Season One: Episode One , The Alibi tells the story of the murder of Hae Min Lee and the conviction of Adnan Syed, the ex-boyfriend of Hae Min. Narrated by Sarah Koenig, the podcast focuses on Syed’s professed innocence.
This is one of the first podcasts I have listened to, and certainly the first that is based on a crime. I have watched countless crime documentaries, TV shows, news reports and have read up on many as well, but this was the first solely audio based story about a crime. I found it quite strange to be honest, this way of presenting investigative journalism is unlike any other. I had a hard time imagining what Syed looked like and just couldn’t picture the story in head. I’m sure it helps many other people as they get to picture the story themselves, something they may not be able to do while reading, but I’ve always been a very visual learner so only having audio proved difficult for me. I found myself continuously looking up news stories about the murder of Hae Min Lee and reading those as I listened to the podcast. I needed some sort of visual to allow my mind to understand the story. Pictures alone didn’t help me piece it together so I had to read news stories while listening to the narrator speak, which I’ve never done before so I think personally I just need visuals to fully appreciate a story.
One of the first thoughts that came to mind when listening to this podcast was how the family of Hae Min must feel, having a whole 12 episode series dedicated to the murder of their little girl. Hae Min was only a teenager, still in high school and now there is an insane amount of information about her and her alleged killer. Now keep in mind I’ve only listened to the first episode, but it seems to me that this is a series that revolves around Syed’s innocence. I must imagine that her family feels distraught and only wants justice for her death. But I also wondered, do they think Adnan Syed is the killer? So I decided to do a little sleuthing and found that upon the news of a possible retrial, the family stated they “stand by” the original verdict.
The narrator, Sarah Koenig, greatly discusses the difficulties of memory. Syed does not remember much at all about the day of the crime, and that proves to be a very big part of his conviction. When I think of myself, I highly doubt I could remember anything from six weeks ago (the time between the crime and Syed’s arrest) let alone 15 years later, when the series was made. While I must admit that it is strange Syed doesn’t remember more from the day his ex-girlfriend went missing, I’m not sure I would be much better. You always hear about criminals thinking about nothing other than the crime that put them behind bars while in jail, but do they really remember the day as it really happened? But thinking back on the series, creating a 12 episode series on a convict who doesn’t remember anything seems very strange and makes me want to watch the rest of it.
I must hope and pray prosecutors either put the right man behind bars or will do so, but that we will never know. All I do know, is that I wish for the family of Hae Min Lee peace and the ability to put this tragic event behind them. Hae Min Lee 10/15/1980 – c. 01/13/1999
Elle's Tells 