When US podcaster Sarah Koenig embarked on a harrowing true-crime documentary series in 2014 about a young man convicted of murder, her motivations appeared straightforward.
The This American Life radio producer’s spin-off podcast Serial delivered a weekly episode retracing the 1999 Baltimore investigation into Woodlawn High School student Adnan Syed, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his then-girlfriend Hae Min Lee in 2000.
Koenig wasn’t sure of his guilt or innocence, and at the time said: “There’s definitely something here that I don’t understand, and that the public never got to hear.
“Something is missing in this story. Something’s not quite right,” she told Time.
With a compelling narrative style woven through music, sound effects and interviews (including Mr Syed inside prison), the true-crime podcast transfixed listeners and revolutionised the genre, as Koenig and her team began their investigation.
Millions tuned in as the debut season raised doubts about some of the evidence prosecutors had used, inspiring heated debates across dinner tables and water coolers about Mr Syed’s innocence or guilt.
It worked wonders.
On Monday (local time), at the behest of prosecutors who uncovered new evidence, US Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered Mr Syed’s conviction be vacated as she approved the release of the now-41-year-old, who has spent more than two decades behind bars.
Judge Phinn ruled that the state violated its legal obligation to share evidence that could have bolstered Mr Syed’s defence, and ordered him to be placed on home detention.
“All right Mr Syed, you’re free to join your family,” Judge Phinn said, as the hearing ended.
The Serial team’s reaction?
“Sarah was at the courthouse when Adnan was released, a new episode is coming tomorrow morning,” they posted on Twitter.
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The true-crime podcast dilemma
Koenig’s Serial succeeded in its lengthy investigation into a case where there was a perceived wrongful conviction and the miscarriage of justice has been corrected.
In Australia, the true-crime podcast increased in popularity two years later, in 2016.
With hundreds available for download, the ABC’s first true-crime podcast in 2018, Trace, helped trigger a fresh coronial inquest into the 1980 cold-case stabbing murder of Maria James.
Her two sons, Mark and Adam, who were 13 and 11 at the time of her murder, were interviewed by host Rachael Brown.
The podcast revealed startling new information about the boys, missing evidence, mistakes and a DNA bungle.
Former Victorian Police homicide squad detective Ron Iddles investigated the case at the time, and said news of the fresh investigation was a fantastic result.
“This is great for Mark and Adam, who’ve been asking for a new inquest as a result of new information that’s come forward,” he told Brown.
“There’s no such thing as closure but there can be answers, and this may provide answers and ease the pain they’ve been carrying around for 38 years.”
Brown also said Mr Iddles commended the power of podcasting.
“Historically, Victoria Police relied on rewards, and some selected media [for case breakthroughs],” he said.
“But the world is changing, and when a podcast gets more than three million downloads, that is a new initiative that needs to be seriously looked at as a way of solving unsolved cases.”
Victoria’s deputy state coroner Caitlin English delivered an open finding in March this year, but recommended two people, Father Anthony Bongiorno (now deceased) and convicted murderer Peter Keogh remain significant persons of interest in the case.
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Chris Dawson convicted of cold-case murder of wife Lynette
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What happens when the case makes it into a courtroom?
There are hundreds of true-crime podcasts on offer. Easily accessible, easy to download and you can listen any time of the day.
According to a recent US YouGov survey, nearly half of Americans say they enjoy true-crime content and a third consume it at least once a week on a podcast.
YouGov says murder (52 per cent), serial killing (45 per cent), kidnapping (37 per cent), and organised crime (35 per cent) are the types of true-crime content they have consumed.
In 2018, the Australian true-crime podcast by Hedley Thomas, The Teacher’s Pet, won a Gold Walkley for excellence in Australian journalism.
He investigated the cold-case disappearance of NSW mother of two Lyn Dawson 40 years earlier.
Without a body, no witnesses and no admissions, the case went cold until the podcast investigated the circumstances of her disappearance.
Her husband, Chris Dawson, now 74, was charged in 2018 after a renewed police investigation.
The podcast had been downloaded more than 53 million times around the world, but was unavailable for three years for legal reasons.
According to Professor Rick Sarre at The Conversation, NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison “presided over the trial without the benefit of a jury because of a perception that the publicity in the lead-up to Dawson being charged was so prejudicial that a jury could not have been able to exercise their fact-finding without bias”.
In the podcast, “Thomas presented evidence that he maintained pointed clearly to Dawson’s guilt”, wrote Professor Sarre.
It was taken offline in 2019 “to avoid prejudicing the trial and influencing potential prosecution witnesses”.
On August 30, Justice Harrison found Dawson guilty of murder.
“It’s highly unusual for a journalist to pursue someone he thinks has been involved in foul play, and to do so by publishing a popular podcast that presents a particular view of the facts in dispute,” wrote Professor Sarre.
“As he and his editors knew, the podcast would stray perilously close to being so prejudicial as to prevent the trial ever proceeding.
“That being said, the trial verdict is one that will give Hedley Thomas enormous gratification, and is a clear victory for dogged investigative journalism.”
It cements the future of the true-crime podcast.
