True crime is booming, and we sometimes view the genre as a harmless distraction, mere entertainment. That’s a mistake. The justice system is the core of our democracy, and our faith in it is critically important to its functioning. If people believe all prosecutors are corrupt, that police are always conspiring to frame people, and the courts are in the pockets of the state, crimes will not be solved, and justice will not be done. As 2025 dawns, we can hope that we look back on 2024 as the year that justice took precedence over drama in true crime. There’s reason to be optimistic.
The year began with a hearing in an infamous murder case in South Carolina, where Alex Murdaugh sought a new trial for alleged jury tampering. Many feared that Murdaugh, whose history of corruption and financial malfeasance spread across decades before he murdered his family, would once again escape justice. But not this time. Murdaugh’s motion was denied, and he now sits in prison for life, where he belongs. He has filed an appeal that should be decided later this year.
January 13 marked the 25th anniversary of the murder of Hae Min Lee by Adnan Syed. Unfortunately, Syed, the star of the hit "Serial" podcast, had his conviction vacated by then-Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby — before she herself was convicted on federal charges related to COVID-19 fraud.
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But in September, the Maryland Supreme Court stepped in with a scathing opinion that reversed the injustice of Mosby’s incompetence. Syed is a convicted murderer once again, and the new state’s attorney doesn’t seem as eager to ignore the evidence of Syed’s guilt. This matter will likely be decided this year, but there is a strong chance that justice for Lee now matters more than Syed’s PR campaign.
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Syed remains free pending the state attorney’s decision on how to proceed.
In Delphi, Indiana, this year brought an end to the quest for justice for 14-year-old Libby German and her best friend, 13-year-old Abby Williams, who were murdered in 2017 by Richard Allen. In the run up to his trial, Allen and his team did everything in their power to turn the case into a circus.
Allen’s lawyers and their media allies reached back to the satanic panic of the 1980s to allege that a cult of pagans, rather than Richard Allen, murdered the girls as part of a sacrifice conducted in the woods of a public park. But when the jury was seated and the trial began, it became more about the evidence and less about the show.
Eyewitnesses, video, forensics and Allen’s own statements proved his guilt. Those statements included over 61 confessions, which contained details only the killer would know. Now the girls’ families, who had so steadfastly remained confident that their murderer would be caught despite the passage of years, finally have justice. Although Allen was sentenced to 130 years for the murders, he will likely file an appeal.
At a time when people’s faith in our most important institutions is waning, it’s more important than ever that the justice system lives up to its promise. This year we saw how the courts can deliver that justice, impartial and free of prejudice. Let’s hope for more in 2025.
