defense Motion to Reopen, which showed the conflicts betweeen just a few of Jays different versions of events, details of Jays own court case for the murder. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? Syed was 17 at the time that Lee was murdered in January 1999. But she seemed to be more mature, like she was two, three, four years older than us. When was the first time you hung out with Adnan? After class, he goes to the Woodlawn Public Library to check his email and chats with friend, Asia McClain. on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadnt done it? We were kind of surprised because she told us that he was one of her best friends, he said. Other contributing causes included the emergence of new suspects in the case. Normal high school Im mad at her and Ill scratch her car sort of stuff. 4. . The star witness at Syeds trial was Jay Wilds, a former classmate who testified that he helpedSyed dispose of Lees body. But his case is now being reviewed after featuring in podcast Serial. Once the police made it clear that my drug dealing wasn't gonna affect the outcome of what was going on, I became a little bit more transparent.". Then what happens, and what time is it roughly? I met him while I was still at Woodlawn, so around 1998. Serial Three seasons, investigation The addictive 2014 podcast that started the global mania for true crime. I thought at worst hed throw a rock through her window or something. Her body was discovered in Baltimore's Leakin Park on Feb. 9, 1999. I also ran the operation out of my grandmothers house and that also put my family at risk. Photography class 9:15-10:40 a.m. English class 10:45 a.m. Adnan calls Jay and offers to lend him his car. 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. Its where Im from. I've posted 25 entries Sarah Koenig's Serial Podcast, which deals with the 1999 prosecution of 17 year-old Adnan Syed for murdering his ex-girlfriend, 18 year-old Hae Min Lee, on January 13, 1999 . February 12, 1999: Anonymous calls inform the police to look into Syed. Sellers had a previous record as an alleged streaker. Lee's body was discovered in Leakin park; three weeks later in a shallow grave. Emotions have no IQ. 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. Yes. He was having a hard enough time with that itself. Jay Wilds, the key witness in the Serial murder case, has broken his silence at last. This is the first part in a multipart interview. The trial begins the second week of December and quickly ends as a mistrial, the court appeals papers say. I think there was another dude or something, or whatever. I don't feel comfortable drawing conclusions like that. Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, GMB's Kate Garraway reveals crippling cost of caring for her husband Derek, Stephen Bear 'broke behind bars' as his company is shut down before he's jailed, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. He was prompted to speak with detectives after a friend of Adnan and Jay, Jenn, told detectives that Jay told . I dont necessarily know if he meant to kill Hae before he did it or if it was a sudden moment thing, but looking at his life, from what I saw, he seemed to be far out of his realm when it came to Hae leaving him. When did you two get closer to each other? There is a specific point where I became involved in this. From the mall where he met Syed to the time, and even which friend's homes he visited the day of Lee's murder, there are questionable aspects of his testimony. Though Wilds didnt participate in Serial, he did conduct a .css-16acfp5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#d2232e;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-16acfp5:hover{color:#000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:yellow;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}three-part interview with The Intercepts Natasha Vargas-Cooper, and attorney Rabia Chaudry (also Syeds childhood friend) launched the Undisclosed podcast, both of which add layers to the mystery enshrouding Wilds testimony. 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. Jays post-Serial interviews with The Intercept: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. I dont feel comfortable drawing conclusions like that. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. But that, according to what I learned later, is probably not what happened. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? Wilds has played an interesting role in this case. I dont think thats wrong, its high school, you know. Did you go to Leakin Park immediately after agreeing to help? "The Case Against Adnan Syed" also notes that Wilds contradicted himself on the witness stand when it came to the story he told police about helping Syed dig the hole: At first, he said he met Syed at a mall parking lot and then went to Leakin Park to bury the body, but later, Wilds said Syed showed him Lees corpse in a Best Buy parking lot. This is where it was produced. His evidence was crucial to the state's case. View our online Press Pack. note: Adnan worked as an emergency medical technician, not a paramedic.]. Meanwhile, Wilds version of the day changed throughout his interviews and testimony. The way she moved and went about her day. When the Serial podcast premiered in October of 2014, many listeners were shocked to find that almost the entirety of the . As the state's star witness, Jay. She never showed up, and was never seen alive again.. In the podcast Koenig pointedly challenged Jays account of events and his motivation for assisting Adnan. But there was a grand jury hearing on this case,andI have an idea who might have based on that hearing. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. August 19, 2019: The Supreme Court is asked to look at the case. By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Why did you agree to help Adnan bury Hae? Once the police made it clear that my drug dealing wasnt gonna affect the outcome of what was going on, I became a little bit more transparent. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. Now I dont wanna tell the people at Cathys that this guy Im with just killed his girlfriend and the cops just called because then they would all be a part of this fucked up thing. But when they put the magnet wing in, it was kinda like these people were different from us. And they didnt have to interact with us anymore. 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. 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. In February of 2000, 18-year-old Adnan Syed was found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, who went missing the year before. I said, Drug dealers, people who get killed by drug dealers, and Im thinking to myself, When did I ever say that? So, as Im riding with him to the park and it starts raining and Im thinking to myself as he pulls overand Im thinking this is the spot hes chosen. "That's the best way I can account for the inconsistencies. Theyre gonna pin me to the fucking wall. 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. McClain in 1999 at the time of the murder was Syed's classmate at Woodlawn High School. She got a new boyfriend? And he didnt know how to deal with that. March 9, 2019, 2:00 PM. In it, Koenig talks to Syed who says hes innocent. At the time of her death, she was said to be dating a guy. Supposed evidence of this relates to how the reward money was paid out. Im gonna kill that bitch, man. Nothing real pointed or anything, not like, I know his name, or I caught her. But I just thought he was just shooting off like everyone else shoots off when theyre mad at their girlfriend. "He might really have just been bulls******* at the time. 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. The creators of the public radio show This American Life debut the podcast series Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig, about the Lee murder mystery. Shes a high school girl, Oh, hes cute, Oh, whateverthings fizzleout. Her body was discovered in Leakin Park in Baltimore, Maryland, and a few weeks later her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed, was . In the phone conversation, he contradicted past statements by suggesting he tried to return Adnans car at school, but couldnt find him and left. When asked about the inconsistencies in his stories, Jay Wilds told The Intercept_ that. 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. I went to concerts, like anything from Wu-Tang to Warped Tour. Syed is given the chance to overturn the Baltimore City Circuit Court ruling that denied him post-conviction relief, thanks to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Vulture reported. 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. 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. . No. Wilds' testimony in the murder trial was central to the conviction of Syed due to the nature of his account of events. I didnt think he was going to go kill her. Jay is the center of gravity in this case. He just couldnt come to grips with those feelings. At times he even apologizes, as though he were trained to say something specifically and had forgotten. 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. He said, Im gonna drive back down there [to the grave]. December 30, 2013: Syed's petition for post-conviction relief is denied. The ins and outs of the timeline have been scrutinized and studied endlessly by professionals and amateurs alike. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Take my car, take my cellphone. Wherever her car was at the time I picked him up from Best Buy, it probably stayed there until he picked me up later that evening. Lee had disappeared on Jan. 13, and almost a month later, on Feb. 9, her body was found by a passerby in Baltimore's Leakin Park. The thing is that the story Jay told at trial is not the same story Jay told police the first time.". It was just at the end of my junior year, so about 16. He was magnet. Lunch period 11:15-11:30 a.m. Jay drops Adnan back off at school. Jay also worked at the Drug Emporium store a short walk from his home. who has spent the past 15 years in jail for the murder of 17-year-old Hae Min Lee, . Hae Min Lee's body was found buried in a shallow grave in Maryland in February 1999. .css-13y9o4w{display:block;font-family:GraphikBold,GraphikBold-fallback,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:bold;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-13y9o4w:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.05rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.28598rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.39461rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-13y9o4w{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.3;}}Every Song From the Daisy Jones' Soundtrack, 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Makes Some Major Changes, 'Sex/Life' Season 2 Features Even More Male Nudity, Hugh Jackman Could Play Multiple Wolverines, 'Ant-Man' Writer Responds to 'Quantumania' Theory.
