Confessions of a Serial Alibi (6 page)

Another conspiracy theory that arose about letter number two came straight from the mouth of Thiru Vignarajah himself, during the post-conviction in 2016. During his cross-examination of my testimony Vignarajah accused me of using terminology in my letter that could be found on Adnan’s original search warrant. He insinuated that someone (presumably Adnan) had spoon-fed me the information resulting in the second letter to Adnan. Thiru squawked that Adnan had written me with instructions to type him a letter for his bail review and possibly as an alibi. Thiru tied this accusation to the fact that I knew Adnan’s inmate number (probably given to me by the Syed family, a teacher or friend), along with other words within my letters. These accusations caught me completely off guard for a plethora of reasons, the primary reason being that of course they were untrue. I have never received any communication from Adnan since that day in the library. No one has ever given me specific instructions to write him anything. I can’t sit here and tell you that Adnan didn’t try to write me back. All I can account for is the fact that I have never received any correspondence from Adnan in any fashion.

As I sit here today I still haven’t seen the warrant document that Thiru brought up in court. I also could not tell you the details of its contents. The second and more obvious reason that I found his line of questioning to be off-putting was that he was essentially calling me a liar and co-conspirator to my face. Even after the post-conviction hearing he continued to call me a liar on the news. I found that to be very insulting, spirit-crushing and enraging all at the same time.

What a horrible precedent this case has set in terms of encouraging witnesses to come forward with helpful information. A person such as myself, with no criminal record and no motive to lie, comes forward to tell the truth and the prosecution pounces on her. The state calls her a liar and attempts to ruin her good name both in court and in the press. I can understand a prosecutor wanting to win his case, but at what cost? I still think a lot of Thiru’s actions inside and outside of the courtroom are downright crude and sleazy to say the least. I can openly admit that I have been scarred by my participation in this case. For the time being, I no longer see the state as a faction of the court that cares about the truth. To me, it feels like they only care about winning. Thanks to Urick and Vignarajah, I can wholeheartedly say that it will be a long time before I ever trust a state prosecutor (aka “The Good Guys”) again and that’s just really sad.

My Second Letter: 3/2/1999

Adnon Syed
[name spelled wrong again]
#992005477
[no clue how I got his inmate number—family? Friends?]

301 East Eager Street

Baltimore, MD. 21202

Dear Adnon,
[still spelled his name wrong]

How is everything? I know that we haven’t been best friends in the past, however I believe in your innocence.
[after more contemplation and general public consensus]
I know that central booking
[no idea where this verbiage came from—possibly school gossip]
is probably not the best place to make friends, so I’ll attempt to be the best friend possible. I hope that nobody has attempted to harm you
[beat him up in jail]
(not that they will). Just remember that if someone says something to you, that their just f**ing with your emotions. I know that my first letter was probably a little harsh, but I just wanted you to know where I stode
[stood]
in this entire issue (on the centerline)
[not necessarily on his side]
.
I don’t know you very well, however I didn’t know Hae very well. The information that I know about you being in the library could helpful, unimportant or unhelpful to your case
[still not aware of the state’s argument or that my information is important in terms of being an alibi]
.
I’ve been think a few things lately, that I wanted to ask you:
[Primary reason for writing a second letter the very next day—could not reconcile Adnan’s demeanor with the thought of him being a murderer and had more questions as a result.]

1. Why haven’t you told anyone about talking to me in the library? Did you think it was unimportant, you didn’t think that I would remember? Or did you just totally forget yourself?
[Wanted to know if he had forgotten about the encounter or whether the encounter itself was insignificant. Many students were being interviewed by the police and I had not been chosen to be interviewed yet.]

2. How long did you stay in the library that day? Your family will probably try to obtain the library’s surveillance tape.
[Wondering how long after our conversation he stayed at the library. I think I mentioned to the family that there might be cameras and that they should see if Adnan stayed at the library after I left—could be why their private investigator went to the library but did not call me. Remember, no one knew I was the alibi at that point. I was assuming that someone would grab the videotape to check.]

3. Where exactly did you do and go that day? What is the so-called evidence that my statement is up against? And who are these WITNESSES?
[I heard that there were witnesses in conjunction to his arrest—no idea how many because I was going off of rumor. Here, I’m trying to anticipate whether my information would be well received by the police or if they would be hostile towards me because I might be making their case harder to prove. Back then, I had an irrational fear of the police because of stories from friends.]

Anyway, everything in school is somewhat the same. The ignorant (and some underclassmen) think that you’re guilty, while others (mostly those that know you) think you’re innocent. I talked to Emron
[was actually spelled “Imran” or “Imraan,” not sure (now) which person I was referencing here because there were two guys]
today, he looked like crap. He’s upset, most of your “CRUCHES are.”
[people who defended Adnan and were supportive and uplifting]
We love you,
[being nice]
I guess that inside I know that you’re innocent too.
[wanting to believe in his innocence]
It’s just that the so-called evidence looks very negative.
[no idea about actual evidence, just what was rumored]
However I’m positive that everything will work out in favor of the truth.
[not his innocence but the truth—still not sure if he is guilty or not]
The main thing that I’m worried about is that the real killers
[whoever, if it’s not Adnan—could be one or more]
are probably somewhere laughing at the police and the news, that makes me sick!! I hope this letter and the ones that follow
[never wrote again because I assumed I was of no use and so I went on with my life]
ease you days a little. I guess if I didn’t believe in your innocence, that I wouldn’t write to you .

The other day (Monday)
[being specific, I put Monday in parentheses because I was assuming he wouldn’t get the letter for a few days and I wanted him to know what day was “the other day.” I have no idea why I didn’t just structure the sentence differently.]
We (some of Mr. Parker’s class) were talking about it and Mrs. Shab over-heard us; she said, “Don’t you think the police have considered everything, they wouldn’t just lock him up unless they had “REAL” evidence.” We just looked at her, then continued our conversations. Mr. Parker seems un-opinionated, yet he seemed happy when I told him
[on Tuesday]
that I spoke to you family about the matter (I told him)
[I told Mr. Parker about seeing Adnan in the library and about talking to Adnan’s family, but on two separate days. The wording here is horrible because it reads as if these two conversations happened the same day but they did not. One conversation happened in class on Monday, the other in the hallway on Tuesday. When I saw Mr. Parker in the hallway on Tuesday and told him that I had actually gone to see Adnan’s family, he was proud of me for speaking up.]
Your brothers are nice, I don’t think I met your mother
[not sure if I met her or not]
, I think I met you dad; does he have a big gray beard
[not sure who all I met because there were a lot of people there]
.
They gave me and Justin soda and cake. There was a whole bunch of people at you house, I didn’t know they were. I also didn’t know that Muslins take their shoes off in the house…thank God they didn’t make me take mine off, my stinky feet probably would have knocked everyone out cold.
[all this refers to the night before at the family’s house]

I over-heard Will and Anthony
[fellow football players]
talking about you, they don’t think you did “IT” either. I guess most people don’t. Justin’s mom is worried about you too. She gave me your home number, when Justin was in school.
[I don’t remember that]
Classes are boring, that’s one benefit to being “there”
[in jail]
, no school!!

They issued a school newsletter
[I think it was actually just a flyer statement.]
on the issue, so everyone is probably aware. It didn’t say your name, but between that, gossip and the news, your name is known. I’m sorry this had to happen to you. Look at the bright side when you come back
[to school]
, won’t nobody f**k with you
[because he had been in jail]
and at least you’ll know who your real friends and new friends should be.
[those being supportive]
Also, you’re the most popular guy in school. Shoot...you might get prom king.
[assuming he would be released soon and everyone would know who he is because of all the gossip—it’s a joke]

You’ll be happy to know that the gossip is dead for your associates,
[people who don’t know Adnan well]
starting to get old.
[my opinion of the repetitive nature of high school gossip and how quickly the talk gets old when there is no new information]
Your real friends are concentrated on you and your defense.
[not referring to myself, rather his crutches]
I want you to know that I’m missing the instructions of Mrs. Ogle’s CIP class, writing this letter.
[Wrote it during class and made a decision to keep it in the final draft because I thought it sounded cool for some weird reason. Dumb, I know.]

It’s weird, since I realized that I saw you in the public library that day, you’ve been on my mind. The conversation that we had, has been on my mind. Everything was cool that day, maybe if I would have stayed with you or something this entire situation could have been avoided.
[wondering if I had stayed at the library longer I could have served as a potential alibi, not realizing that I was his alibi]
Did you cut school that day? Someone told me that you cut school to play video games at someone’s house.
[rumor]
Is that what you told the police? This entire case puzzles me, you see I have an analytical mind. I want to be a criminal psychologist for the FBI one day. I don’t understand how it took the police three weeks to find Hae’s car, if it was found in the same park.
[rumored]
I don’t understand how you would even know about Leakin Park
[I didn’t even know where Leakin Park was until 2016]
or how the police expect you to follow Hae in your car, kill her and take her car to Leakin Park, dig a grave and find you way back home.
[speculation based on rumors]
As well how come you don’t have any markings on your body from Hae’s struggle.
[My classmates and I discussed this and then asked one another if we remembered Adnan having any abnormal markings in the last few weeks. No one did.]
I know that if I was her, I would have struggled.
[Adnan would have been hurt if I was the victim. I would have fought back. I think Hae would have, too.]
I guess that’s where the SO-CALLED witnesses
[not sure if there were really witnesses or if that was just a rumor]
.
White girl Stacie
[not a friend of mine]
just mentioned that she thinks you did it. Something about your fibers on Hae’s body... something like that (evidence)
[one of the many rumors floating around school]
.
I don’t mean to make you upset talking about it...if I am.
[telling him that he is a topic of gossip]
I just thought that maybe you should know.
[so that he would be prepared for all the rumors when he came back]
Anyway I have to go to third period
[the bell had rung and I needed to report to co-op before leaving school for the day]
.
I’ll write you again. Maybe tomorrow.
[never did write again]

Hope this letter brightens your day... Your Friend,

Asia R. McClain

P.S: Your brother said that he going to tell you to maybe call me, it’s not necessary, save the phone call for your family.
[I still wanted Adnan to contact me but I was attempting to be considerate of the fact that his phone calls may have been limited in prison]
You could attempt to write back though. So I can tell everyone how you’re doing (and so I’ll know too).

Asia R. McClain (address)

Apparently a whole bunch of girl were crying for you at the jail.
[It was rumored that a bunch of girls were so upset that they actually tried to visit him in jail but were denied visitation]
Big Playa Playa (ha ha ha he he he).
[just trying to be funny]

My Original Affidavit

As much as it shames me to admit this, in the months after Adnan’s arrest, our student life simply went on. Adnan was arrested on the last day of February in 1999. In the months that followed my classmates and I became obsessed with fun senior traditions, prom, graduation and getting settled into college life. We all cared for Hae and wondered about Adnan from time to time, but it was a sore subject that we all tended to steer clear of discussing. In all honesty, it often still feels like the elephant in the room whenever the case is in the news again (all these years later). I do remember feeling a little insulted that Adnan never wrote me back from jail because I had heard rumors that other people had received letters. Eventually I just told myself, “So what? It’s not like we were really friends anyway.”