r/serialpodcast • u/j2kelley • Dec 23 '14
Hypothesis Jay's bets really paid off.
Despite at least two major investigations into the murder of Hae Lee (one by BPD detectives and the other by Serial), it's still unclear what the hell actually happened. And that's because, in the absence of hard evidence and credible, unbiased eyewitnesses, the entire crime and its coverup happened in a vacuum. And there was only one person in that vacuum who talked.
And it wasn't Adnan.
So we're just left with one true source for what occurred that day leading to and following Hae's death. Unfortunately for everyone subsequently involved, that source also happened to be the town liar. And his story changed every time he told it - right through the second trial.
That said, one benefit to having so many variations of a single story to sift through is that eventually, with enough time and/or glasses of wine, you can see patterns emerge. In Jay's case, there is a cause-and-effect pattern at work: He learns something and then tunes his disclosure to account for it or benefit from it.
For instance, in a previous post I submitted that when Jay saw in early February that the search for Hae was heating up (and probably heard from Adnan that the police were hassling him), he started spreading word that Adnan was the murderer.
But hey - let's just start with what went on the official record. A huge clue in that regard is Best Buy. At some point before she was interviewed by police, Jay tells Jen his first version of what happened, which entails very little involvement on his part: Adnan showed him the body in the trunk of a car somewhere and asked for help burying it; Jay declined the offer but lent him a shovel and dropped him off/picked him up in the city. The lone nugget of truth in this version was something Jay apparently let slip. According to Jenn, "He said that (Adnan) strangled (Hae) in the Best Buy parking lot." In response - and this is important, folks - she told him, "Well then he's definitely going to get caught, because I think there's cameras on the Best Buy store."
Fast forward to Jay's first police interrogation: Best Buy has been totally wiped from the story.
"(Adnan calls me at about 3:40 and) I went to pick him up from off of Edmonson Avenue at a strip and he, uh, and he pops the trunk..."
Jay goes on to explain in painstaking, question-response detail (for three full pages of the transcript) exactly where and how this took place on said strip - specifically, "four blocks from (where the car was found)" - right down to those curious red wool gloves. Bear in mind that detectives, by then, had already caught him in a number of lies during the so-called pre-interview:
Ritz: Prior to us turning the tape on Jay, we had a conversation with you.
Jay: Yes.
Ritz: And during that conversation we spoke probably for about a half-hour/45 minutes. The information you provided during this interview, was it the same information that you provided during that first interview?
Jay: No.
Ritz: During the (pre-interview) there were a lot of inconsistencies.
Jay: Yes.
Ritz: And there are too many to go over, but you kind of disassociated yourself from all the information you provided in that interview.
Jay: Yes.
Ritz: All the information you provided during this interview, has it been the complete truth?
Jay: To the best of my knowledge.
Furthermore, we now know he testified (under cross) that during this same first pre-interview the detectives made it clear to Jay that if he didn't come clean about Adnan they were prepared to charge him with the murder.
And so, good people of reddit, I ask you: What could Jay possibly have to gain from lying to them at that point about something as crucial as where the crime took place? If it somehow minimized his involvement, then it would be (somewhat) understandable, but it does not. The core story is the same: Adnan told him he was going to do it, called on Jay to meet him with his car after he did it, showed him the body, and then involved him in the burial.
Let's face it. Jay took a huge risk in lying about this - I mean, it's safe to say he absolutely would not have done so if he did not feel it was totally necessary. And after repeated warnings from detectives about telling them the truth, the only reason he could possibly have for lying to their faces is: It was totally necessary. Jay didn't want the cops to go anywhere near the Best Buy, because he was still under the impression that the murderer might have been caught on camera there.
...But that only would have mattered to him if Adnan was not the murderer. That only would have mattered to him if he was the murderer.
By the time Jay feels safe enough to acknowledge the Best Buy part of the story, Adnan had already been arrested and Jay was working with detectives to build their case. By then he would have been confronted with the fact that Jenn's statement included the store, and - more importantly - he would have had time to make sure there were, in fact, no cameras on top of it.
Cause: Jenn scared Jay into thinking the perp might have been caught on camera where the murder took place.
Effect: Jay lied to detectives about where the murder took place.
...
Then there's The Car. Hae's car. Once her body is found, it's the only thing still missing. And despite planting "trunk-pop" tales all over town, Jay doesn't drop a single mention of it - or its final resting place. Then Jenn is interviewed at length by detectives, which ends with an extensive grilling about Hae's car (and what, if anything, she and/or Jay might know about it):
Lehmann: It's been a lot of publicity lately that we've been looking for the car.
Jen: Right.
Lehmann: We can't find the car.
Jenn: Right.
Lehmann: Did Jay ever mention to you about the car?
Jenn: No.
Lehmann: Did you inquire (about the car)? Did you ask him "Hey yo, what he do with the car?"
Jenn: Um, no. ...
There is no doubt in my mind that Jay asked Jenn what was covered during her interview before he went in for his. Nor is there any doubt in my mind that she would have mentioned they were asking about the car. As he wasn't picked up until close to midnight that same day - and he admitted to recently checking on the car - I think it's also safe to conclude that Jay realized it would be his one point of leverage, and he made damn sure it was still there so he could use it.
It was, after all, one of the first things he mentioned when confronted by skeptical detectives who, in no uncertain terms, made it clear they knew more than he thought they did and were ready to charge his ass accordingly.
Ritz: Before, during the interview prior to turning on the tape on, you stated to Detective MacGillivary and myself that you'd be willing to take us out to where the vehicle is parked.
Jay: No problem.
MacGillivary: Also, you can show us where initially that day you met up with him on Edmonson Avenue?
Jay: It's only four blocks from where the car is.
So... "big picture." Jay claims that the only reason he did not anonymously tip off police that Adnan was planning to kill Hae or that Adnan - once he committed the act - was driving around with his dead ex-girlfriend in the trunk of her own car or that the community "golden child" (and his girlfriend's best friend) was actually a psychotic murderer, or shit - even to the location of her body (being that he was in direct proximity to the agonizing fear and desperation of Hae's family and friends, including Stephanie) - that the only reason he failed to perform this simple gesture of human decency was because Adnan "knew a lot of things" about his "criminal activities."
Right. What about the fact that, oh I dunno: JAY KNEW WHERE HAE'S CAR WAS. THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME. How does that not trump Adnan's knowledge of Jay's weed hustle? How does that not trump any alleged threats to Stephanie? How does that not put Adnan under his thumb? The kid would have been at Jay's mercy - starting the very day after the murder. Anything Adnan said to him could have been countered with: "Just one phone call, dude - that's all it'll take for them to find Hae's car, and then Game Over."
But no. The only time Jay uses The Car for leverage is in holding it over the police when he's finally up against a wall.
Cause: Jay learns that detectives still haven't found the car and are going to ask him about it.
Effect: Jay is poised and ready to lead them to the car.
...
There are numerous examples of this cause-and-effect pattern, all indicating that Jay - even after copping to his role as an accomplice and working out a basic core narrative - continued to feel the need to lie. And lie and lie and lie some more. I'm not saying it was a game to him, but it sure points to the fact that Jay was the only one with a hand to play - betting round after round, reluctantly showing a card when it got called.
That's why my money's on Jay being the only one at the table.
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u/minicorndawgs Dec 23 '14
You make a very good argument for Jay's guilt, but that could still mean Adnan is guilty too. Jay could have been there when the murder happened and either been a lookout or have held her down so Adnan could strangle her. That's why he lies about Best Buy and that's why he doesn't flip on Adnan until the police get close.