The case that captured the nation. Adnan Syed became a household name when he was featured on season 1 of the Serial podcast, which was created and produced by Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder, in the fall of 2014.
Syed, now 38, was 18 when he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the death of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. Lee, who attended Woodlawn High School in Gwynn Oak, Maryland, with Syed, was found dead at a local park on February 12, 1999. She had been missing for nearly one month prior to the discovery of her body. Syed was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.
Classmate Asia McClain wrote Syed a letter after his arrest and said she saw him in the library on the day Lee went missing, but lawyer Cristina Gutierrez never contacted her. The oversight of this potential alibi witness was argued by Syed’s current attorney, C. Justin Brown, as proof that Gutierrez was ineffective as counsel and Syed, therefore, should be granted a new trial.
While Syed’s conviction was initially overturned in June 2016 and a retrial was ordered, Maryland’s highest court shot down that decision on March 8, 2019, two days before HBO’s The Case Against Adnan Syed docuseries is set to air.
The four-part special will pick up where season 1 of Serial left off and is expecting to present new information that has never been made public. Keep scrolling to learn about Syed, his story and more, before the first episode of The Case Against Adnan Syed premieres on HBO on Sunday, March 10, at 9 p.m. ET.