Just because Season 1 of Serial wrapped up a couple of weeks ago doesn't mean the story of what actually happened on Jan. 13, 1999 is over. In fact, it seems like it's just beginning.
In the season finale of Serial, host Sarah Koenig said that the University of Virginia's Innocence Project, whose help she had enlisted to look into the murder of Maryland high school senior Hae Min Lee, was investigating other possible suspects responsible for the murder. Adnan Syed, who was sentenced to life in prison for Lee's murder nearly 15 years ago, is set to appeal his conviction in January.
But one epilogue to this story most Serial fans didn't expect was to hear from Jay Wilds, the key witness in Syed's trial who claimed to have helped Syed bury Lee's body and who declined to be interviewed for the podcast. The Intercept recently published an exclusive interview with Wilds, the first in a multi-part series, and it gives Wilds' perspective on what happened on Jan. 13, 1999, why Wilds decided to help Syed and some of the inconsistencies in his interviews with the police. Here are the seven most revelatory parts of the interview.
1. Wilds Explained Why He Was So Scared Of The Police
Many Serial listeners didn't understand why Wilds, who had been selling marijuana at the time of Lee's murder, was so apprehensive about cooperating with the police given that the podcast depicted him as a "petty weed dealer." However, Wilds explained that given the law and order at the time, he felt that his fears were justified. "At the time, this was Maryland in the '90s, the drug laws were extremely serious. I saw the ATF and DEA take down guys in my neighborhood for selling much less than I was at the time," Wilds told The Intercept. "And they were getting sentenced to three and five years. I also ran the operation out of my grandmother's house and that also put my family at risk. I had a lot more on the line than just a few bags of weed."
2. He Wasn't As Close To Syed As You Think
Although Serial depicts Wilds and Syed's relationship as something of a casual friendship, Wilds told The Intercept, "There was never a real friendship." He also said he didn't trust Syed when he first met him to sell him weed because he wasn't like the other pot smokers he knew. The two didn't really hang out much outside of class, and "he didn't call me unless he needed something," Wilds said.
3. His Current Recollection Of The Day Of The Murder Differs From His Original Interviews... Again
Wilds is perhaps best known to Serial listeners as having many inconsistencies in his retelling of the events of Jan. 13, 1999. More on that later. In this interview with The Intercept, Wilds yet again provides different details of the day of the murder. For instance, Wilds said Syed told him he was going to kill Lee at least a week before the murder took place, but he didn't know that he was going to kill her on the day the murder actually took place. However, in his interviews, he always claimed that Syed told him the morning of the murder that he was going to kill Lee. Wilds claims that he was heading to the mall to pick up a gift for his girlfriend Stephanie in the afternoon not in the morning with Syed as he originally said. He also said he first saw Lee's body in the trunk of the car in front of his grandmother's house, not Best Buy.
4. Wilds Didn't Actually Bury Lee's Body
Wilds initially told the police that he helped Syed bury Lee's body. However, in his interview with The Intercept, he said he helped dig the hole but that Syed buried her body alone.
5. There's A Good Reason For The Inconsistencies In His Story
Remember when I said Wilds would have an explanation for the inconsistencies in his interviews with the police? Well, in the interview with The Intercept, Wilds says he didn't initially open up to the police or always give them accurate information because he was trying to protect himself and his loved ones. "Well first of all, I wasn't openly willing to cooperate with the police. It wasn't until they made it clear they weren't interested in my 'procurement' of pot that I began to open up any," Wilds said. "Until they told me they weren't trying to prosecute me for selling weed, or trying to get any of my friends in trouble. People had lives and were trying to get into college and stuff like that. Getting them in trouble for anything that they knew or that I had told them — I couldn't have that."
6. Wilds Has "An Idea" About Who The Anonymous Caller Was
In Serial, we learn that there was an anonymous caller who tipped off the police that Syed was responsible for Lee's murder. Wilds denies that he was the anonymous caller, but had an interesting response when asked if he knows who did make the call. "I don't know. But there was a grand jury hearing on this case, and I have an idea who might have based on that hearing."
Head over to The Intercept to read the full interview.
