*Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. Later that day - after being turned away from the Canadian border - C.J. This Valentine's Day, prepare for a unique podcast experience! Reply . Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. By January of 2009, it was reported that work on the case had started to stall, but investigators were still optimistic, due to the aforementioned physical evidence, which they were still awaiting the results of. Rather than an 'other suspect,' [C.J.] 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. Missing from the scene entirely was Arpana's motorcycle, a Suzuki GS 500, which quickly became a highly-sought-after item for Redmond Police. 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. Can you please do me a favor? asks a man, previously designated as a person of interest, when approached in the third episode. 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. All rights reserved. The podcast currently has over 1,000 followers on Instagram and has over . 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. 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. 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. It is . Roughly two months after the trial began, after weeks of gridlock, the trial would end with a hung jury. 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. More than a decade later, no one has been held accountable for her murder. How did that happen? "It's the No. It was soaking in the tub, in a mixture of water and bleach. Terms of Service apply. 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. claimed to not remember anything about them. During his interviews with investigators, C.J. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for May 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan. 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. 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. Despite her not having any experience riding a motorcycle, she planned on using one as her primary mode of transportation. 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). [In the 1980s], you really needed a lot of body fluid, so there was no ambiguity about whose DNA it was. 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 fact, Suspect is as straightforward as a true-crime podcast can get. 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. Shaer: This is a story that found me rather than the other way around. C.J. 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. Police getting called out to a suspicious death in Redmond; one in which there was clear evidence of a struggle? 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. And they're a couple of names that you might be familiar with. To-date, Arpana Jinaga's murder remains unsolved. Its got a lot wrapped up in it and I am just grateful that people are engaging with it. But we got really all of those people. Youve got some Janning to do! Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. According to police spokesmen early on, what investigators were finding indicated homicide - signs of a physical struggle and potential signs of sexual trauma - but they would remain tight-lipped in the days to come. Because the contents of "The Wretch" have not been cracked, investigators believe that it could hold proof of O'Leary committing more heinous crimes than he has been convicted of thus far, possibly even murder. 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. 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. 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. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard said: "She did not make enemies, she just made friends and a lot of them. 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. 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. 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. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, some of the club's members would remember Arpana as the fun-loving, ambitious young woman she had been - not just the victim she had become in local newspapers. This entire process has become known as probabilistic genotyping, and it's become a pretty integral facet of forensic testing over the last decade or so. Lt. Brian Coats would later tell reporters about the crime scene: "It was a scene where the suspect or suspects spent a considerable amount of time covering the evidence of crime. 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. They argue and fight. . The Wagner opera returns to the Met for the first time in 17 years. Listen to more of his music over athttp://soundcloud.com/mooshianThe outro song ("June") was written and composed by Kieran Marsh, Business Wire - Microchip Technology Names dsPIC Digital Signal Controller Design Contest Winners; Awards $30,000 USD in Prizes, Microchip Technology Incorporated - microSOLUTIONS - February 2005, The Seattle Times - Woman found dead in her Redmond apartment, DNA India - Pall of gloom descends on Arpanas home, The Seattle Times - Woman found dead in Redmond apartment had recently moved to the Northwest, Rediff India Abroad - Another Andhra student killed in US, The Economic Times - Whiz-kid Andhra techie murdered in US, robbery suspected, The New Indian Express - Top techie from AP found dead in US, The New Indian Express - Kins hopes of seeing Arpana dashed, The Seattle Times - Woman slain in Redmond apartment had been strangled, Seattle PI - Medical Examiner: Redmond woman was strangled, Redmond Reporter - Talented techie strangled to death; no suspects yet, DNA India - Death of Arpana being probed as homicide, Seattle PI - Redmond victim was strangled, Great Andhra - FBI asked to probe killing of Indian students in US, Outlook - Ink Fresh On Their Passport, Only News Comes Back Home, Bellevue Reporter - Redmond Police have no firm suspects in murder of woman who worked in Bellevue, Redmond Reporter - Murder mystery continues nearly a year later: Redmond Police still have no firm suspects in homicide case, Seattle PI - Police follow leads in Redmond death investigation, Redmond Reporter - Redmond police continue investigating 2008 murder: Jinaga homicide not considered a cold case, Seattle PI - Two years after Halloween rape-killing, man charged in Redmond womans death, The Seattle Times - Sex offender charged in 2008 Redmond Halloween slaying, The Seattle Times - Convicted sex offender charged with two-year-old Redmond slaying, Seattle PI - Convicted sex offender charged in brutal 2008 Redmond homicide, Redmond Reporter - Convicted sex offender charged in brutal 2008 Redmond homicide, Seattle PI - Sex offender in Redmond murder case makes court appearance, Redmond Reporter - Convicted sex offender pleads not guilty to murder of Redmond woman, Seattle Weekly - The Troubling Trial of Emanuel Fair, The Seattle Times - Trial begins 8 years after Redmond woman raped, strangled, Redmond Reporter - Hung jury in Fair murder trial, Cross-Examination Blog - Cross-Examination of DNA Expert, Redmond Reporter - Fair murder retrial on hold, Wired - The Impenetrable Program Transforming How Courts Treat DNA Evidence, The Seattle Times - After nearly 11 years and two trials, killing of Redmond woman who had been living her dream remains unsolved, Redmond Reporter - Second trial in killing of Redmond woman ends with not-guilty verdict, Seattle Weekly - Second trial in killing of Redmond woman ends with not-guilty verdict, India West - Two Trials Later, Murder of Indian American Software Engineer in Seattle Remains Unsolved, KC Public Defense - Fighting for justice: Two public defenders worked for years to get their client acquitted, Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). There is no apparent reason why someone would want to take this person from the prime of her life.". Justice has not been swift. 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). 1 priority in the division. 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 demeaning comments against Alanis continues and the guards purposely made the comments to cause him more stress, the lawsuit states. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? Gregory Hobbs, another member of the club, said in the same article: "She would strive to succeed in everything and she did just that. "In 2004, a correctional officer, Lt. Hilda Trevino, blew the whistle on fellow guards' mistreatment of inmates. 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. 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. 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. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. While jailed at the facility, Alanis-Mejia underwent suicide screening because he had recently lost his parents. Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. The crime scene itself was a maelstrom of forensic evidence because more than a dozen people had been inside of Arpana Jinaga's apartment just hours before her death, attending the Halloween party. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google throughout the episode - stating during the trial that: " the State's position is that [C.J.] His reason for making this trip has never been uncovered, but it is believed that he might have committed crimes in the Seattle area over this three-day span in which Arpana Jinaga ended up dead. She was 24-years-old when she was killed on November 1st, 2008, and would now be 35. Who knows what kind of things she might have accomplished by now? There, she would receive her master's degree in electrical and computer engineering in December of 2007. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times. The last episode is called Haunted because thats how everyone feels by what happened there. 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. The prosecution would paint a portrait of Fair as a repeat offender, who met Arpana at the Halloween party and then became infatuated with her. At that time, police didn't have anything incriminating linking Emanuel Fair to the murder. The two disgraced men have both been sentenced for sex crimes. He lost 9 years of his life simply waiting for a chance to prove his innocence. ", "It was a brutal scene. 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. That is where her body was discovered, nude and bloody, lying face-down on the floor beside her bed. Now inside, Jay and C.J. 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. The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". The description they gave to police more closely resembled C.J. Follow Suspect Season 2: Vanished in the Snow on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. 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). It was just gruesome. Eventually, they would reach out to a family friend, Jay B. Alanis-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. 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. Oh, Loosey! If they did, youd probably see a news cycle about it by now. A tech prodigy from an early age, Arpana seemed poised to achieve great things in life. 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. Meanwhile, Emanuel Fair's defense attorneys Benjamin Goldsmith and Katharine Edwards emphasized creating reasonable doubt; mostly, by pointing the blame at Arpana's neighbor, C.J., whom, they believed made a more convincing suspect. Here was a case where a woman was murdered and there were years of investigation, years of pursuing various suspects, two trials. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. 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. was their ultimate undoing, and it had been a problem of their own making (as they had hoped to try C.J. It is unknown if Galarza and Solis are still employed by the county, and it is also unknown if they have hired attorneys to represent them. Strangers come . Arpana Jinaga was not the first young professional from India to be killed in 2008. Was there anything that surprised you in your reporting of this story? 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.". and on their website: sarahneilsonwriter.com. What were the things that made that possible? 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Alanis Mejia is also accused of striking Galarza in the chest. 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. 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). The jury was unable to come to a consensus regarding Fair's guilt, resulting in a mistrial.

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