Alanis-Mejia was allegedly beaten by jailers Raul Galarza and Mark Solis while . 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. 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. Dispatchers would tell both of the men to leave the apartment but remain nearby, and wait for investigators to arrive. 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). 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. Police would arrive at the apartment complex a short time later, and immediately noticed two things that stood out about this crime. Who knows how many lives she could have touched? Editors note: A previous version of this story stated Emanuel Fair was convicted for the murder of Arpana Jinaga. might have been involved). claims to have woken up at around 10:00 AM. These were the last calls or texts Arpana would receive that night, and when questioned about these phone calls, C.J. Benson: I think no one feels satisfied with the outcome. New true-crime podcast reexamines the unsolved murder of a Redmond He is also seeking a jury trial. Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: In this Part 2 Episode: 1. 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. Episode 1: The Halloween Party | Suspect | Full Episode 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. Alanis-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. At times the party veers out of control. 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. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. In pretrial motions filed by Fair's attorneys, it was claimed that Emanuel Fair, a black man, had been treated very differently from other suspects or POIs (most of whom were white). 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. 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 . Arpana Jinaga was not the first young professional from India to be killed in 2008. 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." 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. While those at the party remember Arpana going home alone at around 3:00 AM, neighbors that lived on both sides of her unit would recall hearing what sounded like muffled moaning sounds shortly thereafter, which they assumed at the time was consensual sex (but, knowing what we know now, undoubtedly wasn't). At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. 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. 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. That was surprising. 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 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). We didnt want to make that kind of show. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. This Valentine's Day, prepare for a unique podcast experience! This one is not going away. We're not giving up.". After all, he was the only one facing charges, and him facing charges for two people was - at its core - unconstitutional. Suspect on Stitcher Youve got some Janning to do! Suspect: a true crime podcast about the murder of Arpana Jinaga - Stylist 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. Those pleas would continue to amplify months after Arpana's murder, when it became evident that answers were not readily available. 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. In fact, DNA from several men was found at the crime scene, including several of Arpana's neighbors and fellow partygoers. 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). After making this gruesome discovery, Jay would begin dialing 911. 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. Later on, during Emanuel Fair's first trial, prosecutors even alleged that this neighbor had been an accomplice in the murder. 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. I hope we did something to draw attention to that. By October of that year, she had already scored a promotion to lead programmer and seemed destined for greater things. "It's the No. 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. 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. 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. 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. Offscreen, he was one himself. After attending a prestigious university in India, she decided to broaden her horizons for post-graduate life. Investigators would later retrieve the cell phone's information from Arpana's provider, but its disappearance - as well as the absence of Arpana's camera - pointed to the likelihood of her killer being someone that she knew. 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. In that case, police learned everything they needed to know from the crime scene itself. 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. 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. I think one surprise for me was, we talked to three jurors. After all, nothing else of value had been stolen from the apartment, so someone might have been on the phone and camera that didn't want to be. And when they wake up the next morning, one resident is dead. October 31st, 2008 - Halloween - had the rare fortune of falling on a Friday. 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. Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? 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). It was soaking in the tub, in a mixture of water and bleach. After his release from prison in November of 2006, Fair would begin a three-year process of floating between prison and homelessness; this included the period in which Arpana Jinaga was murdered. 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). 2023 Vox Media, LLC. 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. Eight Years in Jail With No Conviction: Emanuel Fair Files Lawsuit In 2019, he ultimately walked free after being acquitted of the murder charges. Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. Prosecutors implied that Fair had been lying about where he was during these vital hours, which remained unexplained nearly two years later. Alanis was "left in that state for two hours, until he was taken to the Valley Regional Medical Center," according to the lawsuit. was their ultimate undoing, and it had been a problem of their own making (as they had hoped to try C.J. During his interviews with investigators, C.J. This is a series whose internal universe pretty much stops at the very edges of its specific case. 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. 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". While armed robberies and sexual assaults do happen there, they are very low in number compared to other similarly-sized cities. However, investigators could not establish a specific time of death; instead speculating that she had died at some point early on Saturday morning, sometime between 3:00 and 8:00 AM. Listen to Suspect at https://wondery.fm/SuspectEpisode Description: The residents of the Valley View apartments organize a big costume party. 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. Regardless, more than a decade has passed since the mysterious death of Arpana Jinaga, and no one has been held responsible for it. 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. 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. There, she lived in Apartment 8946, on the top floor of the complex. 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. 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. Now inside, Jay and C.J. This likely resulted in his DNA being distributed throughout the apartment; in particular, in Arpana's bathroom, where he had cleaned himself up. The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". - a former-student of Arpana's father in India, who had since become a professor in the states - and asked him to check in on Arpana at her apartment in Redmond. 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. But it does leave me with a strong sense of want, and a feeling that the genre is long overdue for a quantum leap forward in its language. The Wagner opera returns to the Met for the first time in 17 years. 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. While O'Leary never killed any of his known victims, there are certain details about his crime spree that remain unknown to investigators: including the contents of an encrypted file on his hard drive, which has been nicknamed "The Wretch" by certain investigators. But we got really all of those people. 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. While Arpana didn't have any friends or family in the area, she didn't let that deter her from leaning into the community. The damage left behind made it evident that the killer had entered through brute force, and from there, had proceeded to struggle with Arpana. "That same year, Gail Hansen, a chaplain ministering to inmates at Carrizales, provided evidence of commonplace illegal activities under Sheriff Cantu.". Suspect premieres Aug. 17 on Wondery+ and Aug. 31 wherever podcasts are streamed. 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 the apartment complex's dumpster, investigators would find a bottle of Castrol motorcycle oil, which the offender had likely found inside of Arpana's apartment and then sprayed all over the crime scene and her body. The jury was unable to come to a consensus regarding Fair's guilt, resulting in a mistrial. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Redmond. 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. They were primarily interested in the Halloween party she had attended that Friday, which was held inside of four separate apartments and saw more than two dozen guests coming-and-going well into the morning hours (which is when Arpana had died). 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. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google In a new Wondery podcast series called Suspect, career journalistsMatthew ShaerandEric Bensoninvestigate the story of Jinagas murder, Fairs conviction and the spiderweb of details around this story. That said, the meta value of podcasts like this along with magazine features, documentaries, and other media formats more generally tends to be clustered in how it can drum up more real-world interest in the case to a point where it can maybe produce a chance of shaking up more meaningful leads. 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. This was paired with several inconsistencies in Emanuel Fair's story; which included - but was not limited to - calls he had made during the time of Arpana's murder. More than two dozen people would filter through the numerous apartments that evening, including Arpana's. 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. He said his surgery was a success, but he needs time to heal before he can tour again. In fact, they posited throughout the first trial that he may have been an accomplice; an uncharged accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless. Benson: We didnt know that the Redmond [Police Department] was going to be willing to participate in the show. At some point in the evening, it would be reported that Arpana got into a verbal argument with a male partygoer. 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. 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). Each host brings a new, love gone wrong true story to mix. The case remains unsolved today. 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. They argue and fight. Discover golden trading opportunities with FXTM, Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas. 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. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . 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 . 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). During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. Strangers come . 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. Shaer: Its astonishing when you look at a case in this way, the power that every decision has over the rest of the investigation and the trial, the power that individuals have, prosecutors, police, jurors especially. Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan, Producers: Maggyjames, Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Peggy Belarde, Quil Carter, Victoria Reid, Laura Hannan, Gabriella Bromley, Amy Hampton, Steven Wilson, Scott Meesey, Damion Moore, Astrid Kneier, Marie Vanglund, Scott Patzold, Lori Rodriguez, Aimee McGregor, Sue Kirk, Sydney Scotton, Sara Moscaritolo, Thomas Ahearn, Seth Morgan, Alyssa Lawton, Marion Welsh, Jared Midwood, Patrick Laakso, Kelly Jo Hapgood, Meadow Landry, Rebecca Miller, Tatum Bautista, Travis Scsepko, Teunia Elzinga, Erin Pyles, Jo Wong, Jacinda B., Ryan Green, Consuelo Moreno, Kelly Harris, and Emi Coates, Music throughout the episode was composed by Jake Mooshian. 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. Lets get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. "Galarza and Solis intentionally escalated the interaction by commenting in a derogatory fashion about Alanis' mother.". As you can imagine, this analysis was seen as invaluable to the prosecution, who saw this as being ironclad proof of Fair's guilt. "We still consider it early in the investigation. TrueAllele is a genotyping software developed by a company named Cybergenetics, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies all over the country. A lot of stuff has not been analyzed yet. Suspect - Wondery | Premium Podcasts