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.". What do you hope people will learn from this story, and what kind of impact do you hope it will have? All that we know for sure is that Arpana had already lived a full life by the age of 24, and could have continued changing the world for the better. 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. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. 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). 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. We didnt want to make that kind of show. How Tyrel Jackson Williams Brought TikTok Cringe to, Its sort of a newer version of the L.A. actor ride that Kyle is on the first two seasons, but its worse.. 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. Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. Investigators would continue to reach out to Arpana's family and friends over the next several weeks, hoping to learn more about the days and hours leading up to her death. It would be noted that those at the party recalled him arriving with a noticeable limp - which would be noted by investigators days later when they spoke to him - but when asked about where this limp had come from, he said it had come from the wrestling match at the party. After making this gruesome discovery, Jay would begin dialing 911. Throughout the latter half of 2017 and the entirety of 2018, another lengthy legal battle would ensue. 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). 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. 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. Meanwhile, Fair's attorneys would argue that this was not a valid argument: the state couldn't have their cake and eat it, too. The prosecution would paint a portrait of Fair as a repeat offender, who met Arpana at the Halloween party and then became infatuated with her. Shaer: This is a story that found me rather than the other way around. 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. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. October 31st, 2008 - Halloween - had the rare fortune of falling on a Friday. Emanuel Fair's second trial began just last year, in 2019, and again, tried to reach a jury consensus regarding his guilt. How did that happen? Whoever had forced entry into the apartment had attempted to clean and cover up their crime afterward. TikToks Favorite Celebrity Couple Is Kim Kardashian and Michael Cera. He previously suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18, and was ultimately taken off life support. C.J. 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. "Defendants Galarza and Solis acted unprofessionally and in a manner they knew would cause additional stress to Alanis' situation for no legitimate reason other than to bully Alanis because defendants Galarza and Solis were in a position of authority, power and control to do so," the lawsuit stated. The jury was unable to come to a consensus regarding Fair's guilt, resulting in a mistrial. The team, led by Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson (who previously collaborated on Over My Dead Body), with further reporting by Natalia Winkelman, approaches every beat of the investigative documentary process with clinical precision and workmanly competence. Days after the discovery of Arpana's body, a ceremony was held in Redmond, which had all of the customs of a Hindu memorial service and was attended by the many of dozens of lives that Arpana had impacted during her short time in the Pacific Northwest. In any case, Suspects overarching narrative builds up to Fairs victory against wrongful imprisonment. Listen to Suspect at https://wondery.fm/SuspectEpisode Description: The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. 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's an extra special, two-part, more than two-hour, Valentine's event. If they did, youd probably see a news cycle about it by now. to give the unexplained injury an innocuous excuse. 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. Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. Some were also concerned about his emotional state at the time, due to his prior relationship with Arpana, and him seeming to have become resentful towards her because of her newer friendships. Shane Waters will introduce 14 crime podcast hosts, including Crimelines! While jailed at the facility, Alanis-Mejia underwent suicide screening because he had recently lost his parents. Yet, it seems like the limp had come from somewhere else, due to him arriving at the party with it; and it was theorized by investigators later on that the wrestling match was an cover by C.J. After all, not everything has to be about something bigger than itself, and theres something to be said about delivering the most polished version of a standard. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Shaer: This is a really challenging case to think about on lots of different levels. So I was really primed to be interested in that anyway. "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. 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. This is when police learned about the argument Arpana had gotten in with another partygoer, which was described as being "race-related." He said that he met her briefly that night, and seemed to get along well with her; she briefly showed him photos from her bedroom computer, but that was about the extent of their interaction. However, this case would prove to be much harder to solve for investigators; many of whom had not worked on a murder case in quite some time (if at all). 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. Not only was there just as much incriminating physical evidence implicating him in Arpana's death, but he had committed a ton of strange and bizarre acts around the time of her death that raised suspicion. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google was one of these neighbors, who claimed to have passed out on a couch jutted up against his and Arpana's shared wall, and he said that he was woken up shortly after 3:00 AM to the sound of moaning, before falling back asleep until 10:00 AM. could see that things were in disarray, and briefly scanned the apartment before locating the body of Arpana lying on her bedroom floor, already in the process of decomposing. In terms of pure execution, it's probably the best narrative true-crime podcast I've heard all year. 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. Until such a time, they had to take the program and its parent company, Cybergenetics, at their word. 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. But just a few days before the retrial was set to begin (September 11th, 2017), the trial was placed on hold pending a discretionary review by the Court of Appeals. Instead of trying to solve Jinagas murder, Shaer and Benson use extensive interviews to weave a complex narrative around race, injustice, the place of forensic DNA evidence in the common perception of guilt and innocence and, ultimately, a tragic story with no real closure. After all, O'Leary seemed to show little regard for his victims' age, ethnicity, or well being - targeting them for his pure enjoyment - and he has refused to crack on any of his crimes in the years since. Alanis was "left in that state for two hours, until he was taken to the Valley Regional Medical Center," according to the lawsuit. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. Despite being a relative unknown in the public sphere, Fair was no stranger to law enforcement, having been arrested nearly a dozen times already, and serving sentences for at least six crimes: which included drug and firearms-related crimes, as well as sexual offenses. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. However, the notion of a robbery taking place did not end there. And when they wake up the next morning, one resident is dead. told investigators: The morning after the Halloween party - when investigators believed Arpana was killed and the killer began covering up his tracks, ultimately stealing Arpana's cell phone and digital camera - C.J. It's also a lot more complicated than TV shows and movies would have us believe. Muhammad Ali, one of Arpana's co-workers at EMC in Bellevue, would attempt to call her but was unable to get through to her cell phone. 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. However, investigators could not establish a specific time of death; instead speculating that she had died at some point early on Saturday morning, sometime between 3:00 and 8:00 AM. 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. At some point in the evening, it would be reported that Arpana got into a verbal argument with a male partygoer. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. What drew you to this story, and why now? Youve got some Janning to do! lived right next-door to Arpana Jinaga, and by his own admission, had a pretty close relationship with her. 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? For three and a half decades, her disappearance was a mystery - a riddle neither authorities . Despite not even knowing how to ride a motorcycle at the time, she purchased a Suzuki and began attending classes to learn how to safely ride it. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. Most of the guests left Arpana's apartment for her neighbors just after 9:00 PM, but there were a lot of moving pieces that evening, and no real comprehensive way to determine who was where at what time. 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. Arpana moved to Redmond, Washington in the early months of 2008. 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). The damage left behind made it evident that the killer had entered through brute force, and from there, had proceeded to struggle with Arpana. Prosecutors made it clear that they were seeking more than the recommended sentence - 45 years - which they were allowed to pursue because of the aggravated circumstances of her death. 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). 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. 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. Fair and C.J. They could try each of the men separately or together, but couldn't try one for the potential crimes of both. had gone down to a car so that they could listen to some music, and C.J. Follow Suspect Season 2: Vanished in the Snow on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of stuff has not been analyzed yet. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. In addition to the bleach, investigators would note that the apartment smelled faintly of motor oil, which had been dumped all around the crime scene; especially in the bedroom, on and around Arpana's body. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? 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. 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). showed up to the Halloween party rather late and was already heavily-intoxicated when he arrived. In the year since Emanuel Fair's second trial came to an end, the story has received close to no attention from the world-at-large. While O'Leary never killed any of his known victims, there are certain details about his crime spree that remain unknown to investigators: including the contents of an encrypted file on his hard drive, which has been nicknamed "The Wretch" by certain investigators. After leaving work, she would stop by a store to pick up some Halloween decorations, and began covering her apartment as other people began returning home and donning their costumes. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Emanuel Fair's trial would begin in February of 2017 - more than six years after he had originally been charged, and more than eight years after Arpana Jinaga's murder. Strangers come . 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 . While Arpana didn't have any friends or family in the area, she didn't let that deter her from leaning into the community. The prosecution would quickly decide that they wanted to retry Emanuel Fair for the murder of Arpana Jinaga, and the court would set a date for that September. This would ultimately lead to a long and drawn-out dispute through the court system, as Cybergenetics CEO Dr. Mark Perlin refused to divulge the source code of his program, believing that doing so would bring risk to his company's trade secrets. By this point, Arpana had already started to make plans to accomplish all of these goals. 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. He couldn't recall whether or not he had kicked in Arpana's front door, and was unable to explain why he had printed out a map of pawnshop locations the morning afterward. It quickly became evident that the door leading into the apartment had been forced open, and the door jam was broken. Because this individual has never been charged with any crime, I'll continue to refer to him as C.J., but there is a lot of evidence pointing towards him either having some kind of involvement in this case or, at the very least, knowing much more than he has publicly admitted. The genre, fueled by sheer abundance and the brute force of its popularity, has seeped deep into the culture, reaching a point where the form should probably be expected to engage more routinely in some level of self-reflexivity. 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. 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). All of this evidence made it virtually impossible for prosecutors to rule out C.J. And when you get to talk to all these different people who are involved in the case at different times, you see how that power manifests itself or doesnt. 4A former Cameron County inmate is suing the county and two of its jailers for $1 million alleging he was beaten by the jailers while incarcerated. Reply . Oh, Loosey! An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . 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. At times the party veers out of control. Using the design kit allotted to each contestant, Arpana was able to design a communications jammer, which didn't win her the contest but showcased her ingenuity at such a young age (21). When residents of the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, Wash . Arpana Jinaga. At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. The oil would contribute to the odd smell throughout the apartment, and was reportedly found all over the carpet of the bedroom. as an uncharged accomplice). A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. In fact, they posited throughout the first trial that he may have been an accomplice; an uncharged accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless. A tech prodigy from an early age, Arpana seemed poised to achieve great things in life. Her younger sister, Pavitra, would begin to follow in these footsteps as well, and later pursue a career in computer engineering after Arpana. There, she lived in Apartment 8946, on the top floor of the complex. Later, police would figure out that Fair attended that same Halloween party as Arpana because of photographs that other partygoers had taken, some of which had been posted online to social media sites. 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. Its probably a spoiler to tell you at this point that the team doesnt end up solving Jinagas murder. O'Leary is currently serving out his sentence at the Sterling Correctional Facility and remains a possible suspect in this case. According to an interview with Coats by Matt Shaer who retraced the steps of Coats' investigation in his podcast, Suspect, and whose interviews helped inform Fair's lawsuit he spotted . Listening notes for the top shows, from Vultures critic Nick Quah. Cameron County officials did not respond to The Brownsville Herald for comment by press time. They argued against the analysis performed by TrueAllele; at least, until they were able to look through the source code of the software to determine just how, exactly, the program had come to this consensus. In that sense, the end of Suspect could very well be the start of the rest of the story. as a suspect which is why they ultimately presented a case that didn't do so. As a teen, she participated in an IEEE Hardware Design Contest that earned her some attention from universities and potential employers, and seemed to cement her down the path of computing. 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. This ultimately ended up impacting the jury, as they had not been informed about the details of Fair's prior mistrial, and the testimony of C.J. 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. [In the 1980s], you really needed a lot of body fluid, so there was no ambiguity about whose DNA it was. However, when police revealed that they had obtained a log of his text messages and calls directly from his cell provider, he audibly responded "oh crap" and then claimed ignorance. had even asked people whether or not he had killed Arpana, seeming to be unsure of the answer himself. The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. A new true-crime podcast delves into the complicated murder case of a rising 24-year-old software programmer in Redmond, Wash. DNA evidence was linked to three men and ultimately used to charge Emanuel Fair, a Black man from Seattle. Emanuel Fair's attorneys would argue that while there might have been DNA implicating him in the crime, there was just as much implicating others; including the neighbor that had been tied to this case from the very beginning, who I've identified as "C.J." says that he went back to his apartment at around midnight to go to sleep, his phone records would show that he called Arpana twice a few hours later: once at 2:56, and a second time at 3:02 AM. However, these phone calls indicate that this was a lie, and he was already awake at the time this happened (and, at the very least, subconsciously thinking about Arpana). The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. While C.J. You see the consequences of a decision, even a relatively small decision. 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. "Classic City Crime," a true-crime podcast hosted by Cameron Jay, centers around the tragic death of Tara Louise Baker. 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. 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. When asked about this impromptu trip to the Canadian border, C.J. The description they gave to police more closely resembled C.J. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard said: "She did not make enemies, she just made friends and a lot of them. It's also worth pointing out that the same evidence used against Emanuel Fair - the DNA evidence analyzed by TrueAllele - revealed that C.J. 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. If the state wanted to pursue charges against Emanuel Fair, then they were well within their right to do so, but attempting to convict both him and an uncharged accomplice for crimes that they might have committed together was unconstitutional. If there was any evidence that pointed to Emanuel Fair's guilt, then it should be considered; but evidence pointing towards the involvement of an "uncharged accomplice" did nothing more than raise reasonable doubt that Fair had even been involved. And the energy with which many of the people pursued this case it is tragic, what happened.