Breaking down the contenders in the seasons most unpredictable Oscar race. The state was attempting to build a case around the possibility of Emanuel Fair acting alongside an accomplice; who, they had alleged in the first trial, had acted alongside Fair to commit the crime but was not charged with anything for the time being. The empty bottle of motor oil was found inside of a plastic bag, which also contained Arpana's Halloween costume, a blood-stained bathrobe, and sheets from Arpana's bed, which were conspicuously missing from the crime scene. The last episode is called Haunted because thats how everyone feels by what happened there. 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. They dance and drink. 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. Season 1 features a whodunit-style search for a holiday party killer. So I was really primed to be interested in that anyway. This was paired with several inconsistencies in Emanuel Fair's story; which included - but was not limited to - calls he had made during the time of Arpana's murder. Friends recall that she spoke of opening an animal sanctuary for endangered species in the future. Some of these individuals had not even attended the Halloween party, which made the discovery of their DNA at the crime scene that much more surprising. By October of that year, she had already scored a promotion to lead programmer and seemed destined for greater things. For three and a half decades, her disappearance was a mystery - a riddle neither authorities . 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). Then, in a strange turn of fate, he decided to drive up to the Canadian border, where he attempted to drive through the border without stopping or declaring himself. What were the things that made that possible? 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). Shaer and Benson previously collaborated on another true-crime podcast calledOver My Dead Body.. Alanis was "left in that state for two hours, until he was taken to the Valley Regional Medical Center," according to the lawsuit. 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. C.J. 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. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? "Classic City Crime," a true-crime podcast hosted by Cameron Jay, centers around the tragic death of Tara Louise Baker. 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. Fair would begin serving out his four-year sentence in 2004 but was released by the end of 2006, serving less than three years and being labeled a "level one" offender (the ones that were least likely to re-offend). may have participated in the crime with Fair and that evidence implicating [C.J.] According to prosecutors, Emanuel Fair claimed to have gone back to his friend Leslie's apartment at around 1:00 AM but would make nearly two dozen calls to three separate women (none of whom were Arpana) between 2:00 and 5:00 AM. The Washington State Department of Commerce on March 2 released its final housing needs projections, which suggest the state needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years and more than half of those homes need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels. O'Leary is currently serving out his sentence at the Sterling Correctional Facility and remains a possible suspect in this case. The most crushing thing of course is shes not here, but you can imagine it would be really difficult for her family to have that lack of closure. TrueAllele is a genotyping software developed by a company named Cybergenetics, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies all over the country. Alanis-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. The only other murder that took place in Redmond that year (2008) involved a jealous spouse who murdered his estranged wife and then himself (Joseph and Melissa Batten). 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. While Israel Keyes has become a boogeyman for numerous unsolved crimes - due to his habit of traveling the country and attempting to cover up any trace of himself - there is a compelling argument to be made in this case. That is, until roughly two years later when King County officials would throw together a press conference, where they announced the arrest of a suspect. 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. A tech prodigy from an early age, Arpana seemed poised to achieve great things in life. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. In it, she spoke about her love of working with computers and using them to innovate new and exciting things and spoke about working with companies in the future to do just that - innovate - before following in her father's footsteps to become a professor. 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. Dispatchers would tell both of the men to leave the apartment but remain nearby, and wait for investigators to arrive. Those pleas would continue to amplify months after Arpana's murder, when it became evident that answers were not readily available. 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. does not exculpate Fair. Now science has gotten very sophisticated. She recalled one of these voicemails sounding like constant movement on the other end, but nothing verbally being said. 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. Meanwhile, Fair's attorneys would argue that this was not a valid argument: the state couldn't have their cake and eat it, too. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, of course. October 31st, 2008 - Halloween - had the rare fortune of falling on a Friday. Inside the apartment, it became clear to investigators that a struggle had taken place. One of the more intriguing aspects of Suspect, a new nine-part investigative true-crime podcast, is the extent to which many of the people interviewed seem to express outward awareness about the fact theyre on a true-crime podcast and what that can mean. This included the nearly two years it took them to single out Emanuel Fair as a suspect; during which time, investigators had hired a psychic to help point them in the right direction, which highlighted how adrift the investigators had been up until that point. 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. Sign up for Vultures new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here. In the weeks after Arpana's murder, Emanuel Fair was identified through photographs and eventually questioned. Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. Later that day - after being turned away from the Canadian border - C.J. She would even join a local motorcycle club, the Pacific Northwest Riders, and many of those in the PNW Riders chat-room would later reminisce about her lack of knowledge when it came to riding bikes, but how she came prepared to take on the challenge with a smile on her face, and her participation on lengthy rides throughout scenic western Washington that summer. The case remains unsolved today. 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. Utilizing almost 200,000 lines of code, TrueAllele can analyze evidence with more than a half-dozen contributors, and determine who the most likely culprit is based on how many genetic markers are left on the evidence and where. 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. They then recalled the sound of running water for upwards of an hour; which they just assumed was Arpana taking a late-night shower but was probably the killer attempting to cover up the crime scene. And the energy with which many of the people pursued this case it is tragic, what happened. At points, C.J. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. 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. At the same time, her family was desperately trying to call her, having not heard from her since the prior Thursday. We have a brutal murder with no suspect. He lost 9 years of his life simply waiting for a chance to prove his innocence. 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. 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). 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. Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. had even asked people whether or not he had killed Arpana, seeming to be unsure of the answer himself. The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". This is when police learned about the argument Arpana had gotten in with another partygoer, which was described as being "race-related." Fair was unable to recall these phone calls, stating that he had likely dialed this young woman's number on accident. Sure, it grapples with several important ideas discriminatory policing based on race, the limitations of DNA evidence, the thorny relationship between the judicial system and actual justice but it doesnt end up being particularly about any of those things, nor does it substantially advance the conversation on any front. Things you buy through our links may earnVox Mediaa commission. 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). Guest on Suspect. He was originally charged with Arpana's murder in October of 2010 and acquitted in June of 2019 - nearly nine years, in which there was little movement in Arpana's case. 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. They could try each of the men separately or together, but couldn't try one for the potential crimes of both. I hadn't seen her for months, I'd never thought about her like that [prior to the night of the Halloween party]". Offscreen, he was one himself. as a suspect which is why they ultimately presented a case that didn't do so. 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. Specifically, it is a software that uses thousands of algorithms to read DNA and translate it, essentially, into evidence that investigators and prosecutors can then use. Emanuel Fair's second trial began just last year, in 2019, and again, tried to reach a jury consensus regarding his guilt. Gregory Hobbs, another member of the club, said in the same article: "She would strive to succeed in everything and she did just that. 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. A handful of years before the murder of Arpana Jinaga, Emanuel Fair had been arrested and charged with raping a minor. There, she would receive her master's degree in electrical and computer engineering in December of 2007. There, she lived in Apartment 8946, on the top floor of the complex. The two disgraced men have both been sentenced for sex crimes. The linchpin of their case was forensic evidence: according to prosecutors, DNA from Emanuel Fair had been recovered at the crime scene, on several pieces of evidence that they believe the killer had touched. Reply . 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. Who knows, she might have even become a mother by now. 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). After attending a prestigious university in India, she decided to broaden her horizons for post-graduate life. Phil Skelton, a member of the PNW Riders, spoke to the Redmond Reporter and said about Arpana: "When you met her, she would have you smiling within 15 seconds.". 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. 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. Whoever had forced entry into the apartment had attempted to clean and cover up their crime afterward. 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. 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). [In the 1980s], you really needed a lot of body fluid, so there was no ambiguity about whose DNA it was. The demeaning comments against Alanis continues and the guards purposely made the comments to cause him more stress, the lawsuit states. As you can imagine, this analysis was seen as invaluable to the prosecution, who saw this as being ironclad proof of Fair's guilt. The twelve jurors, who had originally leaned 9-3 in favor of acquittal, had been sent back to deliberate before ultimately coming up with a split decision (6-6 in favor of guilty/not-guilty, 5 of whom believed that "C.J." 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. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. 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. 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. 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. Again. We didnt want to make that kind of show. and on their website: sarahneilsonwriter.com. 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). This Valentine's Day, prepare for a unique podcast experience! Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. 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. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. Or it might not. 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). 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). In October of 2010, King County prosecutors announced that they were filing charges against Emanuel Fair for the murder of Arpana Jinaga, based on evidence they had accumulated over nearly two years of investigating. The resulting product is tight as hell, a listening experience of such efficiency that I couldnt help but compulsively move from each episode to the next. Arpana's body was taken to the King County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, to determine the cause and manner of death. 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). These pretrial motions would also bring to light a discrepancy within the forensic analysis of the evidence, which would ultimately turn into the longest-lasting dispute in this case, carrying on over years and significantly delaying the state of Emanuel Fair's trial. Let's get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. 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. . Suspect is a lot more successful in the latter mode, if only because the series wraps up with yet another genre convention: the original mystery resolves inconclusively. But as the reporting got going in earnest, it became more about an opportunity to do something which Ive always wanted to do, which is really break down an investigation from beginning to end and see how these cases come together or dont. theres no closure for them, certainly from the justice system. 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. throughout this episode - who, it turns out, had been one of the investigation's main suspects early on. Mar. Writing the Atlantic story was a bit of a wake [up] call in all the different ways that DNA can be misused. They were able to follow the trail of maelstrom throughout the apartment down the hallway, towards the decedent's bedroom, where they discovered her body: that of a 24-year-old from India, who had come to America a few years prior to pursue her "American dream". We didnt know if anyone from the Valley View apartments or if the people in Arpanas life or the other people who at one point or another seem to have been at least persons of interest, if they were going to want to talk. 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.". 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. 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). 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. 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). He is also seeking a jury trial. In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. 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. 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. This contemporary moment of true-crime-podcast ubiquity and cultural power presents greater opportunity for more ambition and formal innovation than were seeing across the board right now, I think. In the weeks to come, it would be reported that several items had been sent to the Washington state crime lab, but it was estimated that it could take weeks - if not months - for items to be tested for any possible forensic evidence. 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 . And when they wake up the next morning, one resident is dead. Suspect premieres Aug. 17 on Wondery+ and Aug. 31 wherever podcasts are streamed. Rather than an 'other suspect,' [C.J.] Fair and C.J. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. 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. For Arpana's parents, they had to grieve not only the loss of their oldest daughter, but an inspiring and bright young soul that had managed to accomplish so much in such little time, and seemed poised to accomplish great things in the future - not only professionally, but personally. While Arpana would show an affinity for art, writing, and even gymnastics from an early age, she seemed destined to follow in her father's footsteps, becoming a bit of a tech prodigy in her teenage years. Both were seen together, and this would come up later - which is why I mention it - but both claim that their interaction lasted no more than 30 minutes or so, and they hadn't seen each other before or since. 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. Keyes later committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial, but police believe he may have committed as many as 11 murders (if not more, including out-of-country victims). Its challenging in terms of race, in terms of policing, in terms of forensic science. 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. And they're a couple of names that you might be familiar with. 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). This sort of thing doesn't happen in Redmond. had even shown Fair a music editing software on his home computer. It was soaking in the tub, in a mixture of water and bleach. might have been involved). Benson: I think no one feels satisfied with the outcome. 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).