MOST LOGICAL THEORY: There is a 3rd Party

I was a little late to the game when it comes to listening to this podcast. However, it allowed me to listen to it all at once followed by Jay's interview.

And the end of the podcast, I came to one certain conclusion--Adnan and Jay are hiding a part of the story. I think they are more connected than you are led to believe.

I'm positive there is a 3rd party.

Serial touches on this subject briefly, but they never come out and say it because they don't have the evidence. However, they don't go out and seek it with this theory in mind either. A third party absolutely fits based on the accounts given and I'll point out why:

Let’s start with this. I want you to keep this in mind while I go through some points. I’ll point out where this holds true as I go through some points: I think there was a 3rd party that Jay replaces with Adnan at certain points in Jay’s version of events.

ADNAN AND JAY WERE INVOLVED IN DRUG DEALING TOGETHER I think Adnan and Jay were involved in drugs… Both buying and selling. Adnan was interested in making extra money and he probably helped fund Jay. This is probably why Stef introduced Adnan to Jay. Now, let me tell you a few things I know from personal experience. I had a brief stint in the ‘business’ back around that age. I can see where Jay is coming from, I’ve been AND encountered many Jay-type people. I know how the small time business goes. So let me tell you where I see some flaws in Jay’s story: Jay told us that Stef introduced him to Adnan because Adnan wanted to “buy”. Now most people, Serial included, probably thought Adnan wanted to just buy some personal amounts. I don’t think that was the case. If Jay felt uncomfortable with selling a personal amount to one of his girlfriend’s best friends, he would’ve made the sale through her. That’s how you sell drugs to people you don’t know or don’t like. You use the middle man. No, that wasn’t the case here. She had to convince Jay that he was cool. She had to make them meet. I am pretty sure Adnan was looking to buy more than personal amounts. He wanted to get in on the business and make some money. He wanted to throw some money in for funding and get some returns. And who else could get him in but his good friend’s weed selling boyfriend. Based on the Mosque story where Adnan and friends create a system to steal money, you can tell that’s an interest to him. From experience, when you are selling drugs, people CONSTANTLY try to get in on drug dealing with you. The allure of making money without having to do anything is STRONG. People believe they can just throw money at drugs and get big returns. I strongly believe Adnan approached Jay about funding. And from the way Jay describes their first encounter, he described Adnan as somebody who didn’t smoke much. If Adnan wasn’t a big smoker and just wanted a personal amount, he would’ve done the deal through Stef. When you first start smoking, confronting drug dealers (whether they are small time or big time) is still weird. If somebody else can do it for you, you take it. And though Jay may have been skeptical of Adnan, it’s always tempting to buy more and make more money. I think he eventually went into business with Adnan.

ADNAN AND JAY GOT INVOLVED WITH BAD CHARACTERS WHEN THE STAKES WERE HIGHER With extra funding you can buy more. And buying more is also more dangerous because of the people you deal with. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jay and Adnan got in over their heads. And to top it off, drug dealing bigger amounts is also a MUCH bigger deal in relation to the law—especially in 1999, as Jay recounts in his interview.

Going back to my “mo’ money, mo’ problems” point, I think Jay and Adnan messed up something in a deal. For instance, maybe they didn’t have enough money or something. And I think the 3rd party threatened to kill people they knew if they didn’t come through. In this case, I think Hae was an example. I think the 3rd party killed her and left her with them to say: “Now you know what happens”. And there’s you motive. Now let’s point some things out that support this. What struck me as weird were the stories surrounding the ‘Patrick’ person. Serial doesn’t really touch on him much, but he’s definitely a person of interest. More so than Adnan. I think Jay replaces Patrick (or his associates) with Adnan in his story about the “west side hitman” threat. It fits the whole story of Jay’s coworker saying that Jay was scared of ‘people’ coming to get him. People?? Adnan is one guy. You hear the coworker slip when he mentions Jay describing the threat as multiple people. He later corrects himself when Serial mentions Adnan. He switches to singular when he’s trying to say that Adnan was the threat. That was especially fishy to me. I think he realized it Jay had mentioned it in plural. Plus, why would Adnan be in a van? He doesn’t have a van. And I don’t think he’s an expert killer like that. It doesn’t fit. Now, this is a weird point but you’ll understand some who’ve seen the show will know where I’m going with this—‘the Wire’ for crying out loud! I know it’s a somewhat fictional show, but it’s based on a real person in Baltimore. That’s how drug dealers sent messages: “Mess with us and we’ll hurt you or people you care about.” In this case, they’d have known Adnan had Hae (at least at the time they knew him), and Jay had Stef (which fit the threats to Stef).

So you may ask, why wouldn't Jay or Adnan come clean now? Well this 3rd party could still be at large. I think they can still be a threat to Jay's new family or Adnan's family.

THE DISCREPENCY ON THE MORNING OF HAE’S DISSAPEARANCE HAS SIGNIFICANCE. JAY AND ADNAN ARE BOTH LYING. JEN TOLD THE TRUTH.

To the point above you might ask: “Well if Adnan was just funding, why would he know the 3rd party?” I think at some point Jay took Adnan along to meet the 3rd party supplier. And I think on the morning of Hae’s disappearance, Jay and Adnan went to meet the 3rd party. This is why…

That morning was the real difference in Jay and Adnan’s story—where it’s clear they are both lying. Serial proves this. The one believable moment came from Jen, where she said that Jay had told her that morning that he was with Adnan downtown. Why were they downtown together? I believe to meet the 3rd party. The case dismissed the discrepancy because it didn’t happen near Hae’s disappearance; therefore they thought it was irrelevant. However, I think it’s completely relevant and makes the case.

Additionally, all of a sudden after that morning Adnan gives Jay his car and cell phone?? I think Adnan giving the car and phone to Jay had more to do with the drug deal gone wrong (and having Jay fix it since Jay didn’t have a car) than Adnan plotting to kill Hae. Adnan had to go to school, so Jay would have to handle this situation.

To top it off, during the time that Jay supposedly had Adnan’s car and phone, Serial proved that Jay was at Jen’s house. However, he supposedly called Jen’s house from Adnan’s phone where he was already staying…That’s doesn’t make sense! Serial proved that this means that Jay didn’t have Adnan’s phone. Most likely, I think the 3rd party had Adnan’s phone.

In the end, I think Jay and Adnan are both lying, but I also think neither of them kill Hae. I think they were left with the body by the 3rd party and buried her together because YES THEY WERE BOTH INVOLVED AND WERE BOTH THREATENED. They had to get rid of the body. Then you have Jay who took advantage of his situation, which sucked for Adnan.

JAY PROTECTED HIMSELF WHEN GETTING PICKED UP BY THE COPS AND AFTER HIS PLEA DEAL. WHY NOT PIN IT ON ADNAN INSTEAD?

Jay was the first one picked up by the cops. I think he modified the truth to keep out the 3rd party, and exonerate himself. I also think this is why his story changed so much over time. It’s hard to keep track of what you modified to keep the 3rd party out. That would also explain some of the facts that he changed “for no reason”.

When Jay got the plea deal to ignore the charges on drugs, why not throw Adnan down the tubes? He was definitely coached to throw Adnan under the bus.

Based on what actually happened to Jay with the 3rd party, I think he modified his story to make it fit that Adnan was the killer. Why not? He was the first one pulled in by the cops, he was scared. And that's also why his story changed a lot---he didn't have his lies straight. How can you remember what you changed and what you didn't at the spur of the moment? All you know is that you have to keep this 3rd party out of the story and make it look like you're not involved--except for the parts where you were (digging the hole).

CONCLUSION, JAY AND ADNAN WERE BOTH INVOLVED BUT THEY DIDN’T KILL HAE. THEY WERE BOTH THREATENED.

These two were not friends...Adnan would not admit to killing his girlfriend to an acquaintance at best. It wasn’t a crime of passion as Jay tells. They were business partners and the deal went south and their actions got someone hurt. Jay started a story to protect himself and had to stick to it. Simple as that. Even now with Jae’s new interview, he sticks to the story that Hae was dead in the trunk before Adnan got to his house. He didn’t see the murder. That could very well be true, but it doesn’t mean Adnan did it.