Adnan Syed, who was jailed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, could be released and a new trial fixed after a request from prosecutors, Forbes reports.
Syed, the subject of the viral Serial true crime podcast in the US, has been in prison since 2000 when he was sentenced to life plus 30 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee.
He has also protested his innocence and could soon be a free man if prosecutors in Baltimore are successful in a court request to have that 22-year-old conviction vacated.
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The bombshell news comes as prosecutors say two other suspects could be in the frame for the murder of the then 18-year-old Lee who went missing on January 13, 1999, before being found dead three weeks later.
Forbes reports that Baltimore City prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to vacate Syed's conviction because investigators had "found new evidence pointing to two other suspects."
The Baltimore State Attorney's office asked the judge for a new trial for Syed, saying the state “no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
The story of Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee came to public prominence internationally in 2014 when it was the subject of the Serial podcast.
The show delved deeper into the story of the teenagers' Baltimore community, families, school and friend groups with interviews with Syed himself from behind bars.
He continues to question the investigation and subsequent trial. In 2019, The Case of Adnan Syed was made into a documentary shown in Ireland on Sky Atlantic. He similarly dissected the original trial.
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