Breaking Down the Possibilities Assuming Stephanie Was Honest & Accurate About Her Call to Adnan

On last week’s Addendum Episode of the Undisclosed Podcast, we discussed Stephanie’s statement to Adnan’s private investigator that she recalled calling Adnan’s cell phone between 4:15 and 5:30 P.M. on January 13, 1999. According to Stephanie, (1) she made this call from Parkville High School after getting bored while waiting for her basketball game; and (2) Jay was with Adnan at the time of the call. Stephanie’s game was at 6:30 P.M., Stephanie recalled getting on the bus to the game between 3:30 and 3:45 P.M., and a bus ride from Woodlawn to Parkville would likely take around 30 minutes. Therefore, 4:15 P.M. is probably when Stephanie arrived at Parkville High School, and 5:30 P.M. is probably when the team started stretching, warming up, etc.

Now, as we discussed in the Episode, it’s certainly possible that Stephanie was mistaken or lying about the call. For purposes of this post, however, let’s assume that Stephanie indeed made the call that she described to the private investigator. What would that mean? We have three calls that are possibilities.

The 4:27 P.M. Call

At 4:27 P.M., there was an incoming call that pinged the L654C tower and lasted two minutes and fifty-six seconds. I don’t put much stock in cell tower pings, but the ping would tend to place Adnan’s call phone southwest of Woodlawn High School. I have reason to doubt that this could be the call that Stephanie is describing because it occurred a mere 12 minutes after Stephanie ostensibly arrived at Parkville High School. It’s hard to see Stephanie getting bored that quickly after arrival, but I suppose it’s a possibility. 

It’s also possible that Adnan didn’t go to track practice on January 13th, but it’s a slim possibility. Jay consistently says that he dropped Adnan off at track practice on 1/13, Adnan recalls going to track practice on 1/13, and Coach Sye gives a statement that is (only) consistent with seeing Adnan at track practice on 1/13. Jay also says that Adnan said “goodbye” to his track teammate Will when he picked him up from practice on 1/13. It’s tough to imagine Jay fabricating this detail, but I suppose that you never know with Jay.

By far the likeliest scenario, then, is that Adnan was at track practice on 1/13. We have two possible start times for track practice: 3:30 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.

3:30 P.M. Start Time 

I don’t see this fitting with Jay and Adnan being together for the 4:27 P.M. call. If track practice starts at 3:30 P.M., it’s hard to believe that track practice is over by 4:27 P.M. call, with Adnan and Jay already southwest of Woodlawn. That would make practice less than an hour. I also can’t see this call taking place before Adnan goes to track practice because he would be more than an hour late for practice. That would be very conspicuous, and Coach Sye recalls Adnan being on time on 1/13.

4:00 P.M. Start Time

I also don’t see this fitting with Jay and Adnan being together for the 4:27 P.M. call. Certainly, if track starts at 4:00 P.M., it is not over by 4:27 P.M. I also can’t see this call taking place before Adnan goes to track practice because he would be more than half an hour late for practice. This wouldn’t be as conspicuous as being over an hour late, but it would still be pretty noticeable. That said, Jay does say that Adnan was late for track practice; however, he also said that Adnan had to run due to being late, which is inconsistent with it being Ramadan. That said, if you tend to believe that Adnan is guilty, this is the “Stephanie is being honest and accurate scenario” that would most support your case. 

The 4:58 P.M. Call

At 4:58 P.M., there was an incoming call that pinged the L654C tower and lasted 19 seconds. Again, this is the tower that tends to cover the area southwest of Woodlawn High School. Many people think that this is Adnan calling Jay to tell him to pick him up from track practice. At this point, Stephanie would have been at Parkville for about 43 minutes, which would explain her boredom. That said, would she only talk to Adnan and/or Jay for 19 seconds, especially on her birthday?

3:30 P.M. Start Time

Obviously, this call couldn’t have happened before Adnan went to track practice because Adnan would be at least an hour and a half late. Could this call take place after track practice? Both Adnan and Coach Sye have seemingly made statements consistent with track practice starting at 3:30 P.M. and possibly ending between 4:30 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. Therefore, this call definitely could have occurred after track practice. In this scenario, there’s no call (or at least no call to Adnan’s cell phone) asking for Jay to pick Adnan up from track practice; instead, Jay knows to pick Adnan up from practice sometime between 4:30 and 4:45 or so, and the pickup has already occurred at the time of this call. If you tend to believe Adnan is innocent, this is the “Stephanie is being honest and accurate scenario” that would most support your case because…

4:00 P.M. Start Time 

It’s pretty unlikely that this call happened before Adnan went to track practice; Adnan would be over an hour late for practice. Could this call take place after track practice? No. For that scenario to work, practice would have to be less than an hour. 

The 5:13 Call

There’s a 5:14 P.M. call on Adnan’s call log, but it turns out that this call was unanswered and went to voicemail. Adnan’s call log, however, does not reflect a 5:13 P.M. call that pinged the L651A tower and that was apparently dropped at some point. The L651A tower covers Woodlawn High School. 5:13 P.M. was almost an hour after Stephanie arrived at Parkville, so she certainly could have been bored by that point. That said, we’re not even sure that this was an incoming call, and Stephanie makes no mention of the call being dropped.

3:30 P.M. Start Time

Again, Both Adnan and Coach Sye have seemingly made statements consistent with track practice starting at 3:30 P.M. and possibly ending between 4:30 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. As I said on the podcast, my best bet for the Stephanie call being legitimate is Adnan calling Jay at 4:58 P.M. asking to be picked up from practice, followed by Stephanie calling at 5:13 P.M. when Jay and Adnan are together after practice. This scenario seems to make a lot of sense.

4:00 P.M. Start Time

When Coach Sye testified at trial, he stated that “[p]ractice was every day after school, after their study hall, from [a]pproximately 4:00 to 5:30, 6.” (2/23/00 Tr. 101). Interestingly, this doesn’t work with the 5:13 P.M. call because Adnan wouldn’t be with Jay during track practice. Therefore, for the 4:00 P.M. start time to work with this scenario, you have to believe that track practice ran from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M., despite nobody making that claim. Moreover, if you believe that Adnan called Jay on his cell phone at the end of track practice, practice would have been less than an hour (4:00 start; 4:58 call).

Conclusion

I don’t know whether Stephanie was being both honest and accurate about her call between 4:15 and 5:30 P.M. on January 13th. If she was both and Adnan was at track practice on 1/13, you have the six possibilities outlined above. Depending upon which version you believe, the call could either help or hurt Adnan. Of course, you might also think that Adnan didn’t go to track practice at all on 1/13, but that would create a very different version of events than anything we’ve heard.

-CM