THE HORRIFIC murder mystery of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee by her ex-boyfriend was unraveled in front of the public more than 20 years ago.

Adnan Syed was convicted of his deceased ex-girlfriend's murder in 2000, he still maintains his innocence and with the advancement of forensic technology – additional details could come to light in Hae Min's case.

Who killed Hae Min Lee?

Adnan Syed was jailed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, and was given a life sentence plus 30 years.

His friend Asia McClain Chapman once described him as a "completely normal" teen.

Hae, 18, was found buried in a shallow grave, in a Baltimore park in 1999.

Three days later, the Baltimore City Police Homicide Division received an anonymous phone call suggesting that Syed was responsible for her murder.

Syed was convicted of first-degree murder on February 25, 2000 and was also found guilty of robbery, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

In February 2016, he was granted a post-conviction hearing in which as officials argued his defense lawyer failed to effectively represent him.

Four months later, retired Judge Martin Welch, who previously denied Syed's request for a retrial, vacated his conviction, and ordered a new trial.

Syed's lawyer was criticized for not calling key witness, Asia McClain Chapman, to give evidence during his initial murder trial.

Syed's defense team returned to court on November 28, 2018 at the Maryland State Court of Appeals.

The panel of seven judges will hear legal arguments relating to the appeal rulings.

Fresh evidence uncovered by smash-hit series Serial has led to an upcoming retrial and now a new four-part TV documentary promises even more “ground-breaking revelations that challenge the state’s case”.

The conviction of teenager Adnan Syed for the murder of Hae Min Lee, 18, became an international obsession when it was the subject of the 12-part audio series in late 2014.

Syed has always maintained his innocence of the first-degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and robbery of which he was convicted in 2000.

The prosecution had argued that the popular and gifted student, then 18, strangled Hae in a fit of rage because she had ditched him.

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What was the relationship between Hae Min and Adnan?

Hae Min Lee had moved to the US from South Korea six years earlier, while Syed was born to parents who had migrated from Pakistan.

They were quickly in a relationship and tried to keep their romance secret from their parents because of the families’ cultural differences.

But that did not stop them from proudly posing for photos in April that year for their school prom — at which Syed was voted the title of “prom prince”.

However, by December that year, they had broken up.

Pals of the pair claim the two remained friends, but the prosecution in Syed’s trial argued that he was harbouring hidden rage and jealousy.

What is known for sure is that Hae was last seen alive on January 13, 1999.

Her body was discovered a month later in Baltimore’s Leakin Park.

Syed, said to be a normal teenager with little in the way of vices apart from occasional marijuana use, quickly became the prime suspect.

The prosecution argued that after school on the day Hae disappeared, he had strangled her in his car.

What is the Serial podcast about?

Syed's story was publicised in the first season of Sarah Koenig's 2014 podcast, Serial.

Koening, a US journalist from New York, who investigated the murder case in her popular podcast, created doubt over his conviction.

She revealed weaknesses in the evidence which was used to convict him and also raised questions about his defence lawyer, Maria Gutierrez, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis at the time.

Serial won a Peabody Award in April 2015 and was the fastest podcast in history to receive five million downloads, according to iTunes.

Millions of listeners became armchair detectives as the cult podcast — the fastest ever to pass five million downloads — illuminated holes in the case against Hae’s ex Syed, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The saga of the 1999 killing, which until the podcast had just been a forgotten local US news story, was clearly ripe for a TV adaptation — and the only question was why it had taken so long.

There is no date yet for the TV series, made by Sky and HBO, to be aired, but its announcement comes after Syed’s conviction was ruled “invalid” in March and the order for a retrial was confirmed.

Did Hae Min's case name other suspects?

On March 10, 2022, Adnan Syed's legal team teamed up with the Baltimore City State's Attorney to file a joint motion that requested the court to order modern DNA testing on Hae Min Lee's belongings.

The specified items included in the motion were Hae Min's rape kit, clothing, and her shoes – all items not tested at the time of the investigation.

The court granted the legal team's request for updated DNA testing on the victim's clothing.

In a statement to the press, attorney Marilyn Mosby disclosed: "In the process of reviewing this case for a possible resentencing, it became clear that additional forensic testing – which was not available at the time of the original investigation and trial in this case – would be an appropriate avenue to pursue."

Attorney Erica Suter added: "Mr. Syed has been waiting more than two decades for the opportunity to exonerate himself, not just in the court of public opinion, but in the court of law."

"We applaud the State’s Attorney for recognizing the serious concerns in his case, after several months of deliberation and review and agreeing that DNA testing is needed. We are eager to finally have access to the forensic tools to establish Mr. Syed’s innocence."

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