Meanwhile,Maryland's highest court denied a new trialfor Syed earlier this month, according to The Associated Press. The podcast alleged that there were inconsistencies between his police statements and the testimony he gave at Syed's second trial. Jay was credible on the main facts, and also for the ones saying it some random killer or Don, they are forgetting that Jay knew where the car was. how old was jay wilds in 1999. mercer county community college basketball roster. From the statements Wilds made in 2014 with The Intercept, it seems unlikely he would do so. They were introduced to each other in 1998. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. It wasnt just like I was selling a nickel bag here and there. I think and, look, its been 15 years about 6 p.m. Syed's case has been publicized in the podcast Serial, as well as the HBO true crime documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed. This week, in an interview with The Intercept , Jay Wilds came forward with his account of the January day in 1999 when Hae Min Lee was murdered. Lee disappeared on January 13, 1999. Be the first one to comment on this story. I know it didnt happen anywhere other than my grandmothers house. CrimeStoppers rewards are apparently paid out the following month after the police report that months official indictments. On Monday, a Maryland judge overturned Adnan Syed 's first-degree murder conviction for the 1999 death of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Going to work on February 9, 1999, a school maintenance worker stops at Leakin Park to urinate and finds Hae's body. Wilds, a former classmate of Syed, has been relatively under the radar since the 2000 trial that sentenced Syed to life in prison plus 30 years on charges of . And at a certain point I say, Well fuck, Im finished. On Monday afternoon, a Baltimore judge vacated Adnan Syed's murder conviction, freeing Syed after 23 years behind bars. I was not sure. No. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. The police arrested and charged Lee's ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed with the murder six weeks later. Wilds stated that he helped the 17-year-old Syed, who was accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 1999, bury her body, which was later discovered in Baltimore's Leakin Park. Wilds' testimony in. But because of the specifics Wilds included in his testimony the Best Buy location that supposedly matches with call logs, strangling, the whereabouts of Lees car there wasnt much doubt Wilds was somehow involved, even if just peripherally. Youre in this on your own. Syed could be granted another trial, though, which could pull Wilds back into the spotlight. But that, according to what I learned later, is probably not what happened. I didnt know it was that close. It also made household names out of its central characters, teenagers in Baltimore when the murder took place in 1999: Adnan Syed, the alleged killer; Hae Min Lee, the 18-year-old victim; and. Was it in the Best Buy parking lot? Its where Im from. March 25, 2000: McClain writes an affidavit. JAY Wilds was the key witness in a murder trial in 2000, which saw Adnan Syed charged for the murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee. It was Jay's testimony that helped to put Adnan in prison with a life sentence for the February 1999 murder of his high school girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. Went canoeing. Im fucking done. And Adnans like, Oh, well, youre not going to help me move her are you? And Im like No, Im not gonna help you move her. He says, Ok, well, Im gonna need you to drive back to her car., Somewhere up around a corner up a hill, parked in a strange neighborhood. Hes gone with Haes car. They were granted Syeds cell phone call records and then looked at two recipients of calls from Syeds phone: Jennifer Pusateri and Wilds. Jay is the center of gravity in this case. April Wolfe. Wilds' shaky testimony was first highlighted in Serial, the 2014 podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig that brought Syeds case back into the public eye. A second court proceedings begin, the papers say. In a sudden twist, the Maryland Court of Appeals votes 4 to 3 to reverse the decision, denying a new trial saying, There is not a significant or substantial possibility that the verdict would have been different, the Associated Press reported. And I said, Hey, I need to run to the mall cause I need to get a gift for Stephanie., He said then, No, I gotta go do something. Why has your story changed over time? But this account somewhat differsfrom Jays second police interview, as well as his court testimony. The first season of Serial examined the complex case of the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, in which there seemed to be much evidence but no conclusive proof of what happened. The teacher, Mr. Brown, didnt know either Syed or Lee, raising eyebrows at his participation in the investigation. He seemed a little bit more uptight than the other Muslim kids that I knew. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. And Wilds was also a professed accomplice to Syeds crime, which further complicated his role as the prosecutions sole witness. Heres everything we know about Jay Wilds before the premiere of HBOs documentary series, The Case Against Adnan Syed. The ins and outs of the timeline have been scrutinized and studied endlessly by professionals and amateurs alike. Although her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prision in 2000 (Syed's conviction was vacated in September 2022), there may be just as many questions surrounding the case now as there were then. Maintenance worker Alonzo Sellers, known as Mr. When was the first time you hung out with Adnan? In one police interview, Wilds said he saw the body, it was in a car in the parking lot of a Best Buy. Four weeks later, her half-buried body was found at Leakin. I only smoked with him two or three times. Wilds picks him up and the two go to a friends house. Other cited factors include the discovery of new suspects and concerns about a detective who worked on Syed's case. He never said anything like, Hey, what gauge gun should I use? or How many minutes am I supposed to hold somebody under the water for? or, Is there a statute of limitation on murder? I thought he was just blowing off steam and bullshitting. That afternoon, he says that Syed asked him to pick him up at Best Buy, where Syed shows him Lees body in the trunk of her car. He failed; he lost the girl. After the party, Adnan drove Jay home and then dropped Stephanie home afterwards. We get into his car, and he drives up around the corner to Haes car. "I don't know if she said something he couldn't handle, and he went off the edge or if he had been seriously speculating about it. But their gym, lockers, parking, was down in the magnet wing. Didnt say that much. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. He exited the Baltimore courthouse to deafening cheers. Then he goes to track practice. The hugely popular 12-part podcast "Serial" investigated the 1999 murder of teenager Hae Min Lee and the murder conviction the following year of her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, who is currently. Lees 16-year-old brother, Young Lee, speaking for his grandparents and mom, tells The Baltimore Sun that the news provided some closure and some peace." Serial produced a time line which showed the conflicts betweeen just a few of Jay's different versions of events for January 13, 1999 There is a separate page with details of Jay's own court case for the murder of Hae Min Lee. The police confirm to the press that they are. When 17-year-old Adnan Syed was arrested, then convicted for the 1999 murder of his high school ex-girlfriend, . About a month later, police uncovered her body in a nearby park; an. Wilds has stayed private since the 2014 interview. He seemed under alot of pressure to please. . No. When we were digging the hole, its not like Haes body was just lying next to us. I believe she had a job also. Because at the time I was convinced that I would be going to jail for a long time if he turned me in for drug dealing, especially to high school kids. Following a six-week trial and two-hour jury deliberation, Syed is found guilty. Dissatisfying is the best word I can use for that, she said in an interview with Vulture. Jay said that he and Adnan left Haes car in a grassy lot on January 13th, where it remained until Jay took the police there on February 28th. He said, Im gonna drive back down there [to the grave]. Im gonna kill that bitch, man. Nothing real pointed or anything, not like, I know his name, or I caught her. But I just thought he was just shooting off like everyone else shoots off when theyre mad at their girlfriend. Koenig noted then that despite there being no physical evidence linking Syed to Haes murder, Wilds police interviews provided the groundwork for a conviction. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. I was a bit of an outdoorsman, adventure seeker, fishing, camping, learned to ride a motorcycle. I played lacrosse, was a bit of a jock. But she seemed to be more mature, like she was two, three, four years older than us. The other thing to understand is something about the culture of Baltimorethis is where the Stop Snitching video comes from. "The Case Against Adnan Syed" also notes that Wilds contradicted himself on the witness stand when it came to the story he told police about helping Syed dig the hole: At first, he said he met Syed at a mall parking lot and then went to Leakin Park to bury the body, but later, Wilds said Syed showed him Lees corpse in a Best Buy parking lot. But they were just as shocked. For his testimony, Wilds was given probation instead of a jail sentence for his said involvement in the crime. Sellers had a previous record as an alleged streaker. He knows that none of us are basically giving up. We were kind of surprised because she told us that he was one of her best friends, he said. The Serial podcast about the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee has been heard and debated by millions, yet there are still untold stories and perspectives from Woodlawn High School teachers who taught. Why is this story different from what you originally told the police? She never showed up to either. Serial produced a time line which showed the conflicts betweeen just a few of Jays different versions of eventsfor January 13, 1999. . Wilds, who gave police multiple interviews and testified in court, was first questioned on Feb. 28, 1999, just hours before police arrested Syed on suspicion of Lee's murder. Dissatisfying is the best word I can use for that, she said in an interview with, But Wilds, who is not heard from outside of taped testimony in either Serial or the HBO documentary, stood by what he told police in a three-part interview with, It helped fan the flames of this story that people had already moved on from, Wilds told, Meanwhile,Maryland's highest court denied a new trialfor Syed earlier this month, according to. Without Jay's testimony, it is highly unlikely that the state could have ever taken him to trial. Lee was last seen alive on Jan. 13, 1999. It went national, but it was produced in Baltimore. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. And it was really hard for him to deal with being on the losing end. Adnan left and then returned to my house several hours later, closer to midnight in his own car. There is a separate page withdetails of Jays own court case for the murder of Hae Min Lee. It all revolves around Jay," lawyer and Syed family friend Rabia Chaudry says in episode two ofThe Case Against Adnan Syed." I dont necessarily know if he meant to kill Hae before he did it or if it was a sudden moment thing, but looking at his life, from what I saw, he seemed to be far out of his realm when it came to Hae leaving him. I guess I was being kind of a jury on whether or not people needed to be involved or whatever, but these people didnt have anything to do with it, and I knew they didnt have anything to do with it. What we do know about Wilds and Syed, which Syeds testimony confirms, is that Wilds and Syed were together on the day of Lees murder, and Jay had Syeds phone and car for an unspecified period of time. They didnt have to go by us, except to come to lunch, and that was it. examples of bad manners. Syed was actually convicted in February 2000. Jay was pretty much convicted because he told the police he helped dispose of the body. ", He also revealed why there may be inconsistencies in his story. "This was true in 1999 when he was a 17-year-old child. Now, the case: Undisclosed claims Wilds may have wanted the reward money to buy a motorcyle - something police may have known, too. The way Wilds tells it, Syed pressured him to help dispose of Lees body. June 6, 2000: Lees mother gives an emotional testimony and Syed is given a life sentence. What the Undisclosed pod offers up for an explanation is that because Wilds himself came under investigation, he could not recover the money. I remember the highway traffic to my right, and I remember standing there on the curb. Did you make the anonymous call to the police to tip them off about Adnan? Now I dont wanna tell the people at Cathys that this guy Im with just killed his girlfriend and the cops just called because then they would all be a part of this fucked up thing. I saw the ATF and DEA take down guys in my neighborhood for selling much less than I was at the time. What do you think? No until they told me they werent trying to prosecute me for selling weed, or trying to get any of my friends in trouble. Theres also the added fact that Wilds boss at the time told people Wilds had to leave work several times to talk with the police before the date of that official interview. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger. Syed is currently serving a life sentence. After hearings in the Circuit Court between November 2010 and October 2012, Syeds petition for post-conviction relief is denied, according to court papers. The short version: On January 13th, 1999, Lee was supposed to pick up her younger cousin from daycare at 3:15 p.m. She never showed, which immediately set off alarm bells among those who knew her.