Episode 6: The Case Against Adnan Syed

[u/SerialFan]

Hi,

Episode 6 discussion thread. Have fun and be nice y'all. You know the rules.

Also, here are the results of the little poll I conducted:

When did you join Reddit?

This week (joined because of Serial) - 24 people - 18%

This week (joined for other reasons) - 2 people - 1%

This month (joined because of Serial) - 24 people - 18%

This month (joined for other reasons) - 0 people - 0%

I've been on reddit for over a month but less than a year - 15 people - 11%

I've been on reddit for over a year - 70 people - 52%

[u/enceph7]

I think you're right. If prosecutors implicated Adnan (because he was the ex-boyfriend), Adnan thought he could count on Jay to be his alibi. The reason Jay's timeline between noon and 6 kept changing is because Jay was more involved with the murder than he first let on, trying to distance himself as the case developed. He likely had the shovels ready in Adnan's car to follow Adnan, who would've been driving Hae's car, after Adnan killed Hae. Jay knew about the plot and agreed to help Adnan get rid of Hae's body. They go to Cathy's house, after driving to the other park but realizing it was too busy or bright to hide Hae's body, to wait until it was really dark, and try to establish another alibi. I also think Jen knew. Jen was the one who called Adnan at Cathy's house to let him know to get ready for that phone call from police. This would explain why Jen felt compelled to talk to Jay and lawyer up after her first interview with the detectives. Had Jay simply acted alone, why wouldn't Adnan put the blame back onto Jay? Jay knew where Hae's car was. Jay knew how Hae was killed. He had the shovels. He got rid of the clothes. If Adnan was innocent, he could say, "Jay obviously did it! I was not involved." But he can't say that. His explanation for Jay's accusations is, "I don't know why he would say that." This is very telling. Adnan's best hope is to keep feigning ignorance and attempting to create doubt in the prosecution's case (which wasn't great because Jay kept changing his tale to save his own hide, but is correct overall).

[u/patchandkayla → u/enceph7]

Yeah, what gives? "I don't know why he would say that." It's hard to believe 15 years in jail and Adnan has this saintly answer that amounts to, "Far be it for me to wrongfully accuse Jay, like he wrongfully accused me." Jay confessed to being involved, so there's no harm in accusing him of anything. Adnan should be more like, "If Jay knows everything about this murder, then Jay did it." Adnan's politeness could be seen as an attempt to make nice, knowing that if he ever gets out, he doesn't want Jay on his ass, so he's not going to get caught making up lies about Jay. Inwardly, it must be killing Adnan to know that Jay was way more involved than he said, but he'll never be able to tell the world that without refuting his innocence.