Serial Episode 12 - What We Know

In the finale of the season, SK wraps up the series the only way she can, providing some new information, providing an update, and noting that the facts still are not known.  There have been articles wondering how the series will conclude and whether it will live up to expectations.  But I'm not sure if anyone enthralled with the story was expecting a concrete resolution.  It just didn't seem possible.  But if you wanted something more definitive, at least the Funny or Die parody video was thoroughly enjoyable.

Onto the recap:

Don's Story:  The first new major development SK reports is that she spoke with Don.  He contacted her recently and didn't want tape to be played, but ok'ed recounting their conversation.  A few tidbits came up:

• Hae was at his house late the night before in a town north of Baltimore city.  She wanted to play hooky the next day to hang out with him, but didn't want to make it an unexcused absence.  He told her she should go to school and that he had to work that day anyway.  They made plans to meet after Hae's shift ended at 10pm that night.
• The night before is not new.  The thought of her wanting to play hooky is an interesting aside - would this have been avoided if she had played hooky?  Also, they were supposed to meet at 10pm.  But she also wanted to stop by and see him at work/leave a note.  So she was clearly head over heels.
• SK mentions a note with Don's name on it was found in Hae's car.  It read:
  "Hey cutie, sorry I couldn't stay.  I have to go to a wrestling match at Randalls Town High.  But I promise to page you as soon as I get home, ok?  Till then take care and drive safely.  Always.  - Hae"
• Don said he didn't know about the note.
• The note is interesting because of the timing.  So when would he have written the note?  It would make sense that the note would have been written after she got to Owings Mill and saw Don wasn't there.  And that would suggest she was intercepted shortly thereafter.  Or she could have written the note at school forgetting Don was working at a different location.  But the "sorry I couldn't stay" is odd.  She couldn't stay where?  At the Lens Crafters to wait for him?  At his house the night before?
• Don tells SK that he immediately thought he would be a suspect.  He immediately made sure he knew where he was.  After being asked questions, he traced his steps and remembered where he was when.  SK notes that this is different from Adnan's reaction, but also notes Adnan was only 17 and high.  
• Interesting distinction between the two.  I tend to think Don's reaction is more reasonable, but I'm not a teenager.  Would Don's older age factor into it?  Or would his mom or someone have sat him down to think carefully about the day (whereas Adnan would not have had that at home since he had kept Hae a secret from his parents)?
• Don said he doesn't remember calling Hae after the 13th.  He wondered if she had gone to CA.  It wasn't that he didn't care, but he just didn't know what he would do.
• Now this is interesting.  One idea is that he only dated her for a couple of weeks and if she ran off to CA or something, he wasn't as invested.  But then he tells SK that he did love Hae and she had given him confidence.  Unclear if he is speaking after 15 years and knowing she had died then.  Or if he is recounting how he felt in the moment.  I suspect his feelings are colored by hindsight.
• SK notes Don's alibi is solid.  Don was filling in for someone at a different branch in Hunt Valley that day.  Computerized time card has him arrive at 9:02 am, take lunch from 1:10 to 1:42, and leave at 6pm.  But she notes the manager of that store was Don's mom.
• Don said he didn't know about the progress of the investigation.  Was worried he was a suspect.  Didn't know about Jay until hearing the podcast.  
• This is where the coincidences just seem to get absurd.  Finally someone has a rock solid alibi... wait, scratch that.  Even this alibi can't be 100% trusted because his mom was the manager.
• He recalled meeting Adnan in the parking lot after Hae had a car accident.  Don said they had a perfectly nice conversation.  He was very polite, articulate.  They joked around but felt like a typical sizing up - typical of the ex-boyfriend meeting the new boyfriend.  Adnan had said something to the effect of wanting to make sure Don was an okay guy.  Hae's diary places this meeting on Dec. 23.  At trial, this was stated as having happened in January.  
• Seems pretty straightforward.  Don seems as he is being very fair and balanced at this point.  He is either spectacularly objective or he had doubts that Adnan was really the killer.  But after hearing the podcast, perhaps that colored his understanding of the case hearing how flimsy the State's case really was.
• Don's testimony at both trials was bland.  Don said Urick pulled him into a back room and yelled at him for not making Adnan sound "creepy."  SK says she asked Urick about this but he said he was not allowed to talk about the case.  
• At this point, I think we can all agree Kevin Urick is a scumbag.  After this entire experience, the only thing I can say definitively is that Urick is a villain in this story.  He crossed ethical boundaries, tried to tamper and influence witness testimony, provided an attorney for his star witness getting a sweetheart plea deal, and resorted to race baiting and stereotypes to secure a conviction.  

On balance, it's not clear that anything new came from the discussion with Don.  I suppose the note was new, but this was ancillary to the Don conversation.  But it was an effective discussion to close off one hanging thread.  Even though SK never got Jay or a full conversation with Jenn or even Stephanie to talk, checking Don off the list did satisfy something in the narrative.  

And I think it's safe to assume that Don wasn't involved.  The note seems like it would be bad for him, and he would have gotten rid of it.  He was working on the other side of the city during this time.  So even if he was able to step out for a few minutes, leaving for an hour to go to the other side of the city would have been noticed.  

Josh - The other new person was Josh, a friend of Jay's who worked with him at the porn video store.  They were friendly but not that close.  He would occasionally give Jay a ride.  They'd hang out and smoke up.  

• On the night Jay was picked up by police, he had called Josh because he didn't want to be alone at the store.  He wasn't afraid of the police but something else.  He was afraid people were after him.  On that night, there was a van parked across the street at the Amtrak commuter rail station parking lot that freaked Jay out.  He didn't even want to go outside.  Josh says Jay didn't mention the name but learned through the podcast that it was Adnan.  SK presses Josh asking how he knew it was Adnan if Jay didn't say the name.  Josh admits it could have been somebody else, but whoever Jay was afraid of must have been the person who did it.  
• This is the most striking part of the story.  As Josh tells it, Jay was freaking out for his safety.  But it just doesn't seem like Adnan would be the source of this real fear.  Besides, as Jay puts it, it was the threat to Stephanie that kept him in line.  So why would Jay be afraid for his own safety here.  It just doesn't add up.  This may be the strongest support for the unknown third party theory - that the actual murderer was someone who really was a hardened criminal who Jay actually would be afraid of.  It explains Jay's fear.  It explains the narrative gymnastics of the every-shifting story.  It explains why Jay would cop to helping dispose of the body.
• SK directly asks Josh if Jay was afraid of someone with Pakistani relatives.  Josh says yeah, yeah, he said it was someone who was Middle Eastern.  He also says Jay told him it was the ex-boyfriend.
• Not sure if this is SK's presentation, but Josh just didn't seem convincing here.  Not that he is intentionally lying, but this may be another issue of confirmation bias.  Jay says Adnan did it, so Josh is projecting Adnan as the source of this fear.  Also, Pakistan is not in the Middle East.  I find it highly unlikely Jay would not have told Josh the name but said (erroneously) that the guy was Middle Eastern.
• Josh says Jay told him he was involved, almost bragging that he helped bury the body.  Josh didn't take him seriously and thought he was making it up.  He did that sort of thing.  
• This fits the Jay is a poser theme.  He's more bark than bite.  Maybe this fits the third party theory.  After he helps the real big bad dispose of the body, he thinks he's a big deal now.  So he feels confident enough to talk himself up.  Once the police start closing in on him, now he realizes that he might be in danger, so that bravado is gone and fear is the motivating factor.
• The version he heard was similar to the version that Chris recounted.  Jay was somewhere when Adnan came to him for help.  He's clear Best Buy was not mentioned because Josh went there often and would have remembered.  Thought Chris's pool hall story could be right.  Was under the impression it had gone down later in the day and not mid afternoon.  
• If this is true, that's two different people he told the same story to.  Yet this is different than the story he told Jenn.  Not sure if there's anything definitive, but it seems to be another strike against the State's theory of the case.
• Josh didn't understand why Jay would help Adnan.  It's one thing to not snitch, but something entirely different to pick up a shovel and help bury the body.  
• Amen.  It does not make sense.  What would Adnan have over Jay to force him to take this drastic, extreme measure?  

So what to make of Josh?  He provides something we never had before - an account of Jay's behavior before being picked up by the police.  It seems that Jay really was afraid of someone, but I have a hard time believing this person was Adnan.  That just doesn't fit.  And if you look at Jay's March 15th statement to the police, it seems like he was afraid of someone (but again, not sure if I buy it is Adnan):

Ritz:   He gets in her car and your driving his car. At that point there‘s a phone booth on the other side of the building. And your driving off the parking lot, why don‘t you stop your car and say, call the police, and say someone had just committed a murder. There's a body in the trunk of the car?

Jay:  I don’t know, I just feared and I, I, and you don’t understand like, like how it is.

Ritz:  Who are you afraid of, if you make an anonymous phone call, you give a description of her car.  Give a description of [Adnan] and say there’s a body in the trunk of that car.  You give them the tag number of the car.

Jay:  Can we stop for a second.

Ritz:  Yes.

Jay:  A few seconds.

Ritz:  Well if you have any questions you can ask me on tape.

Jay:  I don’t understand this line of questioning (inaudible)

Ritz:  I’m trying to understand why you go through all this and.

Jay:  First it was just like shook and then after that ah, I was part of it, so I mean I couldn’t just, you know what I mean. I had just as much not called, like you said before when he said he was gonna kill her to the point of when I was standing there looking at her in the trunk I didn't call to the point of, I dugged the hole, you know what I mean. It's, it's all those looping together if I didn't step out at one I couldn't just say well her it is in the middle, I'm just gonna call the cops.

Ritz:  Oh I understand what he has over you or if your involved in this from the very beginning.  If he paid you any money to help him ah, if your were part of the conspiracy part. Once he's planning all this because it took a lot of careful planning. He had this planned out cause you made mention of the fact that when he's strangling her, in her vehicle that he's worried about her scratching him to get any tissue or any ah, (inaudible) evidence underneath her fingernails?

Jay:  Yes.

Ritz:  So he’s thought about all this.

Jay:  Yes.

Ritz:  He's thought about it to the point were he gives you his car, his cell phone, he tells you were to meet him, calls you to the location, has you following him around to

ah, the parking ride over on Route 70. Ah, to the point were your involvement in, in this

is beyond belief, other than you being afraid of the police. Either he has paid you

something, or.

Jay:  Like I said he knows that I sold drugs.  I mean that was, that was, I mean that’s, he could get me locked up for that, I mean.  I’m sure if I ratted him out for [redacted] that he wouldn’t hesitate to turn me over for selling drugs.

Ritz:  I meant that’s, well I’m just trying to understand in my mind what your logic is and your way of thinking.

Jay:  Yeah I mean I wasn't just through the whole situation I, I don't deal with dead

bodies everyday man, I don't, you know what I mean that's not something I run around and look at, you know what I mean. If somebody pops a trunk and there's a blue body in there it's gonna upset me and I'm not gonna need. Like I didn’t, l don t, in my mind I don’t think to the presence of let's call the oops. It's never, that never crossed my mind. I could be getting shot at, and I wouldn't be let's call the cops.

Ritz:  In your mind and presence of your mind, does it ever occur to you to disassociate yourself and say, hey look, you know this is really serious shit here. Somebody dead in the trunk of the car, see you later?

Jay:  I tried, after I said that to him, you know fuck you I’m not helping you, but then that’s what he said to me.

Ritz:  At any point did [Adnan] ever threaten you with physically with any ah, type of weapons or anything like that?

Jay:  No weapon no (inaudible).

So a few takeaways from this exchange.  First, Jay is rattled by the question "who are you afraid of" and asks to stop the recording and then gives a nonsensical answer.  Second, he maintains that the fear was that Adnan would turn him in for selling drugs.  Third, he says Adnan didn't threaten him physically.  

Remember this is happening on March 15th, so over two weeks after the night Josh recounts.  At this point, Adnan has been arrested and is facing a murder charge.  Jay is fully cooperating with the police and testifying against Adnan.  He is giving a clean statement that the police can use against Adnan.  

So if Jay was deathly afraid of Adnan on February 28th, why isn't he taking the clear out that Adnan coerced his cooperation?  Instead, he talks about Adnan turning him in for selling drugs.  He denies that Adnan ever threatened physical harm.  It just does not add up that he was afraid that Adnan was going to get him.  

If Jay wasn't afraid of Adnan, who was he afraid of?  

Miscellaneous Items

• SK notes that their investigation suggests that an accidental butt dial lasting over 2 minutes would have been charged by AT&T in 1999.  So if the call had been made by accident and no one picked up on the other end, it would appear on the call log and on the bill.
• Makes sense.  This neuters one of the alleged "smoking guns."  Susan Simpson offers an alternate theory attaching more significance to the Nisha butt dial.
• SK notes that there were two anecdotal reports of a payphone being inside the vestibule area of the Best Buy.  And architectural plan from 1994 shows a plan for a payphone to be located there.
• This contradicts Laura's recollection from Episode 9.  And it doesn't matter for Jay's story because he says the payphone was outside.  Seeing as we're pretty sure the murder did not occur at the Best Buy, this probably isn't important.
• SK discusses the cell phone records and suggests the evidence seems to contradict both Jay's and Adnan's stories.  Maybe they're both lying.  She does note the discrepancy that the 3:21 call to Jenn's house conflicts Jay/Jenn's story that they were together until 3:45 at Jenn's house.  So SK suggests maybe Jay didn't have the phone at the time.  She also notes that it doesn't make sense Adnan would have called on a land line (to account for the lack of a 3:45 incoming call) because the whole point of Adnan giving Jay his cell phone was to call him on it to get him when the deed was done.  
• Good points, but doesn't really change anything.  It's clear the phone logs are a mess and do not corroborate Jay's story of the afternoon period.  It was interesting how SK strains to not make the most likely conclusion regarding the 3:21 call:  that Jay and Jenn are lying to give Jay an alibi.  Given how everyone agrees Jay had the phone at the time (with Jenn even saying she saw Jay with the phone at her house), it seems a stretch to suggest someone else had the phone at this time.  The simplest conclusion is that Jay was not at Jenn's house at 3:21 and that he and Jenn are lying to create an alibi.
• On the issue of motive, SK notes that Adnan was absent 2 of the first 4 days after the holidays, and Friday was a snow day.  So when Hae disappeared, this would have been the first time Adnan would see how fully Hae had moved on from him, which could have triggered the murderous response.  But SK mentions no one who knew them at the time suggested anything of the sort.  So this is merely speculation.
• It's an interesting thought but ultimately it doesn't change anything.  Motive is one of those things that shouldn't matter, but juries tend to latch on to because it's something easy to grasp and can complete the story.  There are still several steps that need to be connected to go from "Adnan was jealous of Hae's relationship with Don" to "Adnan murdered Hae."

A Series of Unfortunate Events 

SK recounts Dana's perspective on this.  She calls Dana their Spock in that she is viewing things from a logical perspective.  And her opinion is that if Adnan is innocent, he is extremely unlucky:

• It was Adnan's idea to lend his car and phone to Jay.
• Adnan asked Hae for a ride at school that day.
• The Nisha call -- even if a butt dial, that's bad luck.
• Jay's story and the cell phone records match up from 6pm on, which is also the time period in which Adnan can't account for.  

Variations of this idea have been popping up on reddit.  Often causing the poster to conclude that this means Adnan is guilty.  I disagree.

If these were all independent events, then perhaps you could attribute this more to bad luck.  But considering the situation where the prosecution of Adnan is based solely on Jay's testimony, Jay's involvement can change these occurrences from random misfortune to something else.  

First is lending the car and phone to Jay.  There was a reddit post discussing this and there was word from a former classmate who had borrowed Adnan's car and phone to run an errand.  Not sure if this was confirmed, but it suggests that Adnan was not shy about lending his car/phone out.  Also, considering this even occurred before Hae was killed, the time frame shifts.  If the decision to pin the murder on Adnan was made, one of the contributing factors for that decision could easily have been the fact Jay had Adnan's car and phone.  So if Adnan's lending the car/phone to Jay was a contributing cause of Jay's testimony then this isn't bad luck, it's taking advantage of the current situation.

Second is Adnan asking for a ride.  The witness testimony suggests that Adnan did not get a ride from Hae, so this is all moot.  If anything it goes to the idea of premeditation.  And that idea of premeditation comes from Jay's testimony.  It seems plausible that when Adnan lends his car to Jay, he could have told him to come get him after track and he can catch a quick ride with Hae if he needs to go somewhere before then.  It's plausible that by the time of the police interview, the detectives told Jay about this (based on the Officer Adcock conversation) and fed this information to play up the premeditation angle.  But in the end, the only sinister meaning behind this comes from Jay.  Besides, if Adnan's grand plan was to murder Hae by getting a ride from her, it would be dumb to be so public about asking for a ride.  The only reason we're giving this a second thought is because Jay says this was Adnan's plan.  

Third is the Nisha call.  Yes, if it's a random butt dial, it's bad luck.  Of course, if a butt dial were to happen, it is quite likely it would have been one of the pre-programmed numbers (if you remember, you simply had to press and hold one of the buttons for a few seconds to trigger the call) so the chance of it being an Adnan person is certain.  And there is the possibility that this was part of the frame job to try to draw a connection to Adnan and the phone at that time.  

And fourth is the time line of Jay's story... which is clearly tied to Jay.  Jay is the only link to the body.  It is not clear that Hae was actually buried in Leakin Park that night.  Her body was not found for weeks and it could have been left there at any point during that period.  Also Jay could control where they went in this time period.  They go to Cathy's house (his friend).  They go get weed from Patrick (Jay's connection).  They perhaps go to Leakin Park (who knows the reason, but could have been Jay's suggestion).  The idea being that if Jay is setting Adnan up, he could lead Adnan around that evening making sure to hit the spot where the body was buried, was being buried, or will be buried.  So it's not happenstance that Adnan's movements matched Jay's version of events.  Jay was there to control where they went.

So in the end, if you view these points from the perspective of Jay's influence on them, the real bad luck is Adnan having a friend like Jay who he lent his car/phone too.  Yes, that is bad luck, but it's not like a series of unrelated unfortunate events had to have happened to put Adnan in this situation.  And it certainly does not mean that Adnan must be guilty.  

Innocence Project update -SK also reports on a few developments in Adnan's case.  First, she notes that the Innocence Project filed a motion this past weekend to DNA test the samples that were collected but never tested.  In order to seek testing, they needed someone to test the sample against, and they found Ronald Lee Moore.  Moore was brought to their attention because his DNA was connected to another unsolved murder in the Baltimore area.  On Dec. 13, 1999 (exactly 11 months after Hae disappeared), a 27-year old woman named Analise (Hyoung Sook) Lee was found strangled in her apartment in Owings Mills.  Apparently Moore was a career criminal who had been released for a 14-month period starting January 1, 1999.  During that time he was connected to at least 2 rapes and 1 murder.  

SK thinks this is a long shot.  The samples may not even be viable, let along match Moore.  And where's the connection between Moore and Jay?  Enright tells her "big picture, big picture."

There was some criticism of Enright's waving off SK's legitimate concerns.  But SK really doesn't convey the point of Moore.  The point of finding Moore isn't that they necessarily think that Moore was the actual murderer (of course, it would be a tremendously fortunate coincidence if he was).  But rather they were able to find a viable alternate suspect whom they could name on their motion for testing.  This is one of those procedural hoops that they had to jump through to get the testing approved.  

And on the surface, there is a compelling case.  He was released from prison just 12 days before Hae disappeared.  He strangled a Korean woman in her apartment in Owings Mill.  Hae is Korean.  Hae may have been murdered in her car (i.e., her personal space).  Hae worked at a Lens Crafters in Owings Mills and may have been headed there to see Don/leave him a note.  And the other victim was murdered exactly 11 months after Hae disappeared.  So there's a lot of surface-level similarities to make him a viable testing candidate.  

Whether something comes of it is unknown.  I don't know the science enough to know what can happen if the match comes back negative.  Could there be ethnic indicators?  Could it be tested against others in the criminal database?  But it seems like it's a start, which may be what Enright was saying when she tells SK "big picture."

Post-Conviction Petition - SK briefly notes this is still alive and Adnan's attorney is trying to get Asia's letter back before the court.  But given that the State's time line is a mess, the alibi doesn't seem to be as major as it once was.

Stragglers - The official Serial blog posted something today with various sundries about dead ends they encountered.  Nothing really noteworthy, but the last item caught my eye.  Apparently the police had subpoenaed at least 15 other numbers.  The Serial crew has the subpoenas and some basic subscriber info, but the only detailed logs are for Yaser (Adnan's friend from the mosque) and Bilal (the youth group leader from the mosque).  Interesting how those were the only detailed logs from the police files.  It seems like the detectives were looking to turn this into some grand Muslim conspiracy.  

Adnan's departing words - Adnan only makes a brief appearance in the final episode.  He gave Enright the go ahead for the DNA testing motion because he is adamant he wants to know what happens.  

He understands that there will never be 100% evidence that proves him innocent.  But what he wanted was to take back the case and have a clean presentation, without all the "make-up" the prosecution put on it.  

He asks SK if she has an ending.  He thinks she should just go down the middle - present the story and the facts and not take a side.

SK's wrap-up - But SK declines Adnan's invitation to stay neutral.  She notes Dana is correct that Adnan was unlucky.  But she wants to focus on what actually is known.  If the phone log doesn't back up Jay's story and the Nisha call is a butt dial, the only thing that's left is Jay's story.  And that's not really a story but just the beginning of one, something not enough to send anyone, let alone a 17-year old kid, to prison for the rest of his life.  As a juror, she would acquit.  Even if she thought he had done it, she has to acquit because that is what the law requires of her.

But she is not a juror and this isn't a trial.  If asked if Adnan is innocent, she can't be sure.  But she leans towards feeling he is innocent.  She questions whether a guilty man would agree to all this.  She notes how Adnan's friends said they aren't sure he's innocent, but the Adnan they knew could never have done it.  

SK notes that when Rabia brought the case to her, she was optimistic that there would be definitive conclusion.  But she finds herself like a seasoned detective trying to shake people for just the facts.  "Because we didn't have them 15 years ago.  And we still don't have them now."  

And SK concludes the season the only way she really could.  It's clear there was not enough evidence to convict.  The jury did not consider the evidence.  They returned a guilty verdict in 2 hours after six weeks of trial.  They simply bought the State's story, felt that Jay would not lie and voluntarily admit to a crime, and didn't like that Adnan did not testify.  Juries do things like this.  That's to be expected.

For me, the worst part was the actions of the prosecutor, Kevin Urick, and his office.  To recap: 

• He offered a pro bono attorney to his star witness to "defend" him in his sweet plea deal.  
• He went out of his way to commend Jay for his cooperation to the court.  
• He interrupted a witness on the stand to prevent her from saying something damaging to his case.  
• He yelled at another witness for not lying to make the defendant sound creepy.  
• He advanced a theory of the case that was contradicted by his own star witness's testimony.  
• And he played up the spectre of religious fear mongering as the theme of his case to secure a conviction.  
• Not to mention his colleague who made up lies about a pattern of young Pakistani men murdering their girlfriends and fleeing to Pakistan.  

According to his bio on his website, it seems he left the prosecutor's office around 2002 and moved into private practice.  Good riddance.  

My Conclusion?

As to whether Adnan truly is innocent, it's impossible to tell.  I came into this thinking that he probably was guilty.  He was the only one who seemed to make sense.  But after poring over the materials and thinking through what's out there, that has changed.  So, then, what do we know?

1. We know that the murder did not happen according to the way the State told it.  Hae was not murdered in the Best Buy parking lot before 2:36pm.  
2. We know that Jay's story of what he and Adnan did after they met up does not add up.  Putting aside the 3:45pm starting point, it is riddled with inconsistencies and contradicted by the cell phone evidence.
3. We know Jay was involved somehow.  While there is the possibility he may have been fed some information about the crime by the detectives, it seems unlikely he was completely innocent and copped to something he didn't do.  
4. We know Jay wanted an alibi until 3:45, and Jenn provided the alibi for him.  
5. We know Hae was intercepted around 3:15pm.  That does not mean she was necessarily murdered by then, but something happened to her to prevent her from picking up her cousin.
6. We know Adnan and Jay were together from roughly 5-6pm for a few hours.  During this time we know they went to "Cathy's" apartment. 
7. We know that shortly after 7pm, Adnan's cell phone was in the vicinity of Leakin Park.  
8. We know either Jay or Jenn (or both) are lying about when they met up that evening.  Jay says Adnan dropped him off at home and Jenn picked him up from there.  Jenn says she met them at Westview Mall, that she saw and spoke with Adnan.
9. We know Jay was somehow compelled to help bury Hae's body.  Whether it was voluntary or out of fear, that's uncertain.  Perhaps Jay really feared for his life.  But something kept him in line and made him help.
10. We know that Jay and Adnan still hung out after January 13th.  It seems that Adnan put Jay on the phone with Nisha at some point during this time period.  

What are the possible outcomes? 

• It happened more or less like Jay said - it was Adnan, and Jay was forced into helping.  
• Based on the above factors, points 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10 seem to contradict this story in one form or another.  Whether Jay had no reason to lie about his story or the inconsistency between his and Jenn's story, or whatever, those points don't fit this scenario.  
• None of the points above seem particularly likely in this scenario either.  
• Adnan did it and Jay was more involved; essentially they did it together.  
• In this scenario, points 9 and 10 don't make sense.  I don't see why Jay would actively help in committing a murder.  And I don't see the two of them hanging out together so much after they had pulled off a murder.  
• In this scenario, points 1, 2, and 4 make a lot of sense.  He was lying to minimize his own involvement and wanted an alibi for the deed (since he knew when it occurred).
• Adnan was innocent, and Jay pointed the finger at Adnan to hide someone else's involvement.  
• Here, point 7 is the big red flag.  No reason for Adnan's phone to be near Leakin Park at this time.
• But this explains points 1, 2, and 4 (just like in scenario 2).  But it also explains 8, 9 and 10.  Adnan was not involved so Jenn and Jay couldn't get their story straight.  Jay was compelled to help because he was afraid of someone who was actually scary.  And Adnan didn't know anything was up while Jay was playing it cool.  

Ruling out scenario 1, it seems like the likely choices are Jay and Adnan did it together, or Jay and someone else did it.  Based on the fear that Josh told SK about, how Jay would get roped into this mess, I'm inclined to believe Adnan is innocent.  Yes there are some unfortunate coincidences for him that landed him in his predicament, but there are just so many holes and logical gaps there.  I just don't see it.  

What about another scenario, in which Jay and Adnan got some other person (the actual big bad) to do it.  That could also explain #9 if Jay got roped in as the go-between.  It could explain #10.  And also explain Jay's lies to minimize his own involvement...  But then what incentive does Adnan have to keep quiet to protect the other person?  Perhaps he was afraid of what this person would do to his family?  Not sure if that threat would still be present today, but if it were, I'm sure talking about this and being part of a nationwide investigation into the truth is not going to make this person happy.  

Maybe I'm being unfair to Jay.  But once you lie to the police in a murder investigation, do you have any credibility left?  There has to be a really good reason to do so, and minimizing your own involvement seems like a pretty clear reason to lie.  

While we never may know the truth about what happened, everyone can draw their own conclusions from the facts and information.  I've reached mine.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Serial Episode 11 - Rumors

This is going to be a controversial episode.  I found the last bit to be good storytelling, but on the whole, there wasn't much substance here (although I know some folks disagree with this).  For me, I've been trained to expect big things from the penultimate episode, so it was different to skip over to the coda stage of the story without having some kind of big climax in the story.  No, there will be no smoking gun reveal that sheds light on what really happened back then.  But after the fun ride, it seemed like the story was coming to an end prematurely.  

So this episode focused on three main things: (1) rumors from people from the mosque; (2) comments from forensic psychologist Charles Ewing; and (3) more from Adnan on the impact of his experience being the subject of the story.

Rumors from the Mosque

SK notes how since the story started, she was contacted by several people from Adnan's mosque with stories about Adnan.  SK discusses her process in chasing down some of the rumors that were ultimately unsubstantiated, but discusses one rumor: that Adnan stole money from the mosque.  

SK notes four people who told her this story.  Two people said they saw him do it.  One person said he saw Adnan do it several times.  And then there was one person on tape (name and voice changed) who said Adnan did it every Friday, stealing thousands of dollars each week.  And also the tipper said he himself stole money from the donation box too.

SK thought that amount this person alleged seemed far-fetched so she speaks with Mr. Patel (missed his first name), who was the President of the Islamic Society of Baltimore at the time.  Patel said that the donations amounted to about $2500, maybe $3000 on a big week, and was used to help pay for bills and such.  He said that if even $100 was missing, it would be noticed.  But he said it has happened and that the amount would have to be small to go unnoticed.  And he dismissed out of hand thousands of dollars could be stolen each week.

SK asked Adnan about it.  He was very upset about it and asked what it had to do with the case.  Interestingly, this was the most emotional he has ever sounded in any of the clips presented to date.  He later told SK the story:  this was probably the summer before 8th grade.  There would be an adult and about 4 to 5 kids who would collect the donations. One of the kids realized they could pocket like $40-60 to go to the movies or whatnot.  So 2-3 would pocket a little money while the others kept watch.  He was caught by his mother and confessed.  He said back then he didn't think it was that wrong - he spent so much time at the mosque helping out, so it was like taking a little spending money from the family till.  

So, what to make of this?  I think this is pretty irrelevant.  He was like 13 at the time?  Who didn't do dumb things like steal or shoplift or whatnot when they were that age?  I disagree that the fact he was stealing from a mosque makes a difference.  I think that assumes that he associated strongly with his religion at that age to elevate the crime to something different.  Maybe a kid would recognize it was more wrong than shoplifting or stealing from a cash register in a store, but I don't think this is an order of magnitude bigger so that this becomes an indicia of Adnan's ability to commit premeditated murder.  If you think evidence of stealing does not mean he is more prone to murder someone, I don't think the fact that he stole from a mosque changes that.  

But who are all these people who contacted SK and why?  She plays a few clips from the anonymous thieving tipper.  He seems to attach a very big significance to Adnan's crime of stealing from the mosque... yet he admits to doing it himself.  He puts a different spin on Adnan's ability to diffuse a situation as a sign of Adnan's ability to manipulate people... Yet he maintains that Adnan was genuinely a good person.  So what's the point?

It feels like this is a case of people coming out of the woodwork to get involved in the story.  Now that the podcast is receiving attention and it's clear that SK is responding to feedback and information from people involved, I think folks just want to be a part of the story.  Adnan stole money from the mosque.  He took my sweater once, although I think he did it unintentionally thinking it was his.  I saw him smoking weed one day.  Whatever trivial tidbit is an excuse to interject into the story.  Anonymous people casting stones?  I'm treating them like any anonymous person on the Internet posting rumors on reddit.  

So in the end, there's a 15 minute segment about some rumors SK heard that she can't tell us about, that ultimately don't matter.  I guess the one thing it shows is that Adnan was not the perfect golden child.  But we knew that already, didn't we?  He smoked weed.  He dated a girl and slept with her without telling his parents about it.  He drank alcohol.  And now he stole money when he was 13.  Does this matter?  We knew that he wasn't a perfect, goody-two shoes.  He did things that many, many, many teenagers do.  But this is not evidence that, on January 13, 1999, he murdered Hae Min Lee.  

Charles Ewing, Forensic Psychologist

The second main part of the episode centered around SK's discussion with Ewing, who has testified in numerous trials as an expert in forensic psychology.  Considering his context was listening to about "half" the episodes, he's not in any position to make any qualitative statements about this case.  Any value in this section comes from perhaps filling in some general knowledge information that the listening public may not be aware of: (1) in most cases, the murderer is an ordinary person who snap and are pushed over the edge when something happened to them -- i.e., not an evil, sociopathic person who premeditates a murder in cold blood; (2) about half the people he have seen displayed some level of dissociation of the event, blocking out some level of memory of the event; and (3) providing a definition of a "psychopath" - one who has little or no conscience and can't empathize with other people's feelings.  

After the discussion, SK offers her conclusion she does not think Adnan is a psychopath.  She feels that he does display true empathy and not just the superficial charm that some psychopaths can demonstrate.  But she understands this does not mean Adnan is innocent and a real possibility exists that Adnan snapped and killed Hae and blacked out parts of it.

I think the value of this portion depends on the person.  While Ewing's points are not necessary mainstream, general knowledge, these are concepts that are prevalent in crime fiction, police procedurals, and the numerous other treatment of crime investigation that the public is exposed to.  I didn't find any of these concepts to be new or groundbreaking.  And I think the rational, thinking person here understands that Adnan being a psychopath is not a necessary condition for him to be guilty or that his not being a psychopath necessarily means he's innocent.  

The takeaway will also depend on your feelings about the case.  Adnan's inability to account for his activities on that day could innocently be dismissed as the product of the unreliability of one's memory, or it could be construed as the result of cognitive dissociation whereby he is blocking out events confirming his guilt.  Again, we just can't know which is correct.

Adnan's Discussion of the Impact of Serial on Him

Finally, SK notes how commenters have been trying to assign significance to Adnan's unwillingness to speak out against certain people, particularly Jay.  SK points out that she has spoken with defense attorneys and it would be unwise for Adnan to say anything.  It could only cause harm.   Adnan says it's a trap to convince people.

SK talks about an 18-page letter from Adnan discussing his feeling and thoughts going through this experience.  He says that he had three goals when he was sentenced to prison: (1) stay close to his family; (2) prove his innocence; and (3) convince others that he is a person and not the monster the prosecution makes him out to be.  And he feels that he accomplished goal (3) in prison.  The people inside know him as a person and as a stand-up guy.  But now SK comes along (at Rabia's behest, not his) and opens the door on all this, bringing out all the painful memories and analyzing everything that was said and done.  

Adnan notes that in his conversations with SK, he has tried to keep it businesslike.  Rather than trying to befriend SK, to charm her and to win her over, he's been trying to keep it clinical.  Just say what he knows and remembers in case something comes of this.  In essence, it's not an accurate portrayal of who he is (which ties back to his mini-rant earlier that SK didn't really know him).  

To me, this was the only part that appealed to me.  Not that it revealed anything about the case.  But it did give some insight into Adnan and how this has affected him.  In spending hours dissecting the information and speculating on events, we tend to ignore the "human element" to it.  There are many reasons for it.  We don't really know these people, what they are like, how this affected them.  We don't want to let emotional considerations to alter the analysis of the facts/testimony.  We want to ignore the voyeuristic nature of the program.  Whatever the reason, it's easier to ignore that these are real people.  

And I think this was SK's point.  This has sparked so much interest, discussion, etc., and it has had an impact on the people involved.  This isn't a television series, building up tension to a cathartic climax, with a resolution period at the end.  SK reminds us that this is a tragedy that affected the lives of several people.  Along the way, she took the opportunity to highlight some problems with the justice system, which may have resulted in an innocent kid being put away.  Whether anything comes of this disruption remains to be seen.  One episode to go.

Serial - Axiom: Innocent People Do Not Lie to Police In a Murder Investigation

Last week, Rabia Chaudry posted links to copies of Jay's first two police interviews and Jenn's statement to the police (complete with her own comments and highlighting).  For those of you who are interested, they can be found here:

• Jay's police interviews
• Jenn's statement

I finally got a chance to read them over this weekend and noticed some troubling things that fanned the fire to the "Jay did it and Jenn may be an accomplice" theory.  Susan Simpson did a spectacular job dissecting Jay's interview and noting specific points where the police seemed to lead and even prompt Jay's answers.  The post from Simpson's View from LL2 is a worthwhile read if you're interested.  

So rather than discuss Jay's interview, I would like to focus on Jenn's statement instead. Going through her statement, there are some inconsistencies and oddities that I'd like to discuss:   

Jenn's Focuses on Setting an Alibi for Jay for 3:45pm
The statement starts with a 3-4 page rambling explanation telling Jenn's entire story.  It feels like a data dump - she had a story she had to tell on tape and rushed to get everything out before she forgot.  But throughout, she repeatedly states that Jay was with her until after 3:30.  

• "...he just said he was waiting for a call and it was going to come around three-thirty.  Um so we hung out at my house and than [sic] I guess around three-thirty, three forty-five um Jay got a call and than [sic] I don't know what said to him in conversation um than Jay got another call, got off the phone and then another call came in and I don't know if it was the same person or who it was and I don't know whether it was on my phone or whether it was on the cell phone that Jay had.  Um then Jay left my house, probably around three-thirty, four, four-fifteen, well after three forty-five, between three forty-five and four-fifteen."  (Jenn at 3-4) 
• "I guess between three-thirty and four um the phone... a phone call came in and ... Jay talked on the phone to who ever and than um and than Jay left.  I don't know exactly what time, I'd say anywhere between two-thirty and four-fifteen [NB: the 2:30 seems to be a mistake; she says the call came in at 3:30 and all other statements say after 3:30]...." (Jenn at 8-9)
• "...he was like 'I'm suppose to get a call around three-thirty' and I said 'okay' and he said 'that's when I'm leaving, around three-thirty when I get the phone call."  (Jenn at 11).

The last one is the one that really struck me.  Seems like a weird conversation to have.  I'm expecting a phone call at 3:30.  And that's when I'm leaving.  Around 3:30.  After I get a phone call, which I'm expecting at around 3:30.  

Plan to Pick Up Jay
Jenn's story about how she made plans with Jay to meet are unclear.  Pages 13-15 of her statement involve her stumbling through this, noting that there was confusion as to the plan which required her to call Jay (despite him leaving her multiple messages).  Jen says she had plans to hang out with Jay later that night (Jenn at 4,9).  She says after 6:30, she's waiting because "I know I'm supposed to be hanging out with Jay later on in the evening and we're going over to my friends Chris... my friends Christy's house... [NB: Christy is "Cathy"]" (Jenn at 9).  She specifies, "...I was suppose to be around Christy's house between, because originally the plans were like around seven-thirty or seven or whatever with Jay, and um instead I just sat at the house and waited a little bit longer..." (Jenn at 16).  
She eventually picks up Jay from Westview around 8 to 8:30 (Jenn at 16-17), then to take Jay to see Stephanie for about 15 minutes (Jenn at 20-21, 22), then back to Westview to wipe the shovels at around 9pm (Jenn at 22), then to a sorority house on campus for about an hour or so (Jenn at 23),then arrived at Christ's at around 10:30 to 11pm (Jenn at 24).  

I question that Jenn has pre-set plans to meet Jay and to hang out at Christy's house that night.  Jenn's story is that supposedly by the time she is having dinner at home (6 to 6:30) she already has plans to go with Jay to Christy's house at around 7 to 7:30pm.  But remember that in actual life, Jay is already at Christy's house at this time.  He and Adnan were at Christy's house at around 6 to 6:30.  It seems weird for Jay to take Adnan to Christy's house when he knew that he was supposed to be back there in an hour with Jenn (remember, at this point he's just tooling around with Adnan after he killed Hae -- no rush to hide the body yet because police call didn't come in yet).  Sure enough, Christy doesn't note that Jay was supposed to be there with Jenn later that night (her story was she was wondering why Jay was there without calling), and in Jenn's story, there is no mention of the fact that Jay and Adnan were at Christy's earlier that evening (notes on page 24 of statement).  

But let's assume that Jenn did have plans to be at Christy's with Jay at around 7 to 7:30.  She gets a message from Jay saying he's running late.  So maybe Jenn lets Christy know that she's going to be about an hour late.  She picks up Jay, he drops this bombshell on her, she takes him to Stephanie's, to hide some evidence, then they go hang out at a sorority party?  And then they show up at Christy's house at 10:30 or so, now 3+ hours late from the previously planned time?  Remember, they didn't have cell phones to update.  

Also, I've noted that Jay is a bad boyfriend that he never calls Stephanie on her birthday.  Not only does he not call her, but he makes plans to hang out with Jenn starting at 7pm?  After hanging out with her all afternoon?  That doesn't seem right either. 

My guess?  Jenn had tentative plans to see some people.  Jay gets to her, stuff has happened, and she brings him along with her to make sure he's alright and to have him act normal.  But then why lie about having set plans with Jay?

Jenn's Knowledge of Adnan

Throughout, Jenn's statement varies tremendously on her knowledge of Adnan.  For example, on pages 9-10:

Ritz:  Let me stop you for a second Jen, just to go back.  He comes over to your house, he said he had a car with him, and you think that Adnar [sic], he told you it was Adnar's car, had you ever seen Adnar's car before?

Jenn:  Ah yeah I seen it before at school but I couldn't tell... I couldn't tell you what kind of car it was or

Ritz interrupts to have Jenn describe the car, and then MacGillivary resumes the line of questioning...

MacGillivary:  Ah when Jay gets there, you indicated around one or one-thirty,

Jenn:  Yeah, between one and one-thirty.

MacGillivary:  He pulls up and you know exactly it's Adnar's car?

Jenn:  I'm assuming it's, yeah 'cause I knew it wasn't his car and I knew it wasn't ... well Jay doesn't have a car and I knew it wasn't Jay's girlfriends [sic]... Jay's girlfriends car.  Um I don't remember if I asked Jay if it was Adnar's... if it... I wouldn't ask him if it was Adnar's car but I don't remember if I asked Jay whose car it was and he told me it was Adnar's or whether he just told me it was Adnar's car.

So she says she knew it was Adnan's car because she recognized it at school then is interrupted and led back to correcting her prior statement by saying maybe Jay told her it was Adnan's cr or she asked Jay and he told her, or Adnan's car had a license plate "Adnan's car" or something like that...  Maybe this could be an innocent mistake, except on page 36...

Lehmann:  Why, why, has Jay and Adnar known each other since high school?

Jenn:  I, I think they, they might not, I don't know if Adnar went to high school with us or not but -

Lehmann: You say that Jay and Adnar are like best friends?

Jenn:  No, not at all.

That's odd.  Did Jenn just say she didn't know if Adnan went to high school with them or not before the police interrupt her?  So now she goes from saying she recognized Adnan's car from seeing it at school and backtracks all the way to the point she doesn't know if he went to the same high school... And then on page 40:

MacGillivary:  Prior to learning that Adnar had contacted Jay when was the last time you had any contact with Adnar?

Jenn:  Ah (inaudible) high school (inaudible) May

Ritz:  That would have been May of '98?

Jenn:  Yeah, I mean if that would have been the last time I seen, saw, that I had ever seen because I hadn't been back to Woodlawn.

So now she's back to remembering Adnan went to high school with her, but she wouldn't had seen him since she graduated the previous May.  But if she hadn't seen him since back in May, then the exchange on page 16 doesn't make sense:

Ritz:  What happened after they pulled up?

Jenn:  Um Jay got out of the car and got in the passenger seat of my mom's car that I was driving that night, and um Adnar said hi to me, said "hey, what's up girl" and I was like "hey, what's up" and then he left the parking lot and that's when Jay told me.

Ritz:  With the exchange of words between you and Adnar "hey, what's up girl," how would you describe his mood at that time?

Jenn:  He seemed just like he normally seems, just like um just like he was was, just like I remember him from high school I guess.

Earlier she was giving the police a description of a very casual exchange between herself and Adnan.  Remember, Adnan supposedly killed someone earlier in the day and just finished disposing of her body.  Now Adnan is dropping off his blackmailed accomplice to see Jenn, and after not seeing Jenn in 8 months, casually says "what's up girl?"

Jenn's Description of Seeing the News About Hae

On page 27, Jenn gives a very confusing description of seeing news of Hae's disappearance.  Her story is she was at Champs with friends (including Jay and Christy/Cathy) and that it was probably the last Thursday in January.  

Jenn:  So um we were at Champs and I was up talking to somebody, maybe dancing or something, I don’t know and um Jay come up to me and he’s like “yo, they just said that Hae’s body is missing.  I just saw it on the t.v.” and on the news I guess is where he saw it and he told me that he saw it and I said “oh, um now what?”

Lehmann:  Hae’s body is missing?

Jenn:  Yeah, that he had saw it on the television, that her body had been missing.

Lehmann:  That she was missing?

Jenn:  Yeah, yeah that she was missing not her body, that Hae was missing and he was like, “what do we do” and I was like “I don’t” I was like ‘I don’t know what we do.”  I was like “what do we do” you know and he just (inaudible) out, you know, he he um he seemed a little you know like concerned maybe or shocked maybe or (inaudible) body’s missing.  Um I guess he was concerned because he knew the information about Adnar and I guess that’s why he was concerned and that was when I found out he [sic] has been missing.

Ritz:  Well you knew back on the 13th that she

Jenn:  Well yeah, I knew that she was dead.

Ritz:  That she was dead, why would you be so shocked that now the news is reporting her, she’s missing, she hasn’t been seen or heard from?

Jenn:  Um, I don’t know.  I guess I was just surprised.  I don’t know.  I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t surprised maybe I was just like “what do we do now?”  Maybe it was more like “oh no, what do we do now” rather than surprise I guess.  

This is just so crazy.  So first, why is Jenn so fixated on referencing Hae by Hae's body?  Is this just some kind of mannerism of speech?  Or did she see Hae's dead body and that thought traumatized her to naturally associate a dead body with Hae?  Second, wtf is that statement that was when she found out she has been missing.  She supposedly was told 2 weeks earlier she was dead.  So this would not have been a surprise.  And her explanation to this is just a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Miscellaneous Items -

Jenn's story of picking Jay up at Westview is contradicted by Jay, who says Jenn picked him up at home.  (Jay at 76).

Jenn says they went to wipe the shovels after going to see Stephanie.  Jay says they went back for the shovels right away before seeing Stephanie (Jay at 79-80).

Jenn's recording doesn't start until 3:45pm.  Not sure how long her pre-interview was, but there was definitely coordination and prompting.  Most blatant example is:

MacGillivary:  Okay.  Did ah... does Jay have a pager?

Jenn:  No.

MacGillivary:  Does he have a cell phone?

Jenn:  No.

MacGillivary:  Does he have a cell phone?

Jenn:  No.

MacGillivary:  Does he have a cell phone?

Jenn:  Yes, on that day.  [Feel free to insert stage direction where he kicks Jenn under the table.]

So what does this all mean?  I don't find Jenn to be credible at all.  At best, she's lying to cover up for Jay.  At worst, she's more involved.  But if she is just covering for Jay, it sounds like she's going above and beyond what one may expect.  Not just making up an alibi until 3:45, but she is part of the narrative, talking to Adnan on the phone, seeing him at Westview, going around and cleaning up evidence, etc.  It just doesn't strike me as the actions of a truly innocent person. 

Serial - A Possible Explanation for Not Chasing Down Alibi Witnesses

There's been a lot of discussion about the last episode, specifically criticizing the performance of Christina Gutierrez as Adnan's attorney.  SK seems to offer a muted critcism that she Gutierrez tried but was ineffective.  Rabia Chaudry's latest blog entry disagrees and criticizes SK for being too "charitable."

In this discussion of Gutierrez's ineffectiveness, the one inexcusable thing appeared to be her not checking Asia McClain and other alibi witnesses.  As the podcast discussed in prior episodes, Asia wrote a letter to Adnan saying that she spoke with him in the library right after school.  But she was never contacted until Rabia tracked her down after Adnan's conviction a year later.  Naturally, if the prosecution's theory was that Adnan killed Hae by 2:36pm, having someone vouch that she was talking to Adnan until 2:40pm would be highly relevant.  In Episode 9, SK discussed how Summer spoke with Hae at school at around 2:30 to 2:45pm (but she never spoke with the polce).  And apparently Debbie and Becky had told the detectives that they saw Hae at school before 3pm as well.  So if Hae were alive and at school after 2:36pm, that would also contradict the prosecution's theory.  So why weren't these people found and their stories checked?

Then I realized that it appears that the prosecution did not narrow the time window for Hae's murder to 2:36pm until trial (or shortly before).  Remember, Jay's statements to the police consistently say he was with Jenn until around 3:45pm, at which point he meets Adnan who shows him Hae's body.  SK notes that it was the prosecutor who argues the 2:36pm call was the "come get me call" and that nobody testified to that effect.  But if Jay is the only witness, and he said that Adnan called him after 3:45pm, that means until trial, the relevant alibi window would have been around 3:15 to 3:45 pm, not 2:15 to 2:36.  If Adnan allegedly called Jay at 3:45pm, it would stand to reason that the murder occurred shortly before then.  He wouldn't sit around for an hour with a dead body before calling Jay.  

Given that the relevant alibi window during the investigation phase was 3:15 to 3:45pm, then things make more sense.  Asia could vouch for Adnan from about 2:20 to 2:40pm.  But that doesn't help because Adnan could have left the library, met Hae, and killed her around 3:30pm.  Sure enough, Asia writes in her March 1st letter that she will "try my best to help you account for some of your unwitnessed, unaccountable lost time (2:15 - 8:00; Jan. 13th)."  Having people say they saw Hae at school before 3:00pm doesn't help because she could have left school at 3pm, met Adnan, and was killed at around 3:30pm.  So during the normal investigation stage, the focus should have been finding alibi witnesses for 3:15-3:45pm, and there wasn't anyone (the we're aware of) who fit.

Once the prosecution narrows the window to 2:36pm at trial, everything changes.  Now all those discounted witnesses become relevant.  But trial is a crazy, hectic time and it's easier to see how such details could be missed during that time.  Ideally, Gutierrez's law clerks would be aware of all the facts and would have realized that after the prosecution changes the time window for the murder.  Ideally, someone would have remembered Asia's letters and how her seeing Adnan at 2:20 to 2:40 is now relevant.  How the notes from the police interviews with Becky and Debbie seeing Hae at school are now relevant (the police never spoke with Summer and they would not have been aware of her).  Clearly this didn't happen, but things get missed at trial.

Of course, by the 2nd trial, the defense should have been aware of the time window.  But given the indication that things were going well (from polling the first jury) and that the second trial started about 3 weeks later (which isn't much time, especially with the holidays), it's conceivable that this wasn't picked up in the interim.  

With the benefit of hindsight and the time to process the information that is presented, this seems like a clear error.  But when viewed in the moment and considering the circumstances, this could have been a more understandable mistake.  

EDIT:  Adam pointed me to Susan Simpson's View From LL2's excellent entry dissecting and eviscerating Jay's statements to the police.  And as an added bonus, her very last note offers the same suggestion that I ended up noting here.  Her November 23rd entry is an excellent description of the cell tower phones and towers and presents the scenario in a clear format (with pictures) and also suggests a potential Jay/Jenn did it scenario.