Prosecutors have dropped charges against Adnan Syed after a murder conviction was overturned last month.
Syed, 41, spent over 23 years in jail for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee, but always maintained his innocence. The dropped charges were confirmed on Tuesday, October 11.
The decision confirms Syed will now live as a free man as after the conviction was overturned in September, prosecutors had just 30 days to charge him again or let him walk.
Hae Min Lee's death sparked a tidal wave of controversy and an episode of the popular podcast Serial.
The podcast raised serious questions over the evidence used during the trial in 2000, which saw Syed sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.
Journalist Sarah Koenig investigated the story on the podcast and produced a follow-up episode on Syed's release.
She said: "Adnan's case contains just about every chronic problem our system can cough up: police using questionable interview methods, prosecutors keeping crucial evidence from the defence, slightly junkie science, extreme prison sentences, juveniles treated as adults, how grindingly difficult it is to get your case back to court once you've been convicted."
Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn quashed the conviction "in the interest of justice" in September. She did not say Syed was innocent.
The conviction was overturned after it was determined prosecutors in the original trial did not correctly provide Syed's defence team with information that could have helped them point the finger at another suspect.
They admitted "the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction".
The vindicated Syed will no longer be under house arrest as authorities look for the person who did murder his ex-girlfriend.
Last month, it was confirmed two more suspects were in the frame. The pair are believed to have been known to police in 1999.
Of the suspects, Koenig said they both have criminal convictions and some are for sexual assault.
The two names were found were found in handwritten notes in the original case file by prosecutors, earlier this year.
One of the suspects its believe to have a motive and one witness said they heard one saying he would "make her disappear".
Ahead of confirmation that Syed would go free, lawyer and friend Rabia Chaudry said: "Hold on to your hats everyone, it’s gonna be an amazing day."
Hae Min Lee was just 18 when she was murdered in 1999 and found buried in Baltimore's Leakin Park.
Before the dropped charges were confirmed, Hae Min Lee's brother Young Lee asked the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to stall proceedings, hoping the deadline for when prosecutors would decide if they would renew charges would be suspended.
