New DNA evidence links man named in ‘Serial’ podcast to another 1990s murder

New DNA evidence has linked a man named in the popular ‘Serial’ podcast to another murder case which occurred more than two decades ago.  

Ronald Lee Moore is now believed to have been responsible for the death of 23-year-old Shawn Marie Neal, an escort who was strangled to death inside a South Carolina condo in June 1996. 

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, police said that advancements in technology helped to find samples of Moore’s DNA on a mattress and towels taken from the crime scene. 

Moore – who committed suicide in 2008 while jailed on unrelated burglary charges – was named as a potential suspect in a separate killing which occurred three years later. 

Shawn Marie Neal, 23, was strangled to death inside a South Carolina condo in June 1996. Her death baffled detectives for more than two decades – but new DNA evidence has linked Moore to the crime scene

That case – the 1999 murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee – formed the basis of ‘Serial’, the podcast which became a worldwide phenomenon when it was released in 2014.  

Curiously, Min Lee was strangled to death, just as Neal had been. Moore was also based in Baltimore at the time of Min Lee’s death. 

Min Lee’s boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was eventually convicted of her murder – but he has continued to protest his innocence while serving a life prison sentence. 

Back in 2013 – five years after his suicide –  Moore was also named as the likely perpetrator of another 1999 killing involving a  Baltimore woman. 

Annelise Hyang Suk Lee, 27, was found strangled to death in her apartment.

The fact that Moore has now been credibly suspected of strangling two other women to death could increase speculation that he – and not Adnan Syed – was responsible for killing Hae Min Lee. 

Moore was named Moore as a potential suspect in the 1999 strangulation of Hae Min Lee (left). Her boyfriend Adnan Syed (right) was eventually convicted of her murder, but has always maintained his innocence. 

Could he have killed Hae Min Lee?  The fact that Moore (pictured in an old mugshot at right) has now been credibly suspected of strangling two other women to death could increase speculation that he – and not Adnan Syed – was responsible for killing Hae Min Lee (left)

Meanwhile, in announcing that Moore had been linked to the murder of Shawn Marie Neal on Wednesday, police said they reached out to her family to inform them of the news. 

According to  her family , Neal had been in South Carolina working for an escort service. 

Neal is said to have met up with a man by the name of ‘Don Gibbons’ in North Myrtle Beach, and her boyfriend later called police to report she hadn’t returned after the meet-up. 

Police later learned that ‘Don Gibbons’ was a fake name, and obtained DNA samples from an unknown person off of Neal’s clothing. However, there was no match at the time and the case went cold. 

In 2017, more than 21 years later, police reopened the case. As part of the investigation they took new samples from towels and a mattress retrieved from the scene, and were able to run them through a DNA database. Moore came up as a match. 

The detectives then tested the DNA sample from Neal’s clothing against Moore’s and also similarly discovered a match. 

Law enforcement is now currently looking into whether he was responsible for more crimes.  

According to her family, Neal had been in South Carolina working for an escort service