What can we learn from The Case Against Adnan Syed that we didnt find out in Serial?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports H..
Serial became a worldwide phenomenon when the podcast was released in 2014, with everybody attempting to solve the case of Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee.
Hae Min Lee, 18, was murdered in 1999, with her body discovered in Leakin Park in Baltimore, Maryland.
Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested for first degree murder, and was found guilty to Haes murder, being sentenced to life in prison. He has always maintained his innocence.
Now, four years on from Sarah Koenigs groundbreaking podcast, The Case Against Adnan Syed is taking another look at the murder of Hae, and putting faces to the names we came to know on Serial.
Advertisement
Advertisement
And while we know that Adnan is still in jail, having had the ruling of a new trial reversed this year, the documentary, beginning tonight on Sky Atlantic, brings new information to light.
We learn more about Hae Min Lees life
The first episode of The Case Against Adnan Syed focuses on Haes life in the run-up to her murder, as we learn about her school, family and love life through her journal.
Director Amy Berg told Metro.co.uk: Visuals and peoples faces give a deeper kind of emotional context, thats what you get from film. So I wanted to tell that story, as well as the thing I thought was missing, which was the presence of Hae Min Lee and who she was a young woman with this beautiful life ahead of her.
We get to hear excerpts from Haes journal along with beautiful illustrations, with Berg adding: Her journal is the way I got to know Hae originally, because so often in these types of stories, the victim gets lost. Hae was a young strong woman with big dreams, and her journal was how youd expect a high school journal to read. I had seen this film Diary Of A Teenage Girl, and I loved the way the emotions came to life through animation in that film.
In episode one, we learn that Hae kept her romantic life very separate from that of her strict Korean family, and that she confided in Adnan and her friend Debbie that she was sexually abused when she lived in Korea.
Advertisement
Advertisement
And details about Haes goofy personality and hectic social and extra-curricular activities give a broader picture of the promising student whose life ended way too soon.
New evidence comes to light
The new evidence uncovered by Berg and her team is not revealed in episode one, but has already been revealed in the States – including a lack of DNA evidence and questions about the cell tower records pinning Adnan to the scene of the crime.
Berg said: I didnt know for sure how I felt about Adnan. I was looking for evidence that would convict him, as well as anything else – we just didnt find anything connecting him to the murders. We followed the state case all the way through from the original trials, and that was one storyline that helped drive us, and then we also wanted to explore the aftermath of this horrific event that affected so many people on both sides. When you keep seeing the absence of evidence, it makes you feel a certain way. But its not how I feel about Adnan, its about what happened in this case.
She continued: Its not surprising that the story that was presented in 2000 was not actually accurate, and it doesnt time out very well. Its sometimes very hard to sit on information like that, because you want it out there. But dropping little bits without the context of the entire story is not as effective. I wanted to finish the film as quickly as possible, but that never happens. I always think its going to take two years to finish every film Ive made, but it never does. You have to be patient.
Advertisement
I just turned in the last episode [three weeks ago], its really hard to let a project go, especially one like this. Hopefully, peopleRead More – Source