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. A new true-crime podcast delves into the complicated murder case of a rising 24-year-old software programmer in Redmond, Wash. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. 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. 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). 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. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. Her body was then flown back to India, to be properly buried by her family, who struggled to move on after her sudden loss. Since its release on Aug. 31,Suspecthas vaulted to the top spot on Chartables U.S. rankings of most listened to Apple podcasts. The case remains unsolved today. 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. Arpana Jinaga Unresolved 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. Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? 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. Theres a narrative buildup toward the presentation of a maybe suspect being the likely culprit. In June of 2005, Arpana was featured in the New Indian Express, in an article titled "Young Inventors." 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. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. This is a series whose internal universe pretty much stops at the very edges of its specific case. 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). They can be found on Instagram @readrunsea; We have a brutal murder with no suspect. As if that wasn't bad enough, the killer had then sprayed motorcycle oil and other chemicals all over the 24-year-old's body, which they had then attempted to light on fire, not knowing that oil isn't flammable. 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. The jailers are further accused in the lawsuit of fabricating their statements. 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). 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). "In 2004, a correctional officer, Lt. Hilda Trevino, blew the whistle on fellow guards' mistreatment of inmates. We didnt want to make that kind of show. The Troubling Trial of Emanuel Fair | Seattle Weekly 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. But Suspect is often so uncomplicated in its telling, it almost seems anonymous. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. Now inside, Jay and C.J. claims to have woken up at around 10:00 AM. However, without charging C.J. 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." The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Joel Alonso Alanis-Mejia, alleges the county jail system has a history of jailers using excessive force against inmates. Cameron County officials did not respond to The Brownsville Herald for comment by press time. 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. 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. By October of that year, she had already scored a promotion to lead programmer and seemed destined for greater things. To-date, Arpana Jinaga's murder remains unsolved. Thats where a lot of the drama is for us, and where we wanted to investigate what had happened. It's also worth pointing out that the same evidence used against Emanuel Fair - the DNA evidence analyzed by TrueAllele - revealed that C.J. 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. 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. 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. This isnt some true-crime podcast I can listen to and just have an opinion on.. That was surprising. - happened to be nearby. 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. Everything Everywhere All at Once leads with eight nominations tonight. Listen to Suspect at https://wondery.fm/SuspectEpisode Description: The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. Strangers come . 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. Redmond, a suburb on the outskirts of Seattle, is located just on the other side of scenic Lake Washington and is known as a bit of a tech mecca (having served as the homes for both Microsoft and Nintendo). Roughly two months after the trial began, after weeks of gridlock, the trial would end with a hung jury. In fact, DNA from several men was found at the crime scene, including several of Arpana's neighbors and fellow partygoers. Emanuel Fair's defense attorneys would also contest the state's claims that he had acted alongside an accomplice; stating that he wasn't on-trial for crimes that he and/or someone else may have committed. C.J. throughout this episode - who, it turns out, had been one of the investigation's main suspects early on. Weve got romance, breakups, emotionally loaded dumplings this episode has a little bit of everything! 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. And the energy with which many of the people pursued this case it is tragic, what happened. A witness that was returning home from work that evening at around 3:00 AM - who had not attended the Halloween party, but lived nearby - later told police that they saw a non-black individual standing in the doorway of Arpana's apartment at around 3:00 AM. The jailers "violently slammed Alanis into a wall and then tackled him to the ground with both officers leaping on top of him," the lawsuit stated. There is no apparent reason why someone would want to take this person from the prime of her life.". Washington needs more than 1 million homes in the next 20 years 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. Marc Patrick O'Leary, an Army veteran, is a convicted rapist and home invader who you might know from the well-known book "A False Report: An Unbelievable Story of Rape" (which was later adapted into the Netflix series "Unbelievable"). In addition to joining a motorcycle club, Arpana also volunteered at the Redmond Fire Department, riding along to fires in the area; as well as animal shelters in Bellevue, where she helped care for and attend to unwanted pets. Dispatchers would tell both of the men to leave the apartment but remain nearby, and wait for investigators to arrive. Missing from the scene entirely was Arpana's motorcycle, a Suzuki GS 500, which quickly became a highly-sought-after item for Redmond Police. Alanis Mejia is also accused of striking Galarza in the chest. 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. We didnt know that the King County prosecutors office was going to be willing to participate in the show. 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. TrueAllele is a genotyping software developed by a company named Cybergenetics, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies all over the country. Lets get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. "Galarza and Solis intentionally escalated the interaction by commenting in a derogatory fashion about Alanis' mother.". Shortly thereafter, Fair would be arraigned on murder charges and entered a plea of not guilty. Arpana B. Jinaga grew up in Hyderabad, one of the largest cities in all of India. I hadn't seen her for months, I'd never thought about her like that [prior to the night of the Halloween party]". would attend a party at a friend's house in Everett, and while there, attempted to wrestle them. Throughout the latter half of 2017 and the entirety of 2018, another lengthy legal battle would ensue. In 2008, a 24-year-old Redmond-based software engineer named Arpana Jinaga was found strangled in her apartment after a Halloween party in her building. The lawsuit alleges jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis began demeaning Alanis-Mejia and ridiculing him because he was crying over the death of his parents. A handful of years before the murder of Arpana Jinaga, Emanuel Fair had been arrested and charged with raping a minor. 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. It quickly became evident that the door leading into the apartment had been forced open, and the door jam was broken. In any case, Suspects overarching narrative builds up to Fairs victory against wrongful imprisonment. 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. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? Who knows, she might have even become a mother by now. Youve got some Janning to do! 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. In fact, she was the fifth student or worker from India to be murdered in the United States that year; a fact that ultimately led to the United States Hindu Alliance calling for the FBI to investigate this case, as they feared that it could be tied to a widespread rash of hate crimes sweeping the nation. 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. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. At times the party veers out of control. Fair and C.J. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. The team, led by Matthew . 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." 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. 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. One of Arpana's neighbors (Kyle R.) would later remark that at around 8:00 AM, he was awoken by a "horrible growling" sound, which persisted for about 20 seconds and was punctuated with a solid thud sound. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. Sign up for Vultures new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here. Discover golden trading opportunities with FXTM, Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas. Mar. was interviewed multiple times by investigators, and each time, was unable to remember certain details: including what he had been up to during the estimated time of the murder (3:00 - 8:00 AM). 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. 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. was a similarly likely candidate to be Arpana's killer. The oil would contribute to the odd smell throughout the apartment, and was reportedly found all over the carpet of the bedroom. The lawsuit states abuse by guards also continued when Sheriff Omar Lucio took over in 2005, although Lucio had vowed to clean up jail abuses by guards. Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. 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. 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. At some point in the evening, it would be reported that Arpana got into a verbal argument with a male partygoer. This is sort of in the background of the show, but Seattle is a liberal place. Over the next two years, C.J. Suspect premieres Aug. 17 on Wondery+ and Aug. 31 wherever podcasts are streamed. 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. did nothing but create reasonable doubt (since he could no longer be referred to as an "uncharged accomplice"). In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. Mar. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. According to one of the jurors, who later spoke to the Seattle Times, the state's inability to reconcile the charges against Emanuel Fair with the evidence implicating C.J. 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). The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. It was around 3:00 AM on November 1st (Saturday) when the apartment's Halloween party began to die down; at which point, Arpana began returning to her apartment to catch some sleep. 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. Inside of Arpana's bathroom, investigators would find a white comforter from her bed, which had also been stained with blood. 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 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 . Let's talk about Jeff (Suspect, Episode 7) : r/TrueCrimePodcasts - reddit The case is described to us as a true whodunit, one that relies purely on circumstantial and DNA evidence because there werent any witnesses to the killing. There has been no sign of activity in the case in some time, due to the prolonged trials of Emanuel Fair. She Hosted a Halloween Party, Then Turned Up Dead: Podcast - MSN 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. 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). We didnt want to make a promise up front that we will reveal who did this or who didnt. What drew you to this story, and why now? 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. Theres plinking music. Police would speculate that the killer had started using bleach there and then carried it towards the bedroom, based on a trail of bleached droplets that led down the hallway. Shortly after moving to Redmond, the 24-year-old Arpana decided to purchase a motorcycle. The following Monday, her body would be discovered inside of her apartment, the victim of an apparent homicide. Journalist Matthew Shaer, co-founder of Campside Media and Wondery, along with journalist Eric Benson, created a true crime podcast called "Suspect" which details this unsolved crime. The two disgraced men have both been sentenced for sex crimes. DNA evidence was linked to three men and ultimately used to charge Emanuel Fair, a Black man from Seattle. Emanuel Fair spent 9 years in jail for a crime he did not commit proclaiming his innocence through two trials, numerous motions, and drawn out judicial delays. I hope that answers can still be found in this case, but until such a time, the story of Arpana Jinaga will remain unresolved. "Classic City Crime," a true-crime podcast hosted by Cameron Jay, centers around the tragic death of Tara Louise Baker. The demeaning comments against Alanis continues and the guards purposely made the comments to cause him more stress, the lawsuit states. might have been involved). Redmond Police spokesman Jim Bove would tell reporters later that day (Monday, November 3rd): "There were signs of trauma in the apartment We have booked it as a case of suspicious death.". You can listen early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App. 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. Offscreen, he was one himself. New true-crime podcast reexamines the unsolved murder of a Redmond You see the consequences of a decision, even a relatively small decision. TrueAllele was utilized heavily by this investigation and was able to come up with results that were far more definitive than anything the crime lab itself had been able to determine. 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. 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. Gregory Hobbs, another member of the club, said in the same article: "She would strive to succeed in everything and she did just that. 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. "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. 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. 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.