'Serial' Murder Victim's Friend Says Adnan Syed's Alibi 'Unreliable'
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Never-before-seen testimony could decide whether an accused killer walks free or spends the rest of his life behind bars.
Just weeks ago, Adnan Syed was granted a new trial in his murder case -- years after his conviction gained national attention through the Serial podcast.
The alibi witness Asia McClain, who didn't testify during Syed's first trial, is expected to come to his defense at his new trial -- but the victim's best friend questions why McClain is stepping up now.
RELATED: Adnan Syed, Man At Center Of 'Serial' Podcast, Granted New Trial By Appeals Court
The victim was Hae Min Lee, Syed's high school ex-girlfriend. The victim's best friend, a woman who only identified herself as Debbie, opened up about the case on A&E saying this new star witness is "unreliable" and is in it for the fame.
Syed, who's maintained his innocence since his 2000 conviction, will now have McClain's testimony to corroborate his claims that he was in the school's library at the time of Lee's death.
"I don't believe her," said Debbie. "I don't believe that she recollects [what happened]."
Lee was 18 when she was found strangled in Baltimore's Leakin Park after vanishing from Woodlawn High School a month earlier.
The little evidence investigators had at the time led them to Syed.
"I think she wants to remember. I think she wanted to remember, I do," said Debbie. "But I don't think she actually remembers. I think she wants to be helpful [to Adnan]."
"I think that she is riding the publicity at this point and that's what she is interested in so she is sticking by her story for that purpose," Debbie added.
Syed's new trial date has not yet been set.
Watch her full interview on A&E here.
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