Jay Wilds is finally speaking out. The key witness in the murder of Hae Min Lee believes he was misrepresented in the ultra-popular Serial podcast, which centered on journalist Sarah Koenig's investigation of the 1999 case.
In part one of a new interview with The Intercept, Wilds tells reporter Natasha Vargas-Cooper that he stands by the testimony he gave during the trial, which essentially sealed the fate of his friend Adnan Syed, who was convicted of Hae's murder and is currently serving a life sentence.
The interview begins with Jay recalling what his life was like as a teenager growing up in Baltimore, where he dispels the notion that he was nothing more than a "petty weed dealer."
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"I saw the ATF and DEA
take down guys in my neighborhood for selling much less than I was at the time," he told Vargas-Cooper. "I had a lot more on the line than just a few bags of weed."
From there, Jay goes into extreme detail about the events leading up to and following Hae's murder:
On Adnan's motives for killing Hae:
"We were in the car, we were riding, smoking. He just started opening up. It’s in the evening after school, we never hung out in the morning. Just normal conversation like, ‘I think she’s fucking around. I’m 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 they’re mad at their girlfriend."
"We were in the car, we were riding, smoking. He just started opening up. It’s in the evening after school, we never hung out in the morning. Just normal conversation like, ‘I think she’s fucking around. I’m 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 they’re mad at their girlfriend."
On seeing Hae's body for the first time:
"He calls me and says ‘I’m outside,’ so I come outside to talk to him and followed him to a different car, not his. He said, ‘You’ve gotta help me, or I’m gonna tell the cops about you and the weed and all that shit.’ And then he popped the trunk and I saw Hae’s body. She looked kinda purple, blue, her legs were tucked behind her, she had stockings on, none of her clothes were removed, nothing like that. She didn’t look beat up."
"He calls me and says ‘I’m outside,’ so I come outside to talk to him and followed him to a different car, not his. He said, ‘You’ve gotta help me, or I’m gonna tell the cops about you and the weed and all that shit.’ And then he popped the trunk and I saw Hae’s body. She looked kinda purple, blue, her legs were tucked behind her, she had stockings on, none of her clothes were removed, nothing like that. She didn’t look beat up."
On why he decided to help Adnan bury Hae:
"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. I was also running [drug] operations from my grandmother’s house. So that would ruin her life too. I was also around a bunch of people earlier the day [at Cathy’s], and I didn’t want them to get fucked up with homicide. So I said, ‘Look man, I’m not touching [Hae]. You’re in this on your own. I’m being manipulated into what’s being done right now.’"
"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. I was also running [drug] operations from my grandmother’s house. So that would ruin her life too. I was also around a bunch of people earlier the day [at Cathy’s], and I didn’t want them to get fucked up with homicide. So I said, ‘Look man, I’m not touching [Hae]. You’re in this on your own. I’m being manipulated into what’s being done right now.’"
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On why the story he told police was inconsistent::
"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. And then I would only give them information pertaining to my interaction with someone or where I was. They had to chase me around before they could corner me to talk to me, and there came a point where I was just sick of talking to them...Once the police made it clear that my drug dealing wasn’t gonna affect the outcome of what was going on, I became a little bit more transparent."
"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. And then I would only give them information pertaining to my interaction with someone or where I was. They had to chase me around before they could corner me to talk to me, and there came a point where I was just sick of talking to them...Once the police made it clear that my drug dealing wasn’t gonna affect the outcome of what was going on, I became a little bit more transparent."
Koenig was unable to convince Jay to be interviewed for the show, and has yet to issue a statement after Monday's bombshell. We reached out to the host for her thoughts on The Intercept interview, and on whether or not she has any plans to record follow-up episode. According to Emily Condon, production manager at This American Life, Koenig has "no comment at this time."
According to Vargas-Cooper, part two of the interview will focus on "Jay’s theory on the anonymous caller, why he agreed to testify in the state’s case against Adnan, and how Serial showed up at his front door."
Click here to read the rest of part one. (The Intercept)