The Alibi (5)
I had the wrong address. But she was calling because I'd followed up weeks later with a one-line email. And she was responding to that, a little confused.
Asia McClain It's just crazy. I mean, I have a couple minutes if you want to chat about it.
Sarah Koenig I recorded our conversation on the cell, which is why the sound quality is so bad. Sorry about that. Asia is now a 33-year-old stay-at-home mother. And she has not spent the last 15 years worrying about Adnan and whether he's guilty.
Asia McClain I trust the court system to do their due diligence. Because I was never questioned. I was never informed of anything pertaining to the case. I don't know why he was convicted.
Sarah Koenig Asia said she was spooked when the private investigator came to her house. I don't know if that's why she didn't testify at the hearing or why she made the call to the prosecutor. But she told me that when she got the knock at the door, quote, "that was not cool." Because to her, if Adnan did do it, quote, "the last thing you want is a murderer being pissed off at you, knowing where you live." But she had a remarkably clear memory of what happened on January 13, 1999. She had an internship at the time, and so she got out of school much earlier than everyone else. Derek was supposed to come get her at the library along with Jerrod, but they were very late. She remembers seeing Adnan come in after Woodlawn let out for the day.
Asia McClain Adnan came in. He sat at the table. And we weren't really close friends or anything like that, but we knew each other. And we chatted or whatever. And I can't remember.
I think I must have asked him how he was doing or whatever, and he said fine. And he told me that him and Hae had broke up. And I was like, oh, well, that's a bummer. And I was like, what happened? And he was like, oh, well, she is seeing this other guy, some white dude.
But he was pretty chill about it. He was just like, you know, well, if she doesn't want to be with me, then that's fine. I just wish the best for her-- that kind of attitude.
Sarah Koenig I'm not sure why Asia's memory of this interaction is so clear all these years later. My best guess is that, because she wrote it down at the time in those letters and then the affidavit, that the details somehow stuck.
Sarah Koenig Do you remember what time you were talking, this would have happened in the library? Do you remember what time that conversation would have happened?
Asia McClain I don't. Because I know school let out around 2:15. So it was probably around 2:30.
Sarah Koenig Because you had said you got out of school earlier than other people. So were you there, were you at the library, before 2:15?
Asia McClain Oh, yeah, I had been at the library for a few hours.
Sarah Koenig Oh wow.
Asia McClain Yeah, I was pretty pissed when Derek showed up. And he asked me who Adnan was. That was teenager boy language. He's like, you know, who the hell is that? And I said, don't even start with me. Because you're a few hours late. Don't worry about who that is, you know? I remember that day, because that was the day that it snowed.
Sarah Koenig Were there snow days after that, do you remember?
Asia McClain I want to say there was, because I think that was like the first snow of the year. I wouldn't have even remembered if it hadn't have been for the snow. And the whole-- I just remember being so pissed about Derek being late and then getting snowed in at his house. And it was the first snow of that year.
Sarah Koenig The snow is important. Hae disappeared on a Wednesday. That night there was a huge ice storm, which is unusual in Maryland. It ended up being a state emergency. And school was closed for the rest of the week. Asia started asking me questions about the case. Wasn't there DNA evidence? And what exactly was Jay's part in the whole thing? She wasn't sure Adnan was guilty. She said things I've now heard from so many people since. He seemed like he cared about Hae. He didn't seem angry or upset. I thought there was more proof.
Asia McClain Even that day, I didn't walk away thinking, oh, I just started something. Do you know what I mean? If you want to base his innocence off of his composure at that moment, I would say he's innocent. But I'm 32 years old now, and I know that there's people out there capable of heinous acts that can keep a calm demeanor, you know?
And I know that there are people who flip out on a moment's notice and do something that they regret for the rest of their lives. Even now, it would be nice if there was some technicality, something that would prove his innocence. Great, you know? One less evil person I've met in my life, you know?
Sarah Koenig But I think, Asia, you might be that technicality. Do you see what I mean? If you're saying that you saw him on this day at that time, that means the state's timeline for their whole theory of the case doesn't make any sense.
Asia McClain It's a possibility.
Sarah Koenig Because they're saying he was in the car with her at the very time that you're saying, no, I saw him at the library, and we were talking. Do you know what I mean? That's exactly the window where they're saying she was murdered.
Asia McClain [SIGH]
Sarah Koenig In case you couldn't hear that, it was a sigh. And I completely understand that sigh. That's how I feel a lot of the time. Because I talk to Adnan regularly, and he just doesn't seem like a murderer. A few minutes after I hung up with Asia, Adnan called on schedule.
Adnan Syed Hey, Sarah, how are you doing?
Sarah Koenig I'm good. I'm good. So I was just talking to Asia McClain.
Adnan OK.
Sarah Koenig You don't sound very excited.
Adnan I had a-- well, I really--
Sarah Koenig This was not the reaction I expected. I felt like I'd just interviewed an ivory-billed woodpecker. But when I told Adnan what Asia remembered, instead of being excited, Adnan said it was heartbreaking.
Adnan Syed I mean, on a personal level, I'm happy. Because, in a sense, I'm not making this up. And at least, if nothing else, it's kind of like, at least someone other than Rabia knows that this did take place.
Anything that can kind of support what I'm saying to be the truth, that I didn't do this, is great. But from a legal perspective, it's like, I wish she would have came to this realization maybe like a year and a half ago, you know what I mean? Because it's kind of like, it's too late.
I'm sorry, I definitely appreciate it. And I definitely kind of hear the elation in your voice. But now I feel like I punctured your balloon.
Sarah Koenig No, no, I totally see what you're saying. I hadn't thought about it in that way.
Sarah Koenig When I told Rabia I talked to Asia, she immediately burst into tears. Because they were all correct. It was too late. The judge ruled on Adnan's petition a few weeks before I spoke to Asia-- denied.
The judge wrote in his opinion that Christina Gutierrez's decision not to use Asia McClain as an alibi witness was strategic. After all, Asia's original letters didn't specify an exact time. And Gutierrez could've reasonably concluded that Asia was offering to lie in order to help Adnan.
And finally, he wrote, Asia's letter contradicted Adnan's own alibi. Asia says she saw him at the public library, but Adnan said he was on the school campus the whole afternoon. Maybe the judge didn't understand that Woodlawn library is basically part of the campus. But anyway, Asia's story, then, is legally worthless. A witness who says she saw you at the exact moment when the state contends you were strangling a young woman in a car is worthless.
A few days after I spoke to Asia, she wrote me an email. "I've been thinking a lot about Adnan," she wrote. All this time I thought the courts proved it was Adnan that killed her. I thought he was where he deserved to be. Now I'm not so sure.
Hae was our friend, too. And it sucks feeling like you don't know who really killed your friend. Hae was the sweetest person ever. If he didn't kill Hae, we owe it to him to try to make that clear. And if he did kill her, then we need to put this to rest. I just hope that Adnan isn't some sick bastard just trying to manipulate his way out of jail.
Sarah Koenig I wrote back, "Believe me, I'm on exactly the same page." Coming up this season on Serial.
Male Speaker I think that there are other people involved. I think maybe he was set up somehow.
Female Speaker Clearly you could tell something was going on that wasn't good. I mean, it was just strange behavior for anybody.
Female Speaker Basically threatened me, like, you know what happened to Hae. This is what's going to happen to you. That's how I felt that day.
Sarah Koenig What are you thinking right now? You have the same smile I do.
Female Speaker I'm literally thinking, like, could he have gone crazy?
Male Speaker Jay told me he was being blackmailed by Adnan. Because Adnan knew that Jay couldn't go to the police.
Rabia Like if this works, every question we've had for the past eight months, he knows it.
Male Speaker Yeah, I mean, who else did it? They're running out of suspects.
