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. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, of course. 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. Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. 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. Shaer: It might be different from other types of true-crime shows that people are used to where theres an agenda as to who ultimately committed the crime or who didnt. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Redmond. 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. 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. While C.J. Fair was held in jail for nine years and was twice tried but was never convicted. as an uncharged accomplice). We didnt know that the King County prosecutors office was going to be willing to participate in the show. 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. More than a decade later, no one has been held accountable for her murder. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? The case remains unsolved today. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 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. There is no apparent reason why someone would want to take this person from the prime of her life.". What drew you to this story, and why now? claims to have woken up at around 10:00 AM. The podcast currently has over 1,000 followers on Instagram and has over . 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. 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. A handful of years before the murder of Arpana Jinaga, Emanuel Fair had been arrested and charged with raping a minor. may have participated in the crime with Fair and that evidence implicating [C.J.] might have been involved). In fact, Suspect is as straightforward as a true-crime podcast can get. Arpana Jinaga was a 24-year-old computer programmer, who had moved to the Pacific Northwest in March of 2008. 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. 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." Meanwhile, the shift in the podcasts emphasis does mean that Jinagas own story ends up fading into the background a little bit. She moved into the Valley View Apartments just north of Marymoor Park, along the 8900 block of Redmond-Woodinville Road. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. 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). She recalled one of these voicemails sounding like constant movement on the other end, but nothing verbally being said. . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 . 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. Prosecutors even asserted that Emanuel Fair might have acted in-tandem with an uncharged accomplice - Arpana's neighbor, who I've identified as "C.J." theres no closure for them, certainly from the justice system. Strangers come . By this point, Arpana had already started to make plans to accomplish all of these goals. 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). did nothing but create reasonable doubt (since he could no longer be referred to as an "uncharged accomplice"). Its challenging in terms of race, in terms of policing, in terms of forensic science. 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. 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). "It's the No. This is when police learned about the argument Arpana had gotten in with another partygoer, which was described as being "race-related." Shaer: This is a really challenging case to think about on lots of different levels. 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. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. 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. It is . He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. 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. On Thursday, June 6th, 2019, the 12 members of the jury began deliberating, and originally found themselves deadlocked yet again (split into groups of 4: innocent, guilty, and undecided). We're not going to put this to bed. 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. Season 1 features a whodunit-style search for a holiday party killer. 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. can also be characterized as an uncharged accomplice.". 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. These were the last calls or texts Arpana would receive that night, and when questioned about these phone calls, C.J. to give the unexplained injury an innocuous excuse. "There have been multiple reports between 2012 and 2020 of Carrizales guards provoking inmates in order to get reaction from the inmate and then beat the inmate," the lawsuit stated. 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. 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. Other witnesses that knew C.J. Its probably a spoiler to tell you at this point that the team doesnt end up solving Jinagas murder. October 31st, 2008 - Halloween - had the rare fortune of falling on a Friday. I hope we did something to draw attention to that. 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). Roughly two months after the trial began, after weeks of gridlock, the trial would end with a hung jury. 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. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. Together, they decided to enter Arpana's apartment to check in on her, but when they knocked on the apartment door, it swung open. 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). 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. This is a series whose internal universe pretty much stops at the very edges of its specific case. 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. Sheriff Conrado Cantu took office as sheriff in 2001 and oversaw Carrizales when it first opened in 2004," a portion of the federal lawsuit stated. The last episode is called Haunted because thats how everyone feels by what happened there. 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. He then heard the sound of running water in Arpana's apartment, which lasted for about an hour, but wouldn't give these bizarre sounds any second thoughts in the days to come. Friends recall that she spoke of opening an animal sanctuary for endangered species in the future. More than two dozen people would filter through the numerous apartments that evening, including Arpana's. Arpana's body was taken to the King County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, to determine the cause and manner of death. Its got a lot wrapped up in it and I am just grateful that people are engaging with it. While jailed at the facility, Alanis-Mejia underwent suicide screening because he had recently lost his parents. lived right next-door to Arpana Jinaga, and by his own admission, had a pretty close relationship with her. 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). Inside of Arpana's bathroom, investigators would find a white comforter from her bed, which had also been stained with blood. Fair was unable to recall these phone calls, stating that he had likely dialed this young woman's number on accident. Was it Jesus secretary? Suspect initially sticks to the costumed whodunit structure, chiefly to establish the gallery of possible suspects, but eventually jettisons that framing as it progresses through the outcome of the actual police investigation. While Arpana didn't have any friends or family in the area, she didn't let that deter her from leaning into the community. 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. 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. 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. had even shown Fair a music editing software on his home computer. In terms of pure execution, its probably the best narrative true-crime podcast Ive heard all year. Suspicious deaths, such as homicide, very rarely happen in Redmond: one of the wealthier suburbs on the outskirts of Seattle, which is known internationally for housing the U.S. headquarters for both Microsoft and Nintendo. 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. All of this evidence made it virtually impossible for prosecutors to rule out C.J. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. 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. After attending a prestigious university in India, she decided to broaden her horizons for post-graduate life. 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). They could try each of the men separately or together, but couldn't try one for the potential crimes of both. Now science has gotten very sophisticated. Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. Now inside, Jay and C.J. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. 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. 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. 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. This killer had kicked in the front door to the apartment, which had been locked beforehand by not only the doorknob itself but the deadbolt. However, in that decade, we have learned about a couple of high-profile criminals that were active in the area at the time, who may or may not have committed this crime. 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. 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). And still you have something that plays out like this did, where no one is currently arrested, indicted or in prison for this, and the investigation is nonexistent. than any other suspect (including Emanuel Fair), and when asked whether or not he had gone next-door to Arpana's apartment after making his two phone calls, C.J. Just like in the first trial, the state leaned heavily upon the DNA evidence, which had been aided by the TrueAllele analysis and originally implicated Fair in Arpana Jinaga's murder. 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. throughout the episode - stating during the trial that: " the State's position is that [C.J.] We have a brutal murder with no suspect. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, This password will be used to sign into all, Shania Twain Gives Rare Update on Her Ex-Husband and Ex-BFF, Journey Should Probably Go Their Separate Ways, 6 Stand-ups Analyze ChatGPTs Attempts to Steal Their Jobs, Rick Scott Is Unfortunately Kind of Right About Novak Djokovic, Rick Scott Is Unfortunately Right About Novak Djokovic, The 7 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend, Ke Huy Quan Continues His Winning Streak at the Independent Spirit Awards. would later tell police that he was "kind of wanting to explore" and could offer up no further explanation for his bizarre actions. Everything Everywhere All at Once leads with eight nominations tonight. 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. 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. Hes dangerous, hes terrifying, hes an extra in, How to Watch the 2023 Oscars Celebrate All 23 Categories Live Again. In fact, DNA from several men was found at the crime scene, including several of Arpana's neighbors and fellow partygoers. 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. 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. 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. 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. Until such a time, they had to take the program and its parent company, Cybergenetics, at their word. DNA evidence was linked to three men and ultimately used to charge Emanuel Fair, a Black man from Seattle. would admit that during this time, he had stopped taking his psychiatric medication. 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 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 . Guest on Suspect. After making this gruesome discovery, Jay would begin dialing 911. showed up to the Halloween party rather late and was already heavily-intoxicated when he arrived. 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). The autopsy of Arpana Jinaga was performed by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, and the results would be released roughly one week after Arpana's death (November 6th, 2008). ", "It was a brutal scene. Not only was Keyes accustomed to Washington, having grown up in the northeastern corner of the state and serving at Ft. Lewis for a spell in the early 2000s (just south of Tacoma), but he did travel to the Seattle area on the weekend of Arpana's murder. This is sort of in the background of the show, but Seattle is a liberal place. 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. When residents of the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, Wash . Reply . An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . 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. The damage left behind made it evident that the killer had entered through brute force, and from there, had proceeded to struggle with Arpana. 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. 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. for having any involvement in the murder, they were creating ammunition for the defense in the form of reasonable doubt. 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. And there is nobody in prison or even charged with this murder right now. 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." 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. 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. According to investigators, they were also struggling to piece together a solid motive. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. 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. 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. "In 2004, a correctional officer, Lt. Hilda Trevino, blew the whistle on fellow guards' mistreatment of inmates. They argue and fight. Even Seattles prosecutors are far more liberal than prosecutors in other parts of the country in terms of their policies. "Galarza and Solis intentionally escalated the interaction by commenting in a derogatory fashion about Alanis' mother.". But we got really all of those people. Offscreen, he was one himself. Can you please do me a favor? asks a man, previously designated as a person of interest, when approached in the third episode. Emanuel Fair's second trial began just last year, in 2019, and again, tried to reach a jury consensus regarding his guilt. 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. Paul Vernon, one of Emanuel Fair's defense attorneys, countered the state's claims; stating that if they were factoring in DNA evidence for the crime, then this neighbor of Arpana's would be just as guilty as Emanuel Fair (if not more so). Missing from the scene entirely was Arpana's motorcycle, a Suzuki GS 500, which quickly became a highly-sought-after item for Redmond Police. Unlike Emanuel Fair, he also had a prior relationship with Arpana, lived next-door to her, and had been noticeably resentful towards her in the weeks leading up to her death. 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. 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.