The Case Against Adnan Syed: Serial murder case to be re-examined in new HBO and Sky documentary series

Adnan Syed has been granted a retrial after being convicted for the kidnapping and murder of Hae Min Lee

Adnan Syed leaves the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland February 5, 2016 (Reuters)

The case launched into the public eye by the podcast Serial will be re-examined in a four-hour documentary series on HBO and Sky.

The Case Against Adnan Syed, the network announced, will delve once more into the 1999 disappearance and murder of Hae Min Lee, 18, in Baltimore Country and the eventual conviction of Mr Syed of multiple crimes, including first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 and has continually maintained his innocence.

The case became a subject of international conversation after it became the focus of 2014's podcast sensation Serial, hosted by Sarah Koenig. The series won a Peabody Award in April 2015 and, according to iTunes, it was the fastest podcast in its history to receive 5 million downloads.

Three weeks after its coverage of Mr Syed's case ended, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals filed a decision to allow Mr Syed to appeal his conviction on grounds his attorney, Christina Gutierrez, had provided ineffective counsel for failing to seek a plea bargain during his trial.

The Court also announced it would consider whether new evidence brought forward by Asia McClain during the podcast, providing an alibi for Syed, would be admitted. He was granted a retrial in 2016 by the Baltimore City Circuit Court, with the decision then upheld by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in March.

The Case Against Adnan Syed will both re-examine the original police investigation, while also tracing the retrial process.

The series will be directed by Amy Berg, who was also behind the 2006 documentary Deliver Us From Evil, which investigated sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

The documentary will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK and HBO in the US.

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