Strangers come together. showed up to the Halloween party rather late and was already heavily-intoxicated when he arrived. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard said: "She did not make enemies, she just made friends and a lot of them. 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. 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. Speaking to the press, King County's Sr. Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Baird claimed: "The defendant opened the locked door to Jinaga's apartment, attacked her, stripped off her clothing, gagged her, assaulted her and finally strangled her to death.". 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. Redmond, a suburb on the outskirts of Seattle, is located just on the other side of scenic Lake Washington and is known as a bit of a tech mecca (having served as the homes for both Microsoft and Nintendo). As you can imagine, this analysis was seen as invaluable to the prosecution, who saw this as being ironclad proof of Fair's guilt. This file contains 75 GB of incriminating details about O'Leary that he has refused to budge on, even after being arrested and sentenced to life in prison. Inside of Arpana's bathroom, investigators would find a white comforter from her bed, which had also been stained with blood. While those at the party remember Arpana going home alone at around 3:00 AM, neighbors that lived on both sides of her unit would recall hearing what sounded like muffled moaning sounds shortly thereafter, which they assumed at the time was consensual sex (but, knowing what we know now, undoubtedly wasn't). Regardless, more than a decade has passed since the mysterious death of Arpana Jinaga, and no one has been held responsible for it. That day, Arpana showed up for work as if it were any other workday, but told some of her coworkers about a party being held that evening at her apartment complex. Mar. Suspect is an investigative series about mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day - decisions that, once made, are almost impossible to reverse.Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Thats depressing. It's also a lot more complicated than TV shows and movies would have us believe. These are just a couple of the most high-profile suspects I've uncovered while researching this case, but the answer may be more simple than that (it usually is). They argue and fight. Suspect is an investigative series about mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day - decisions that, once made, are almost impossible to reverse. 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. Suspect Might Be the Best True-Crime Podcast of the Year - Vulture Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. ", "It was a brutal scene. "Classic City Crime," a true-crime podcast hosted by Cameron Jay, centers around the tragic death of Tara Louise Baker. During that time, he had been couch-surfing with a friend at Arpana's apartment complex: a young woman named Leslie, who would actually lie to police about Emanuel staying there (claiming that she was home alone when questioned). Meanwhile, Fair's attorneys would argue that this was not a valid argument: the state couldn't have their cake and eat it, too. They can be found on Instagram @readrunsea;
Police had already determined that Arpana's body had been covered in that type of motor oil, so whoever had handled it had likely been involved in her death. During his interviews with investigators, C.J. Because of the scene left behind at the apartment complex, it was obvious that whoever had killed Arpana Jinaga had broken in and specifically targeted her, subjecting her to a violent assault and a rape (which would later be confirmed during her autopsy). The oil would contribute to the odd smell throughout the apartment, and was reportedly found all over the carpet of the bedroom. One, that someone had broken into the third-floor apartment of the decedent by kicking in the front door, leaving behind the broken frame to be discovered by the 911 caller. After his release from prison in November of 2006, Fair would begin a three-year process of floating between prison and homelessness; this included the period in which Arpana Jinaga was murdered. The actions caused Alanis to become startled and turn around, and this is when the attack by the jailers began. She moved into the Valley View Apartments just north of Marymoor Park, along the 8900 block of Redmond-Woodinville Road. 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). Shortly after moving to Redmond, the 24-year-old Arpana decided to purchase a motorcycle. A handful of years before the murder of Arpana Jinaga, Emanuel Fair had been arrested and charged with raping a minor. But Suspect is often so uncomplicated in its telling, it almost seems anonymous. 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. 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). and on their website: sarahneilsonwriter.com. 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. His DNA had been found on a bottle of motor oil and on a bloody robe, both of which had been found inside of a plastic bag thrown into the apartment complex's dumpster. claim that over the next several days and weeks, he made vague statements alluding to him going over to Arpana's apartment in his sleep; which, when you factor in him having quit psychiatric medication a short time prior, seems worrisome. It quickly became evident that the door leading into the apartment had been forced open, and the door jam was broken. 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 . Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. Lt. Brian Coats would later tell reporters about the crime scene: "It was a scene where the suspect or suspects spent a considerable amount of time covering the evidence of crime. In the weeks after Arpana's murder, Emanuel Fair was identified through photographs and eventually questioned. Even though Emanuel Fair and other defendants all over the country began to demand access to the software's underbelly, Dr. Perlin was willing to take the issue to court to preserve his company's share in the burgeoning forensic analysis market, having already scored deals with law enforcement agencies all over the country. Its challenging in terms of race, in terms of policing, in terms of forensic science. As they were walking to a jail cell where Alanis was to be housed, they continued to yell at him and at one point Galarza then proceeds "without provocation or justification to push Alanis forward," the lawsuit stated. Alanis was "left in that state for two hours, until he was taken to the Valley Regional Medical Center," according to the lawsuit. as a suspect which is why they ultimately presented a case that didn't do so. Benson: I think no one feels satisfied with the outcome. After Dax Shepard asked her about her musical chairs relationship situation. Several items found inside of the apartment had also been burned by the killer, including a green blanket that belonged to Arpana, the red cape she had been wearing to the Halloween party, other pieces of her costume, a black sheet, and portions of carpet. And soon, she was able to build an entire social circle around herself, due to her bubbly personality and her willingness to try anything at least once. Investigators would later retrieve the cell phone's information from Arpana's provider, but its disappearance - as well as the absence of Arpana's camera - pointed to the likelihood of her killer being someone that she knew. In 2008, a 24-year-old Redmond-based software engineer named Arpana Jinaga was found strangled in her apartment after a Halloween party in her building. But theres also a kind of incredible energy that went into every part of this; as much as it all sort of ended up with everyone feeling haunted, this was a lot of people trying to do what they thought was right, in most cases. This is a series whose internal universe pretty much stops at the very edges of its specific case. Its absence led investigators to speculate that robbery had played some kind of motive, as the killer might have stolen the bike to flee from the scene, but police would later locate the motorcycle at a repair shop in Everett, where Arpana had taken it days prior. 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. Suspect is an investigative series about mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day - decisions that, once made, are almost impossible to reverse. Friends recall that she spoke of opening an animal sanctuary for endangered species in the future. So I just finished the Suspect podcast on Wondery +, and am finding myself feeling mislead by the hosts after doing some additional research after the fact. While investigators had already analyzed the evidence and saw that it could feasibly implicate Emanuel Fair's involvement in the murder, it was anything but definitive (and could create reasonable doubt if brought up in trial). for having any involvement in the murder, they were creating ammunition for the defense in the form of reasonable doubt. This likely resulted in his DNA being distributed throughout the apartment; in particular, in Arpana's bathroom, where he had cleaned himself up. Suspect Season 1 Episode 1. While Cybergenetics would later win the appeals to keep the TrueAllele source code a secret, several years would pass during the drawn-out legal battle during which time, Emanuel Fair continued to sit in jail, awaiting trial for charges that were nearly a decade old. One of the women that Fair called, whom he phoned three times at around 4:45 AM, said that his calls had gone straight to voicemail. Roughly two months after the trial began, after weeks of gridlock, the trial would end with a hung jury. Who knows how many lives she could have touched? Again. They do unearth some new information and context, but this remains a story whose outcome can be easily Googled, even as Suspect underlines the details and the stakes with a more prominent shade. Through clever investigating, O'Leary was later captured and ultimately linked to at least five violent rapes between Washington and Colorado: all of which he had photographed and documented, keeping mementos of the victims (such as their cell phones and cameras). 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. Suspect on Apple Podcasts New episodes of the nine-part series will be released weekly on Tuesdays. That the murder took place around the time of a Halloween party lends a slightly surreal quality to the way law-enforcement types discuss the case on tape: Was it the gangster? Alanis-Mejia was allegedly beaten by jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis while . The apartment was discovered in a state of disrepair different from how it had looked days beforehand (during the Halloween party), which made it clear that the struggle had ultimately led to Arpana's bedroom. In the year of our Lord 2021, you cant swing a cat without hitting a true-crime podcast. Athens podcast tracks murder of former UGA law student, autopsy 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. Editors note: A previous version of this story stated Emanuel Fair was convicted for the murder of Arpana Jinaga. Over nine episodes, true crime podcast Suspect hosts Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson return to the scene of the 2008 crime over a decade later to uncover what happened, and speak with everyone about . Many had written off the case long ago, due to the belief that DNA had correctly tagged Fair as the killer back in 2010, but the truth is that the story is much more complicated than that. Alanis Mejia is also accused of striking Galarza in the chest. In fact, she was the fifth student or worker from India to be murdered in the United States that year; a fact that ultimately led to the United States Hindu Alliance calling for the FBI to investigate this case, as they feared that it could be tied to a widespread rash of hate crimes sweeping the nation. When asked about this impromptu trip to the Canadian border, C.J. Arpana B. Jinaga grew up in Hyderabad, one of the largest cities in all of India. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. At points, C.J. C.J. Both jailers acted under color and are not entitled to qualify for immunity because the excessive use of force violated Alanis-Mejia's Fourteen Amendment constitutional rights, the lawsuit alleged. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, some of the club's members would remember Arpana as the fun-loving, ambitious young woman she had been - not just the victim she had become in local newspapers. Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan, Producers: Maggyjames, Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Peggy Belarde, Quil Carter, Victoria Reid, Laura Hannan, Gabriella Bromley, Amy Hampton, Steven Wilson, Scott Meesey, Damion Moore, Astrid Kneier, Marie Vanglund, Scott Patzold, Lori Rodriguez, Aimee McGregor, Sue Kirk, Sydney Scotton, Sara Moscaritolo, Thomas Ahearn, Seth Morgan, Alyssa Lawton, Marion Welsh, Jared Midwood, Patrick Laakso, Kelly Jo Hapgood, Meadow Landry, Rebecca Miller, Tatum Bautista, Travis Scsepko, Teunia Elzinga, Erin Pyles, Jo Wong, Jacinda B., Ryan Green, Consuelo Moreno, Kelly Harris, and Emi Coates, Music throughout the episode was composed by Jake Mooshian. And they're a couple of names that you might be familiar with. Arpana Jinaga. Over the next hour or so, neighbors on both sides of Arpana would recall hearing what sounding like consensual sex taking place after the party: the neighbors would recall hearing what sounded like muffled moaning coming from her apartment shortly after 3:00 AM, which they were certain was coming from her apartment. 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. Multiple witnesses had claimed to see Arpana return to her apartment at around 3:00 AM on November 1st, and shortly thereafter, some of her neighbors had recalled hearing "moaning" coming from her apartment (which they assumed was consensual sex taking place). Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. A curious thing about Suspect, though, is that as much as some of its interviewees display awareness about the format theyre engaging with, the show itself largely resists doing the same. What were the things that made that possible? 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. Six years after charges were filed, Fair, now 33, spends his days shuffling between the King County Superior Court and the county jail while his two defense attorneys . might have been involved). Another military veteran that has become a suspect in this story is none other than Israel Keyes, who was the focus of a very early episode of Unresolved from 2015 (and has since been covered more extensively in other books, documentaries, and podcasts). Witnesses would recall this incident being "race-related," likely due to comments the man had made, but Arpana would quickly move on and seemed to enjoy the rest of the party. Strangers come . The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Joel Alonso Alanis-Mejia, alleges the county jail system has a history of jailers using excessive force against inmates. Suspect Podcast on Amazon Music Shortly thereafter, Fair would be arraigned on murder charges and entered a plea of not guilty. She was last seen by numerous people leaving an apartment on the first floor - where the party had ended up - and was heading back up to her apartment on the third floor (the top level of the complex). While C.J. Can you please do me a favor? asks a man, previously designated as a person of interest, when approached in the third episode. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. Let's talk about Jeff (Suspect, Episode 7) : r/TrueCrimePodcasts - reddit However, the weekend after the party, Arpana would not answer any of their calls and would fail to call them back, which was very unlike her. would later tell police that he was "kind of wanting to explore" and could offer up no further explanation for his bizarre actions. As the Seattle Weekly would point out, the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab found that Fair was 1,000 times more likely to have committed the crime than an unrelated African American, but TrueAllele found him to be 56.8 million times more likely. had even asked people whether or not he had killed Arpana, seeming to be unsure of the answer himself. Over the next two years, C.J. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. When residents of the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, Wash . Lets get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. Discover golden trading opportunities with FXTM, Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas. Throughout the latter half of 2017 and the entirety of 2018, another lengthy legal battle would ensue. Together, they decided to enter Arpana's apartment to check in on her, but when they knocked on the apartment door, it swung open.