Serial Argument Essay

Serial Argument Essay

The seventeen year old, Hae Min Lee, was murdered on January 13th 1999. Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison after his friend, Jay Wilds, reported that he helped Adnan dispose of Hae’s body after Adnan had strangled her to death. While there are still many unknown details about the murder of Hae Min Lee, conclusively, Adnan Syed is responsible for her death.

After Adnan brutally choked the life out of Hae, he went on to blackmail Jay into helping him bury her body. Jay was a seventeen year old drug dealer at the time and Adnan threatened that he would expose Jay to the police if Jay didn’t help. Adnan’s supporters claim that Jay was obviously lying because his story changed frequently. In reality though, Jay was more concerned with shielding himself and his family from police scrutiny as a result of his drug business. He ran his drug “operation out of [his] grandmother’s house and that also put [his] family at risk.” One must also take into account that all of these events took place over eighteen years ago, which makes it perfectly plausible that Jay’s memory of the events have waned.

Adnan and Hae kept their relationship a secret due to the fact that Adnan’s parents were extremely strict and religious and would not allow Adnan to be in any kind of relationship with a girl. Adnan risked everything to be with Hae and when she ended their relationship to be with a blue-eyed, blonde-haired, twenty year old named Don, Adnan snapped. Adnan was devastated by Hae dumping him and on January 13th 1999, he asked Hae for a ride home so they could discuss the state of their relationship. They drove down to a local Best Buy parking lot to talk, but quickly began arguing. Adnan became infuriated and, being a six-foot tall football player, easily strangled the life out of Hae and stuffed her into the trunk of her own car. Detractors might argue that Adnan wasn’t upset about the breakup and that he had already been flirting with other girls. However, according to Psychology Today, “it is often common for one to immediately attempt to move on in order to get over a breakup.” Hae’s diary showed signs of “intimate partner violence” and also indicated that Adnan was “possessive.” These behaviors are often seen as a motive for murder.

During the time that Jay claimed he and Adnan were disposing