How the investigation of Adnan Syed became a podcast phenomenon

Adnan Syed, center, leaves the Cummings Courthouse in Baltimore on Monday. A judge has ordered the release of Syed after overturning his conviction for a 1999 murder that was chronicled in the hit podcast 'Serial.' (Brian Witte/AP)

Brian Witte / Brian Witte

“Adnan’s case was a mess. Is a mess. That’s where we were when we stopped reporting in 2014,” says “Serial host” Sarah Koenig in her straightforward, personal style in the new episode titled Adnan Is Out.

In 2014, over the course of 12 episodes, “Serial” probed the details of the murder case of Hae Min Lee, Adnan Syed’s former girlfriend. Lee was found strangled to death in Baltimore’s Leakin Park in 1999.

In 2000, Syed was convicted of murdering Lee when he was 17 years old. He spent 23 years in prison. On Monday, in a Baltimore courtroom, a judge ruled to vacate his conviction.