Serial, a true crime podcast known for its thorough and engaging investigations by narrator Sarah Keonig, covers a variety of cases with these themes in common: love, death, justice, and truth. As essential as they seem, Koenig's in-depth and brutally blunt analyses of her cases are not any child's play intended for high schoolers and older. In the first season, a murder mystery involving the death of a high-schooler named Hae Min Lee presents a wide range of suspects, with the major ones narrowed down to Adnan Syed and Jay Wilds. A special request from Rabia Chaudry – Adnan's attorney and family friend – for a further look at this case, mixed with Koenig's personal interest and journalistic curiosity, was a driving factor in exploring this …show more content…
As a result, she recreated the same murder route that Adnan Syed took, according to the story told by the prosecution. Therefore, Koenig, along with the help of podcast producer Dana Chivvis, creates an anecdote they can relate to themselves, allowing them to build their thoughts and reflections on this basis. For example, one of the constraints that Koenig explored in her recreation was the execution of the murder as a whole. According to the prosecution's timeline, supported by Jay's testimony, the murder happened in 21 minutes, from 2:15 p.m. to 2:36 p.m. after school, when he called Jay to pick him up at the end. Sarah says, "It does seem far-fetched because there's no room for error." Any pauses even if it is. The buses, the drive, the strangulation. The movement of the body. The call is on. They all have to happen as quickly as they possibly can for the 2:36 call to work" (Koenig). This anecdote adds a relatable and human element to the situation, explaining its bizarre nature in the first place. By presenting all the facets that have to perfectly line up to contribute to the success of the murder, Koenig describes the situation's small chances of occurring, which she witnessed herself, supporting Adnan's innocence. Additionally, Koenig scrutinizes another overlooked detail involving a phone booth from the prosecution's perspective of the murder: "Weirdly, we have not been able to …show more content…
Within her arguments, she entails some problems with the cell phone towers and call logs provided by the State. In fact, Sarah starts by describing the evidence of the cell phone tower as discreditable due to its inconsistency. Koenig notes, "The problems arise when you're trying to say, 'I can prove you were at such and such at such and such a time because of the cell tower your phone pinged.' You can't do that with certainty, because of the way cell towers get activated, and how much territory they cover. In fact, these kinds of records are mostly useful as a way to say where someone wasn't, rather than where he or she was. Like if a call pings a tower in downtown Baltimore, I'm going to be pretty confident that you're not making that call from Annapolis, or D.C., or Patapsco State Park" (Koenig). Her point is derived from pure logic, as she points out that the audience cannot wholeheartedly trust the State's evidence of the towers due to their functionality. By presenting this logical argument, the author appeals to the reader's sense of reason and logic and reinforces the idea that the cell towers should be used with caution when determining someone's location, ultimately supporting Adnan's innocence. Furthermore, Koenig utilizes the inconsistencies of the call log records: "In fact, he repeatedly says that Adnan called him around 3:40
In Episode 8 of Sarah Koenig’s podcast, Serial, Koenig claims that Jay isn’t a reliable enough source of information for the state to find Adnan guilty of the murder. She argues that there are too many inconsistencies in the story that he has told police over and over, and that there are too many problems in the story that the police use against Adnan.
“The 3:21 to Jenn, 3:32 to Nisha, 3:48 to a dude named Phil, 3:59 to Patrick, none of these calls pinged a tower near where Jay tells the cops they were driving that afternoon. Not a one.”
The documentary commenced with Griffin and Kovner exploring the life of Nancy Lanza who had been portrayed by the media as the person to blame for her son’s actions but also to be questioned on whether or not she truly was a victim. The reporters tried
Sarah Koenig’s riveting 2014 podcast series Serial investigates the muddled case of Adnan Syed, a teenager who was accused and convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Han Min Lee, fifteen years ago. In order to do so she must speak to those whom were close to Adnan and involved in his day to day life. However, this yields a problem because whoever was close to him wanted to believe he was innocent but their intimacy may have tainted their statements about his character. When Koenig interviews Saad and Rabia, Adnan’s best friend and his older sister, they obviously take the viewpoint that he is innocent; however, through their curious phrasings and tendency to oversell his eminence, their doubt
Scott Peterson was an educated man from California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with a B.A. in Agricultural Business. He was married to his wife Laci Peterson who was also pregnant with their unborn son. In December of 2002 Laci Peterson went missing in the Modesto, California area where she shared a home with Scott. Once the investigation of Scott’s missing wife started authorities began to suspect Scott as a suspect in her disappearance. In April of 2003 a fetus and a female torso that was missing hands, feet, and a head were found on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay area was where Scott was boating the day of Laci’s disappearance. The body was later identified as Laci Peterson and the fetus as Laci and Scott’s unborn son. Scott was also arrested in the month of April shortly after the discovery of Laci and their son’s body and was later sentenced to the death penalty. Over the course of this paper I will cover the whole event of the disappearance of Laci Peterson, relating it to a sociological theory, the impact the event had on our society and how the media had influence over this national event.
The first piece of evidence against Adnan is a testimony given by his acquaintance and partner-in-crime, Jay. The State uses this as one of their main claims. However, there are many reasons why this was the wrong way to go. First
“She still today never told me she loved me…never… never in her life … it’s too hard to explain,” says Anthony Sowell as he mentions his mother while he is being interrogated by Cleveland Homicide Detective (Sberna). The classic neighbor that every family wishes to have, friendly, helpful and caring was holding back numerous secrets. In Anthony Sowell’s actions of the rape, beatings and murder of 11 innocent women, he demonstrates the qualities of a human monster while showing how nurture creates a personality as well as proving that humans are capable of creation more fear than those who are written about in fiction.
As I was completing this assignment, I was watching the infamous Netflix documentary entitled Making a Murderer. The documentary follows the story of Steven Avery, who is currently in prison for the death of a woman, Teresa Halbach, in 2005. Steven Avery has been denying any involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach for the past eleven years. In the middle of the reading, the documentary was exploring and analyzing Steven Avery’s deviant behavior as a young man (Making). As I observed what was being discussed about Steven Avery, I was able to build the connection between how society, and the community from which he came from, perceived Steven Avery and what Kai Erikson discussed in the first couple pages of the book with regards to deviance and its relation with regards to society.
This episode of The First 48 documents a case in Atlanta, Georgia where two innocent, young women were brutally murdered by Ardentric Johnson, a 36 year old drug addict whom was living in the abandoned house on Madrona Street where he committed these savage murders. Ardentric Johnson had previous convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, theft, false imprisonment, and battery. In Criminal Justice and English there are concepts like Rehabilitation,Evidence, Pathos, and Logos that help solve bloody murders, just like the brutal case we saw in The First 48: The House on Madrona Street.
Tyler, Tom R. “Viewing CSI and the Threshold of Guilt: Managing truth and Justice in Reality
In the novel Missing Sarah by Maggie deVries she writes and illustrates a sad tribute to the memory of her sister, Sarah. The author Maggie deVries makes a clear connection between Sarah's adoption by her family and Sarah's incredibly sad life. Adoption of children from another background, heritage and race into white families sometimes doesn't go well, despite the best efforts of the family. Sarah deVries was one of at least 21 women who could only be identified by DNA found on a pig farm in Port Coquitlam, BC. The women were all sex workers or prostitutes who were killed, and the cause of their vanishing was not investigated promptly possibly because they were engaged in selling sex to survive. Even the choice of whether to refer to these women as 'prostitutes' or 'sex
Young journalists can learn a lot from Malcom’s book because it presents some troubling issues. A main issue would be the author-subject relationship and where the writer-friend line exist. The Journalist and the Murderer tells the story of Joe McGinnis and Jeffrey MacDonald. McGinnis is an author looking to write a book on MacDonald who is convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters. MacDonald wanted his voice to be heard, and he wanted to get his side of the story out to the world.
"How Tatiana De Rosnay Turned French History Into ‘Sarah’s Key’." Speakeasy RSS. N.p., 14 July 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.
Gary Watson shares the true story of the serial killer Robert Harris in his essay “Responsibility and the Limits of Evil”. This inclusive narrative shares of a man who was once a very sensible young boy who found himself on the south tier of Death Row in San Quentin Prison. Through this story, the reader learns first about Robert Harris’s crime and then about his upbringing. Both of which are stories that one could consider hard to read and even consider to be a true story. Those who knew Robert Harris claimed that he was a man that did not care about life. He did not care about himself nor anyone else. Each inmate and deputy, from the prision, who was questioned about
Ricard, Suzanne, Thompson, Jennie. “Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Reconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective.” Critical Criminology 17(4): 261-275