Where's the Motive?

Something that has bothered me since listening to the first episode of Serial is that the case rests largely on Jay's testimony against Adnan. As the only witness in this trial, it seemed rather suspicious to me that it was a case of Jay's word against Adnan's, and that Jay was believed over Adnan. Granted, Adnan does have large gaps in his memory but Jay's detailed account has its own inconsistencies, which we hear in this episode focused on the inconsistencies in the case at large. 

Since the first episode I have been on Adnan's side. I can't say if this may be due to the way Sarah Koenig has framed the show, or just my own gut instinct that Adnan is innocent, but I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how in fact Jay is actually the killer, and why he would kill Hae in the first place. He has so many specific details about her death, like the location of her car and the fact that she was strangled, and once I learned that his shovels were the ones that were used to bury Hae's body, it immediately raised a red flag in my mind. Plus, he wanted to wipe the shovels of fingerprints AND he ditched his clothes in a dumpster. Is this raising multiple red flags for anyone else? These are not the actions of an innocent party. Sure, you can argue that he is worried about being charged for being an accomplice to the murder, but he seems to be awfully concerned with covering his tracks for someone who claims to not have been there when Hae was killed or when her body was buried. 

Now with all of these red flags, it was just a question of figuring out Jay’s motive. I thought that since this was a story of heartbreak that perhaps Jay was somehow secretly involved with Hae and decided to murder her because she didn’t want him, or because she chose Adnan over him. But that seemed too far-fetched a theory, even for this bizarre case. 

Then, we learn that Adnan is quite close with Jay’s girlfriend Stephanie, and that her parents don’t approve of Jay, but they DO approve of Adnan. Although this may not be substantial enough reason for Jay to murder Hae, it’s always possible that Jay assumed there was something going on between Adnan and Stephanie and decided to enact revenge on him by killing his ex. Still a little far-fetched, but so are most of the conclusions reached in this case. 

Although Jay points to Adnan’s motive as a case of severe heartbreak, I don’t buy it. I keep coming back to the point that Adnan was truly over her by the time she was murdered, and that they were just friends at that point. His multiple relationships with various girls at the time seem to point towards him clearly moving on from his relationship with Hae. 

Through all of his confusing and changing stories, Jay just seems to further implicate himself in my mind. But unfortunately there seems to be no concrete motive for him at this time. Adnan’s motive seems to be pretty clear in comparison, but I still don’t trust Jay. Here's to hoping more evidence is presented in the following episodes to help confirm my belief that Jay is actually the guilty party here.