Offscreen, he was one himself. Listening notes for the top shows, from Vultures critic Nick Quah. Editors note: A previous version of this story stated Emanuel Fair was convicted for the murder of Arpana Jinaga. Theres a narrative buildup toward the presentation of a maybe suspect being the likely culprit. In the weeks after Arpana's murder, Emanuel Fair was identified through photographs and eventually questioned. In fact, DNA from several men was found at the crime scene, including several of Arpana's neighbors and fellow partygoers. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. There were really intense, long jury deliberations for the first trial and hearing about that from people who were truly going in cold to this case and this story, I thought it was really fascinating and not a place I really imagined that wed be going at the beginning. These were the last calls or texts Arpana would receive that night, and when questioned about these phone calls, C.J. But because of his prior criminal record, he would remain at the top of their suspect list for some time until the results from the forensic analysis came back from the Washington state crime lab, which seemed to implicate his involvement in the murder. She would begin working there in March of 2008, and a company spokesman would later say that during her brief six-month tenure at the company, she had cemented herself as a hardworking and bright employee, who was considered a "rising star" among the higher-ups at EMC. He later told investigators that he was sexually attracted to Arpana, and was hoping to "hook up" with her that evening (his words, not mine). Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. was a similarly likely candidate to be Arpana's killer. Most of this reasonable doubt revolves around C.J., Arpana's neighbor, who also remains a very valid suspect (hence me not wanting to say his name throughout this podcast). We have a brutal murder with no suspect. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Fair's attorneys would point out several gaps in the investigation. He previously suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18, and was ultimately taken off life support. Prosecutors implied that Fair had been lying about where he was during these vital hours, which remained unexplained nearly two years later. He was arrested for this crime and ended up pleading guilty to avoid a decade-plus prison sentence (pleading down from 2nd degree to 3rd-degree rape). would later tell police that he was "kind of wanting to explore" and could offer up no further explanation for his bizarre actions. Not only had he been at the party, lived next-door, and had a close personal relationship with the victim, but evidence found at or near the crime scene also seemed to implicate him. In a new Wondery podcast series called "Suspect," career journalists Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson investigate the story of Jinaga's murder, Fair's conviction and the spiderweb of details . Despite the insistence from the Redmond Police Department that this case was their top priority, that didn't bring forth any answers in the months to come, as the workable leads only led investigators to numerous dead-ends. In fact, they posited throughout the first trial that he may have been an accomplice; an uncharged accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless. Authorities seem to have put all of their eggs in a single basket, and that resulted in an acquittal more than a decade after the original crime. In terms of pure execution, it's probably the best narrative true-crime podcast I've heard all year. TikToks Favorite Celebrity Couple Is Kim Kardashian and Michael Cera. Even though he claimed to have gone home to his friend's apartment at around 1:00 AM to sleep, cell phone records indicated that Fair made dozens of phone calls to numerous women between 2:00 and 5:00 AM; including several calls to Leslie, the woman whose apartment he claimed to have been sleeping at. At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. The Wagner opera returns to the Met for the first time in 17 years. I hope that answers can still be found in this case, but until such a time, the story of Arpana Jinaga will remain unresolved. This is perhaps another way Suspect embodies a core quality of the contemporary true-crime podcast experience: You might get a little more truth and even a little more justice, but youre still far from closure. The Seattle Timesrecently spoke with Shaer and Benson over Zoom about the impetus for this podcast, what surprised them in their reporting and what their take-aways are from investigating this story. According to the 15-year-old victim, Fair had raped her numerous times, but this culminated in a final incident in the city of Burien that saw Fair escalate in violence, choking the teenage girl at gunpoint. On Thursday, June 6th, 2019, the 12 members of the jury began deliberating, and originally found themselves deadlocked yet again (split into groups of 4: innocent, guilty, and undecided). So I was really primed to be interested in that anyway. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". In addition to being strangled-to-death by what appeared to be a bootlace, Arpana had endured other injuries before her death, which included (but was not limited to): a handful of blunt force blows to the head, the breaking of several teeth during the confrontation with her killer, being gagged by her own underwear (which the assailant had used duct tape to keep in place), and was then forcibly raped for an unknown extent of time. He is also seeking a jury trial. Erin Ehlert, the Senior Deputy Prosecutor, would claim that Emanuel Fair's DNA was found in places only the killer would have left behind a forensic footprint: on the piece of tape used to gag the victim, on her neck (where she had been choked), and then on a bloody bathrobe recovered by investigators. She had traveled the globe in pursuit of an exciting and adventurous life, made a name for herself in the notoriously-competitive tech sector by the age of 24, endeared herself to dozens of strangers and it had all ended with one senseless act of violence. Typically, when police recommend filing charges against someone, they don't follow that up with any investigation of their own and that's sadly what happened here. would admit that during this time, he had stopped taking his psychiatric medication. Months later, members of the Pacific Northwest Riders, the motorcycle club that Arpana had joined, would organize memorial rides in her honor (which took them out to Snoqualmie Falls, one of Arpana's favorite places to visit in Washington). According to this caller, the body had been found in an apartment just north of Marymoor Park, the scenic park and music venue east of Seattle, jutted up against Lake Sammamish. "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. Benson: I think no one feels satisfied with the outcome. Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. Inside the apartment, it became clear to investigators that a struggle had taken place. Now inside, Jay and C.J. All of this evidence made it virtually impossible for prosecutors to rule out C.J. Those thoughts were welcomed by Arpana's family back home in India, who found it "heartening" to hear what an impact she had had on those in the Seattle area over just a few months. throughout the episode - stating during the trial that: " the State's position is that [C.J.] lived right next-door to Arpana Jinaga, and by his own admission, had a pretty close relationship with her. The following Monday, her body would be discovered inside of her apartment, the victim of an apparent homicide. Let's talk about Jeff (Suspect, Episode 7) There are, sadly, myriad reasons why the average American should live in fear of ever having to deal with the criminal justice system, be they guilty of a crime or not. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. The best musical instrument is a love triangle. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have broken up after he allegedly cheated on her with Raquel Leviss. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. "Classic City Crime," a true-crime podcast hosted by Cameron Jay, centers around the tragic death of Tara Louise Baker. However, the results obtained through TrueAllele pointed to Fair, in particular, as the killer; with the software saying that he was thousands of times more likely to have been Arpana's killer than other available suspects. By Cameron Sheppard March 4, 2023 1:30 pm. In a new Wondery podcast series called Suspect, career journalistsMatthew ShaerandEric Bensoninvestigate the story of Jinagas murder, Fairs conviction and the spiderweb of details around this story. And there is nobody in prison or even charged with this murder right now. Theres plinking music. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? throughout this episode - who, it turns out, had been one of the investigation's main suspects early on. She had been posthumously covered in numerous liquids, including bleach and motor oil, which the killer had undoubtedly use to try and cover up the crime scene. On November 21st, 2008 - three weeks after the murder - he spoke to investigators and admitted to being inside of Arpana's apartment during the Halloween party. Chef Ethan Stowell buys a historic Seattle dive bar, 4 steep Seattle stair climbs to get you in shape for WA hiking season, WA volunteer details Colchuck Peak avalanche search-and-rescue effort, How one Ballard newbie became pinballs international rookie of the year, Restaurant review: Itsumono is making some of Seattles best food and great drinks, too, Arpana Jinaga was found strangled in her apartment, U.S. rankings of most listened to Apple podcasts, After nearly 11 years and two trials, killing of Redmond woman who had been living her dream remains unsolved, Woman found dead in Redmond was slain, police say, article about DNA forensic science for The Atlantic. The two hung out often after Arpana moved to the Redmond area, but had begun to drift apart in the weeks before the murder (due to Arpana spending her free time volunteering and participating in her motorcycle club). It is unknown if Galarza and Solis are still employed by the county, and it is also unknown if they have hired attorneys to represent them. It would later be found that other items were missing from the crime scene, including at least one of Arpana's ID cards, her Blackberry (cell phone), and her digital camera; none of which would ever be recovered. This Valentine's Day, prepare for a unique podcast experience! Its got a lot wrapped up in it and I am just grateful that people are engaging with it. Now, nearly two years later, Emanuel Fair was being charged with 1st-degree murder and was transferred to the King County jail to await trial. TrueAllele is a genotyping software developed by a company named Cybergenetics, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies all over the country. It remains possible that both (or neither) were involved in this case - as investigators implied over the years - but a successful case has not been built around either. The defense also pointed out how evidence found in the apartment complex's dumpster - which had ultimately implicated Emanuel Fair - was found nearly two days after the discovery of the victim's body, giving it several days of potential tampering before being documented by investigators. Crime scene investigators with the Washington State Patrol would arrive at the scene roughly four hours after the 911 call was made, and began documenting what they found and where. Emanuel Fair spent 9 years in jail for a crime he did not commit proclaiming his innocence through two trials, numerous motions, and drawn out judicial delays. When I started talking to Emanuel and then to Ben Goldsmith, his attorney, I was like, Wow, this case is sort of exactly what Ive been thinking about. It was DNA that drew us to it initially. I hope people think about that, but I also hope that they think about the way that justice is carried out or not, in cities across the country and in a really liberal place like Seattle. theres no closure for them, certainly from the justice system. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. However, over the next several days, they would eventually bring themselves to a consensus, and delivered their findings the following Tuesday, June 11th: not guilty. Shortly thereafter, Fair would be arraigned on murder charges and entered a plea of not guilty. "We still consider it early in the investigation. Investigators would never ask him what this medication was, or what mental illness it was treating (one of the many missteps that Emanuel Fair's attorneys referred to in their pretrial motions). Investigators would later speculate that this was the time when the ambitious 24-year-old's life was coming to an end, and her killer was attempting to cover up his tracks. It would soon become clear to them that someone had attempted to scrub the apartment of their presence, wiping bleach onto several pieces of furniture, as well as a table in the living room (from which, fluid had spilled down onto the carpet, permanently staining it). Im trying to tell the truth dont cut this podcast to make me look like a maybe suspect. Later, a woman who served as the jury foreperson in a pivotal trial talked about her responsibility as follows: I had to pay attention. Its the best we can do forensically, but it still requires human beings to translate. How did that happen? The damage left behind made it evident that the killer had entered through brute force, and from there, had proceeded to struggle with Arpana. The crime scene itself was a maelstrom of forensic evidence because more than a dozen people had been inside of Arpana Jinaga's apartment just hours before her death, attending the Halloween party. Despite her not having any experience riding a motorcycle, she planned on using one as her primary mode of transportation. As you can imagine, this analysis was seen as invaluable to the prosecution, who saw this as being ironclad proof of Fair's guilt. Alanis-Mejia was allegedly beaten by jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis while Alanis-Mejia was incarcerated at the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito in September 2014, the lawsuit reads. The two disgraced men have both been sentenced for sex crimes. A new true-crime podcast delves into the complicated murder case of a rising 24-year-old software programmer in Redmond, Wash. There is no apparent reason why someone would want to take this person from the prime of her life.". Justice has not been swift. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. More than two dozen people would filter through the numerous apartments that evening, including Arpana's. In the apartment complex's dumpster, investigators would find a bottle of Castrol motorcycle oil, which the offender had likely found inside of Arpana's apartment and then sprayed all over the crime scene and her body. The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. The big issue the show pursues is that Cameron was a viable suspect and the cops seemed to want to find ways to let him off the hook and make him a witness against Emmanuel. Among thousands of contestants, she was singled out as a top-20 performer and was the only participant from Asia to be featured in the subsequent awards. Police would speculate that the killer had started using bleach there and then carried it towards the bedroom, based on a trail of bleached droplets that led down the hallway. After all, nothing else of value had been stolen from the apartment, so someone might have been on the phone and camera that didn't want to be. At the time of this announcement - in October of 2010 - he was incarcerated at the McNeil Island Correction Center in Steilacoom for failing to update his sex offender registration and was not expected to be released until 2012. Guest on Suspect. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. Those that remembered the incident thought that the man involved should be investigated as a suspect, but investigators probing this altercation didn't believe that there was anything to it. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. In June of 2005, Arpana was featured in the New Indian Express, in an article titled "Young Inventors." Suspect takes up the unsolved murder of Arpana Jinaga, who was killed the night of a Halloween party at her Redmond, Washington, apartment complex in 2008. It quickly became evident that the door leading into the apartment had been forced open, and the door jam was broken. Meanwhile, the shift in the podcasts emphasis does mean that Jinagas own story ends up fading into the background a little bit. Sarah Neilson is a freelance writer and book critic based in Seattle. But instead of returning home to India, she decided to take another huge leap and accepted a job as a software quality assurance engineer with the tech giant EMC (now known as Dell EMC). Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? Investigators had seemed particularly hostile towards Fair and had not extended that hostility towards other white suspects (who may have had more of a motive to target Arpana). Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: In this Part 2 Episode: 1. The final stretch of the series lingers in the bittersweet of the triumph: Its justice, but it comes after great loss. That dream that would ultimately turn into a nightmare for herself and her loved ones, who have had to endure years of trials and tribulations in the wake of their tragic loss. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. Later on, during Emanuel Fair's first trial, prosecutors even alleged that this neighbor had been an accomplice in the murder. did nothing but create reasonable doubt (since he could no longer be referred to as an "uncharged accomplice"). Speaking to the Times, this juror recalled: "I think that was the biggest reasonable doubt and no one could eliminate him [as the killer] We found [Fair] not guilty because of reasonable doubt, not because we thought he was completely innocent.". It was important for us to take the case as a whole and consider all the directions that it mightve gone, yes, but not to draw any conclusions. In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. She was 24-years-old when she was killed on November 1st, 2008, and would now be 35. Who knows what kind of things she might have accomplished by now? On October 31st, 2008, Israel Keyes flew from Anchorage to SeaTac and was in the Seattle area until November 2nd, when he then flew from SeaTac to Boston. In that sense, the end of Suspect could very well be the start of the rest of the story. An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . While Emanuel Fair was acquitted of the charges levied against him, the jurors that decided his fate claim that it had little to do with his innocence; but, rather, the level of reasonable doubt that his attorneys were able to raise. But what I hope people also get from this is that theres a lot of vitality in the podcast it starts with Arpana and her being an extremely alive, curious person. The analysis of this evidence had been performed by TrueAllele, making it the first criminal trial in Washington state that this was done; it had been used in prosecutions from other states - as well as exonerations in Washington - but never in this manner. It seemed more like a momentary argument to them than a sign of anything serious and didn't believe that it was linked to Arpana's death hours later. In addition to joining a motorcycle club, Arpana also volunteered at the Redmond Fire Department, riding along to fires in the area; as well as animal shelters in Bellevue, where she helped care for and attend to unwanted pets. The power of that for potentially solving a crime, but also the potential shortcomings of DNA, was something everyone we talked to for this series has been really honest about. Her younger sister, Pavitra, would begin to follow in these footsteps as well, and later pursue a career in computer engineering after Arpana. In fact, Suspect is as straightforward as a true-crime podcast can get. Several suspects and persons-of-interest would be probed during that time, but for almost all of them, there was either something ruling them out entirely or not enough evidence to move forward with the case. By the age of 24, Arpana Jinaga had already lived a full and rewarding life and seemed poised to leave a positive impact on the rest of the world. showed up to the Halloween party rather late and was already heavily-intoxicated when he arrived. Even though Arpana Jinaga had not been back home to visit her family in India in more than two years, she still talked to them over the phone regularly and had spoken to them the night before the Halloween party (Thursday, October 30th). There, she would receive her master's degree in electrical and computer engineering in December of 2007. Alanis-Mejia is seeking $1 million in exemplary damages as well as the cost of attorney's fees. There, she lived in Apartment 8946, on the top floor of the complex. Over the next few hours, police would begin arriving at the crime scene, closing it off to outsiders and attempting to gather statements from anyone they deemed pertinent. According to one of the jurors, who later spoke to the Seattle Times, the state's inability to reconcile the charges against Emanuel Fair with the evidence implicating C.J. For the next two years, investigators would struggle to make sense of this case. She moved into the Valley View Apartments just north of Marymoor Park, along the 8900 block of Redmond-Woodinville Road. That night, Arpana and at least three of her neighbors would open up their apartments for the party, which would move throughout the complex over several hours. "There have been multiple reports between 2012 and 2020 of Carrizales guards provoking inmates in order to get reaction from the inmate and then beat the inmate," the lawsuit stated. It was also pointed out by the defense that Emanuel Fair - now standing trial for murder - had been involved in a small accident at the party that resulted in him getting a bloody lip inside of Arpana's apartment (which was verified by other partygoers). While C.J. Of course, for [Arpanas] family, its crushing. Police had publicly speculated that Arpana's killer - who had stolen her cell phone and digital camera - might have attempted to distribute the stolen items through pawn shops, so this seems to be more than pure coincidence.