Emanuel Fair's innocence would be asserted by his defense attorneys in the months and years to come, who insisted that he receive proper treatment under the law; which, they alleged, prosecutors were refusing to give to him, as had the investigators from the very beginning of this case. It gives me a little bit of hope, that something that is relatively complicated is being thought about and talked about in the way that it is. 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). 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. Shortly thereafter, Fair would be arraigned on murder charges and entered a plea of not guilty. The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. Benson: DNA was kind of the selling point in terms of why this was going to be something that was current and hadnt been talked about a lot, because the DNA science has evolved very quickly. And while TrueAllele had not yet been used by a prosecution in Washington state at this point, it had been used to obtain dozens of convictions all over the country and was seen as a reliable tool for law enforcement. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 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. 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 . This entire process has become known as probabilistic genotyping, and it's become a pretty integral facet of forensic testing over the last decade or so. It's an extra special, two-part, more than two-hour, Valentine's event. He only admitted to three crimes in particular - Bill and Lorraine Currier from Vermont in 2009, and Samantha Koenig from Alaska in 2012 - but is believed to have committed several other murders, as well as separate rapes, assaults, and bank robberies over an extended period (possibly decades). She even participated in Taekwondo classes and dabbled in a couple of musical ventures (including singing in a band back east while attending university). Inside of Arpana's bathroom, investigators would find a white comforter from her bed, which had also been stained with blood. Instead, her life was brought to a violent and sudden end the morning after a Halloween party, and no one has been held to task for that. 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? In terms of pure execution, its probably the best narrative true-crime podcast Ive heard all year. 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. In addition to having at least one brief encounter with Arpana at the party, police were able to determine that Fair had spent time at the party with "C.J." Friends recall that she spoke of opening an animal sanctuary for endangered species in the future. At around 9:00 in the morning on Monday, November 3rd, 2008, police in Redmond, Washington were contacted by an individual informing them of a dead body. Benson: We didnt know that the Redmond [Police Department] was going to be willing to participate in the show. 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. 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. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? Fair was unable to recall these phone calls, stating that he had likely dialed this young woman's number on accident. 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. O'Leary is currently serving out his sentence at the Sterling Correctional Facility and remains a possible suspect in this case. 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. 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. 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). Or it might not. 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. He was also a longtime friend of Omar Norman, a convicted killer that had received a 52-year sentence for murdering a man in October of 2005. 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. was a similarly likely candidate to be Arpana's killer. Shaer and Benson previously collaborated on another true-crime podcast calledOver My Dead Body.. These were the last calls or texts Arpana would receive that night, and when questioned about these phone calls, C.J. What drew you to this story, and why now? The actions caused Alanis to become startled and turn around, and this is when the attack by the jailers began. Theres a narrative buildup toward the presentation of a maybe suspect being the likely culprit. Prosecutors implied that Fair had been lying about where he was during these vital hours, which remained unexplained nearly two years later. There are even awkward smash cuts to ads, a stylistic staple nowadays, where you dont quite realize youre listening to a host-read ad for the shows presenting sponsor (and not a continuation of the actual episode) until a few seconds into the read. The team, led by Matthew . New episodes of the nine-part series will be released weekly on Tuesdays. 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). Oh, you like podcasts? By this point, Arpana had already started to make plans to accomplish all of these goals. Arpana's body was taken to the King County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, to determine the cause and manner of death. 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. Despite her not having any experience riding a motorcycle, she planned on using one as her primary mode of transportation. 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). Prosecutors made it clear that they'd be pursuing a life sentence, due to the brutality of the crime (not the standard 35-45 year sentence for 1st-degree murder). Arpana Jinaga. Now science has gotten very sophisticated. 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. This isnt some true-crime podcast I can listen to and just have an opinion on.. - happened to be nearby. Jay arrived at the apartment complex at around 9:00 AM and made his way to Arpana's apartment, which one of her neighbors - who I'll nickname "C.J." After being held in custody for nine years, he was found not guilty of Jinagas murder and released in 2019. Her body was then flown back to India, to be properly buried by her family, who struggled to move on after her sudden loss. He previously suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18, and was ultimately taken off life support. At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. 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. had even asked people whether or not he had killed Arpana, seeming to be unsure of the answer himself. Who knows, she might have even become a mother by now. It's also a lot more complicated than TV shows and movies would have us believe. 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. They dance and drink. 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. 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. After all, he was the only one facing charges, and him facing charges for two people was - at its core - unconstitutional. 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). Prior to that, she had attended Rutgers University on the east coast, but had grown up in the Indian city of Hyderabad as the oldest of two daughters. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. 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. If they did, youd probably see a news cycle about it by now. 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. Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. 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. 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. We didnt want to make that kind of show. does not exculpate Fair. Who knows how many lives she could have touched? When residents of the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, Wash . At points, C.J. Fair's attorneys would point out several gaps in the investigation. Weve got romance, breakups, emotionally loaded dumplings this episode has a little bit of everything! By the time she was reaching adulthood, Arpana had already become incredibly proficient in embedded systems (utilizing both hardware and software for specific functions) and gained international notoriety for her skills in 2005 when she participated in a design contest for Microchip. 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. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. At the same time, her family was desperately trying to call her, having not heard from her since the prior Thursday. Things you buy through our links may earnVox Mediaa commission. Fair's attorneys claim that he had been treated negatively during interviews, while other suspects with more incriminating evidence pointing to their guilty were treated with metaphorical kid's gloves. Suspect Season 1 Episode 1. 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. "We still consider it early in the investigation. We didnt know that the King County prosecutors office was going to be willing to participate in the show. After making this gruesome discovery, Jay would begin dialing 911. Cameron County officials did not respond to The Brownsville Herald for comment by press time. 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. 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. During his interviews with investigators, C.J. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have broken up after he allegedly cheated on her with Raquel Leviss. 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. The demeaning comments against Alanis continues and the guards purposely made the comments to cause him more stress, the lawsuit states. He is also seeking a jury trial. The following Monday, her body would be discovered inside of her apartment, the victim of an apparent homicide. Those pleas would continue to amplify months after Arpana's murder, when it became evident that answers were not readily available. Listen to Suspect at https://wondery.fm/SuspectEpisode Description: The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. Alanis Mejia is also accused of striking Galarza in the chest. 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. In fact, DNA from several men was found at the crime scene, including several of Arpana's neighbors and fellow partygoers. 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. Editors note: A previous version of this story stated Emanuel Fair was convicted for the murder of Arpana Jinaga. 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. 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. This included the tape used to gag Arpana, DNA recovered from her neck (where she had been strangled), and a bloody robe found in the apartment complex's dumpster, which contained traces of Fair's DNA. 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 . Strangers come together. 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 over the next few years, Emanuel Fair would fail to abide by the terms of his release and was later jailed on probation violations. 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-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. 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. 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. Guest on Suspect. Listen to more of his music over athttp://soundcloud.com/mooshianThe outro song ("June") was written and composed by Kieran Marsh, Business Wire - Microchip Technology Names dsPIC Digital Signal Controller Design Contest Winners; Awards $30,000 USD in Prizes, Microchip Technology Incorporated - microSOLUTIONS - February 2005, The Seattle Times - Woman found dead in her Redmond apartment, DNA India - Pall of gloom descends on Arpanas home, The Seattle Times - Woman found dead in Redmond apartment had recently moved to the Northwest, Rediff India Abroad - Another Andhra student killed in US, The Economic Times - Whiz-kid Andhra techie murdered in US, robbery suspected, The New Indian Express - Top techie from AP found dead in US, The New Indian Express - Kins hopes of seeing Arpana dashed, The Seattle Times - Woman slain in Redmond apartment had been strangled, Seattle PI - Medical Examiner: Redmond woman was strangled, Redmond Reporter - Talented techie strangled to death; no suspects yet, DNA India - Death of Arpana being probed as homicide, Seattle PI - Redmond victim was strangled, Great Andhra - FBI asked to probe killing of Indian students in US, Outlook - Ink Fresh On Their Passport, Only News Comes Back Home, Bellevue Reporter - Redmond Police have no firm suspects in murder of woman who worked in Bellevue, Redmond Reporter - Murder mystery continues nearly a year later: Redmond Police still have no firm suspects in homicide case, Seattle PI - Police follow leads in Redmond death investigation, Redmond Reporter - Redmond police continue investigating 2008 murder: Jinaga homicide not considered a cold case, Seattle PI - Two years after Halloween rape-killing, man charged in Redmond womans death, The Seattle Times - Sex offender charged in 2008 Redmond Halloween slaying, The Seattle Times - Convicted sex offender charged with two-year-old Redmond slaying, Seattle PI - Convicted sex offender charged in brutal 2008 Redmond homicide, Redmond Reporter - Convicted sex offender charged in brutal 2008 Redmond homicide, Seattle PI - Sex offender in Redmond murder case makes court appearance, Redmond Reporter - Convicted sex offender pleads not guilty to murder of Redmond woman, Seattle Weekly - The Troubling Trial of Emanuel Fair, The Seattle Times - Trial begins 8 years after Redmond woman raped, strangled, Redmond Reporter - Hung jury in Fair murder trial, Cross-Examination Blog - Cross-Examination of DNA Expert, Redmond Reporter - Fair murder retrial on hold, Wired - The Impenetrable Program Transforming How Courts Treat DNA Evidence, The Seattle Times - After nearly 11 years and two trials, killing of Redmond woman who had been living her dream remains unsolved, Redmond Reporter - Second trial in killing of Redmond woman ends with not-guilty verdict, Seattle Weekly - Second trial in killing of Redmond woman ends with not-guilty verdict, India West - Two Trials Later, Murder of Indian American Software Engineer in Seattle Remains Unsolved, KC Public Defense - Fighting for justice: Two public defenders worked for years to get their client acquitted, Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). We're not giving up.". Meanwhile, Emanuel Fair's defense attorneys Benjamin Goldsmith and Katharine Edwards emphasized creating reasonable doubt; mostly, by pointing the blame at Arpana's neighbor, C.J., whom, they believed made a more convincing suspect. Together, they decided to enter Arpana's apartment to check in on her, but when they knocked on the apartment door, it swung open. Inside the apartment, it became clear to investigators that a struggle had taken place. 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. Alanis-Mejia was allegedly beaten by jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis while . That is where her body was discovered, nude and bloody, lying face-down on the floor beside her bed. Shane Waters will introduce 14 crime podcast hosts, including Crimelines! Whoever had forced entry into the apartment had attempted to clean and cover up their crime afterward. 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 . 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.". 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. He lost 9 years of his life simply waiting for a chance to prove his innocence. 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. 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). While jailed at the facility, Alanis-Mejia underwent suicide screening because he had recently lost his parents. would attend a party at a friend's house in Everett, and while there, attempted to wrestle them. An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . Its got a lot wrapped up in it and I am just grateful that people are engaging with it. This one is not going away. 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. We're not going to put this to bed. Sarah Neilson is a freelance writer and book critic based in Seattle. The gap between practice and potential is further underscored by the many instances in which Suspect carries the genres various conventions and clichs. 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. 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. In terms of pure execution, it's probably the best narrative true-crime podcast I've heard all year. 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. Gregory Hobbs, another member of the club, said in the same article: "She would strive to succeed in everything and she did just that. The podcast currently has over 1,000 followers on Instagram and has over . ", "It was a brutal scene. The series plays out in two halves: the first is a deep dive into the mystery of Arpana Jinagas murder, while the second walks through the events of Emanuel Fairs legal trials, which he endured while being wrongfully imprisoned for nine years. In fact, Suspect is as straightforward as a true-crime podcast can get. 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. to give the unexplained injury an innocuous excuse. "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. 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. I hope I never have to investigate a case like this again.". lived right next-door to Arpana Jinaga, and by his own admission, had a pretty close relationship with her. Two, that there was a noxious smell emanating throughout the apartment, which indicated the widespread use of chemical cleaning agents, which now proliferated the small living quarters. 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. Short of clear leads and smoking guns, the authorities ultimately pin the crime on the lone Black man at the party, Emanuel Fair, who had a prior criminal record. 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. Emanuel Fair's defense attorneys, on the other hand, didn't see it that way. 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. Sign up for Vultures new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here. 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). Emanuel Fair's second trial began just last year, in 2019, and again, tried to reach a jury consensus regarding his guilt. Missing from the scene entirely was Arpana's motorcycle, a Suzuki GS 500, which quickly became a highly-sought-after item for Redmond Police. 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. After her death, the killer had scrubbed Arpana's body with bleach in an attempt to destroy evidence, and investigators would later note that Arpana's hands had been stained blue by a "highly-acidic" cleaning agent.
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