Strangers come . At the same time, her family was desperately trying to call her, having not heard from her since the prior Thursday. 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, the notion of a robbery taking place did not end there. 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 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. Oh, you like podcasts? 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. Until such a time, they had to take the program and its parent company, Cybergenetics, at their word. He is also seeking a jury trial. The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". Im trying to tell the truth dont cut this podcast to make me look like a maybe suspect. Later, a woman who served as the jury foreperson in a pivotal trial talked about her responsibility as follows: I had to pay attention. That was surprising. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. 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). 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. claimed to not remember anything about them. Its got a lot wrapped up in it and I am just grateful that people are engaging with it. 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). By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. She recalled one of these voicemails sounding like constant movement on the other end, but nothing verbally being said. This meant that she had been killed sometime on the morning of Saturday, November 1st, which would correlate to the hours after the Halloween party. Shortly after moving to Redmond, the 24-year-old Arpana decided to purchase a motorcycle. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. 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. 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. 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. Listen to Suspect at https://wondery.fm/SuspectEpisode Description: The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. And the energy with which many of the people pursued this case it is tragic, what happened. By October of that year, she had already scored a promotion to lead programmer and seemed destined for greater things. It was just gruesome. Roughly two months after the trial began, after weeks of gridlock, the trial would end with a hung jury. Fair's attorneys would point out several gaps in the investigation. Listening notes for the top shows, from Vultures critic Nick Quah. 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. There, she lived in Apartment 8946, on the top floor of the complex. Whoever had forced entry into the apartment had attempted to clean and cover up their crime afterward. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? 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. When officers and investigators had first arrived at Arpana's apartment, they made note of the smell of chemical agents throughout it. 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. Alanis-Mejia was allegedly beaten by jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis while . 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. Its challenging in terms of race, in terms of policing, in terms of forensic science. was a similarly likely candidate to be Arpana's killer. This is a series whose internal universe pretty much stops at the very edges of its specific case. 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). 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. 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 . The team, led by Matthew . *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. We didnt want to make a promise up front that we will reveal who did this or who didnt. 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. 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. 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 there is nobody in prison or even charged with this murder right now. 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. 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." Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Its the best we can do forensically, but it still requires human beings to translate. 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). The gap between practice and potential is further underscored by the many instances in which Suspect carries the genres various conventions and clichs. 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). 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. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. Emanuel Fair's second trial began just last year, in 2019, and again, tried to reach a jury consensus regarding his guilt. According to investigators, they were also struggling to piece together a solid motive. 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. as a suspect which is why they ultimately presented a case that didn't do so. 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). . 2023 Vox Media, LLC. 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). "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. In June of 2005, Arpana was featured in the New Indian Express, in an article titled "Young Inventors." 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. Several suspects and persons-of-interest would be probed during that time, but for almost all of them, there was either something ruling them out entirely or not enough evidence to move forward with the case. Emanuel Fair's attorneys would argue that while there might have been DNA implicating him in the crime, there was just as much implicating others; including the neighbor that had been tied to this case from the very beginning, who I've identified as "C.J." 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). 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. [In the 1980s], you really needed a lot of body fluid, so there was no ambiguity about whose DNA it was. 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. I hope we did something to draw attention to that. would later tell police that he was "kind of wanting to explore" and could offer up no further explanation for his bizarre actions. 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. 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. can also be characterized as an uncharged accomplice.". claim that over the next several days and weeks, he made vague statements alluding to him going over to Arpana's apartment in his sleep; which, when you factor in him having quit psychiatric medication a short time prior, seems worrisome. 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. 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. and Nirmala Jinaga, a professor of computer engineering and a housewife, respectively. 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. Emanuel Demelvin Fair - who was also known as Anthony P. Parker - was 27 years old when charges were filed against him in October of 2010. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. This isnt some true-crime podcast I can listen to and just have an opinion on.. 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. Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: In this Part 2 Episode: 1. 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. 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. After nine years of awaiting his fate, 35-year-old Emanuel Fair was released from custody just hours after being acquitted in the death of Arpana Jinaga. In 2019, he ultimately walked free after being acquitted of the murder charges. All that we know for sure is that Arpana had already lived a full life by the age of 24, and could have continued changing the world for the better. The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. It's an extra special, two-part, more than two-hour, Valentine's event. At the time of this announcement - in October of 2010 - he was incarcerated at the McNeil Island Correction Center in Steilacoom for failing to update his sex offender registration and was not expected to be released until 2012. We didnt know that the King County prosecutors office was going to be willing to participate in the show. Even forensic analysis has its limits, as King County prosecutors and investigators in the Redmond area learned from this case. While jailed at the facility, Alanis-Mejia underwent suicide screening because he had recently lost his parents. You see the consequences of a decision, even a relatively small decision. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. 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. for having any involvement in the murder, they were creating ammunition for the defense in the form of reasonable doubt. The semen from an unnamed neighbor was found on a towel near Arpana's body, while another neighbor's DNA was found on a bootlace that investigators theorized had been used to strangle Arpana (this neighbor, it's worth pointing out, had an alibi for the time of the murder, and had not been at the Halloween party). 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. 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. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, of course. Sign up for Vultures new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here. 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. 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. Over the next two years, C.J. 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). Let's get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. throughout this episode - who, it turns out, had been one of the investigation's main suspects early on. While border officials were able to quickly stop him, they ordered a search of his vehicle and ultimately turned him away because he didn't have a passport on him. Now science has gotten very sophisticated. Suspect Season 1 Episode 1. 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. 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. 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. By this point, Arpana had already started to make plans to accomplish all of these goals. Theres plinking music. Even though Emanuel Fair and other defendants all over the country began to demand access to the software's underbelly, Dr. Perlin was willing to take the issue to court to preserve his company's share in the burgeoning forensic analysis market, having already scored deals with law enforcement agencies all over the country. as an uncharged accomplice). Her younger sister, Pavitra, would begin to follow in these footsteps as well, and later pursue a career in computer engineering after Arpana. (Arpana's neighbor, who would co-discover her body days later). It was the culmination of a long and tortured relationship with the criminal justice system. It is . 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.". At some point in the evening, it would be reported that Arpana got into a verbal argument with a male partygoer. was their ultimate undoing, and it had been a problem of their own making (as they had hoped to try C.J. Despite the insistence from the Redmond Police Department that this case was their top priority, that didn't bring forth any answers in the months to come, as the workable leads only led investigators to numerous dead-ends. 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. 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". might have been involved). For three and a half decades, her disappearance was a mystery - a riddle neither authorities . How did that happen? Thats depressing. 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. 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. Discover golden trading opportunities with FXTM, Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas. I hope that answers can still be found in this case, but until such a time, the story of Arpana Jinaga will remain unresolved. 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. Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. "It's the No. During his interviews with investigators, C.J. 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. Arpana B. Jinaga grew up in Hyderabad, one of the largest cities in all of India. Alanis was "left in that state for two hours, until he was taken to the Valley Regional Medical Center," according to the lawsuit. The autopsy revealed that Arpana had been strangled and asphyxiated to death, roughly two days before her body was discovered. This area - Redmond, Washington - is a relative stranger to violent crime. Season 1 features a whodunit-style search for a holiday party killer. In fact, they posited throughout the first trial that he may have been an accomplice; an uncharged accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless. More than a decade later, no one has been held accountable for her murder. 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. Youve got some Janning to do! "Galarza and Solis intentionally escalated the interaction by commenting in a derogatory fashion about Alanis' mother.". In terms of pure execution, its probably the best narrative true-crime podcast Ive heard all year. Oh, Loosey! 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. 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. Several items found inside of the apartment had also been burned by the killer, including a green blanket that belonged to Arpana, the red cape she had been wearing to the Halloween party, other pieces of her costume, a black sheet, and portions of carpet. 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. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. 4A former Cameron County inmate is suing the county and two of its jailers for $1 million alleging he was beaten by the jailers while incarcerated. 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.". The description they gave to police more closely resembled C.J. Or it might not. 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. Alanis-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. 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. Cameron County officials did not respond to The Brownsville Herald for comment by press time. In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. Emanuel Fair's trial would begin in February of 2017 - more than six years after he had originally been charged, and more than eight years after Arpana Jinaga's murder. In the year of our Lord 2021, you cant swing a cat without hitting a true-crime podcast. Shane Waters will introduce 14 crime podcast hosts, including Crimelines! At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. 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. Justice has not been swift. Thats where a lot of the drama is for us, and where we wanted to investigate what had happened. 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. Sarah Neilson is a freelance writer and book critic based in Seattle. Fair was held in jail for nine years and was twice tried but was never convicted. Investigators and prosecutors feel the same way about this individual because he was interviewed on more than four occasions in the weeks after Arpana's murder - more than any other suspect or POI - and at one point, investigators even wrote up probable cause paperwork to apply for this suspect's arrest. 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. showed up to the Halloween party rather late and was already heavily-intoxicated when he arrived. In the year since Emanuel Fair's second trial came to an end, the story has received close to no attention from the world-at-large. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. 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. In any case, Suspects overarching narrative builds up to Fairs victory against wrongful imprisonment. C.J. 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. 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. By the age of 24, Arpana Jinaga had already lived a full and rewarding life and seemed poised to leave a positive impact on the rest of the world. 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.". 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. 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.