By the time she was reaching adulthood, Arpana had already become incredibly proficient in embedded systems (utilizing both hardware and software for specific functions) and gained international notoriety for her skills in 2005 when she participated in a design contest for Microchip. 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. Its challenging in terms of race, in terms of policing, in terms of forensic science. Follow Suspect Season 2: Vanished in the Snow on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. 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.". After all, O'Leary seemed to show little regard for his victims' age, ethnicity, or well being - targeting them for his pure enjoyment - and he has refused to crack on any of his crimes in the years since. An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . Months later, members of the Pacific Northwest Riders, the motorcycle club that Arpana had joined, would organize memorial rides in her honor (which took them out to Snoqualmie Falls, one of Arpana's favorite places to visit in Washington). as an uncharged accomplice). Theres plinking music. 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. Arpana's body was taken to the King County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, to determine the cause and manner of death. TrueAllele is a genotyping software developed by a company named Cybergenetics, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies all over the country. Again. *Sorry, there was a problem signing you up. The case remains unsolved today. It is . C.J. 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. 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. 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. Because of the scene left behind at the apartment complex, it was obvious that whoever had killed Arpana Jinaga had broken in and specifically targeted her, subjecting her to a violent assault and a rape (which would later be confirmed during her autopsy). You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. If they did, youd probably see a news cycle about it by now. Oh, Loosey! Writing the Atlantic story was a bit of a wake [up] call in all the different ways that DNA can be misused. 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). 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). Still, I dont mean for this discussion of aesthetics to take us too far away from Suspects merits in and of itself. Arpana Jinaga. 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. 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. The autopsy revealed that Arpana had been strangled and asphyxiated to death, roughly two days before her body was discovered. "In 2004, a correctional officer, Lt. Hilda Trevino, blew the whistle on fellow guards' mistreatment of inmates. In that sense, Suspect is a little bit like the true-crime podcast version of a Gerard Butler movie or a really good episode of Law and Order: an exemplar of its genre, but not a revolutionary, which I sincerely mean as praise. 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. Shane Waters will introduce 14 crime podcast hosts, including Crimelines! 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. 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. Alanis-Mejia is seeking $1 million in exemplary damages as well as the cost of attorney's fees. Suspect takes up the unsolved murder of Arpana Jinaga, who was killed the night of a Halloween party at her Redmond, Washington, apartment complex in 2008. would admit that during this time, he had stopped taking his psychiatric medication. Other witnesses that knew C.J. In the weeks after Arpana's murder, Emanuel Fair was identified through photographs and eventually questioned. That day, Arpana showed up for work as if it were any other workday, but told some of her coworkers about a party being held that evening at her apartment complex. Her younger sister, Pavitra, would begin to follow in these footsteps as well, and later pursue a career in computer engineering after Arpana. Police would arrive at the apartment complex a short time later, and immediately noticed two things that stood out about this crime. Thats where a lot of the drama is for us, and where we wanted to investigate what had happened. 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. "This unwritten policy of permissible use of excessive force has deep roots going back decades to Carrizales' opening. 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. Keyes was a methodical serial killer who obsessively planned out his crimes ahead of time, but was also known to act impulsively. By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. 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. 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. The description they gave to police more closely resembled C.J. Throughout the latter half of 2017 and the entirety of 2018, another lengthy legal battle would ensue. This Valentine's Day, prepare for a unique podcast experience! 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. 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. 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 can be found on Instagram @readrunsea; 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). 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. These were the last calls or texts Arpana would receive that night, and when questioned about these phone calls, C.J. 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. By this point, Arpana had already started to make plans to accomplish all of these goals. Whoever had forced entry into the apartment had attempted to clean and cover up their crime afterward. But Suspect is often so uncomplicated in its telling, it almost seems anonymous. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. But over the next few years, Emanuel Fair would fail to abide by the terms of his release and was later jailed on probation violations. They argued against the analysis performed by TrueAllele; at least, until they were able to look through the source code of the software to determine just how, exactly, the program had come to this consensus. However, this case would prove to be much harder to solve for investigators; many of whom had not worked on a murder case in quite some time (if at all). 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 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." 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. Now that Meredith is gone, it is business as usual at Grey Sloan Memorial. To-date, Arpana Jinaga's murder remains unsolved. We didnt want to make a promise up front that we will reveal who did this or who didnt. 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 . You can listen early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery App. The gap between practice and potential is further underscored by the many instances in which Suspect carries the genres various conventions and clichs. 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. Arpana Jinaga was a 24-year-old computer programmer, who had moved to the Pacific Northwest in March of 2008. 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 . Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have broken up after he allegedly cheated on her with Raquel Leviss. 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. Season 1 features a whodunit-style search for a holiday party killer. Multiple witnesses had claimed to see Arpana return to her apartment at around 3:00 AM on November 1st, and shortly thereafter, some of her neighbors had recalled hearing "moaning" coming from her apartment (which they assumed was consensual sex taking place). 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. - 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. 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. The team, led by Matthew . 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. lived right next-door to Arpana Jinaga, and by his own admission, had a pretty close relationship with her. The jury was unable to come to a consensus regarding Fair's guilt, resulting in a mistrial. You see the consequences of a decision, even a relatively small decision. Posting comments is now limited to subscribers only. How Tyrel Jackson Williams Brought TikTok Cringe to, Its sort of a newer version of the L.A. actor ride that Kyle is on the first two seasons, but its worse.. 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"). DNA evidence was linked to three men and ultimately used to charge Emanuel Fair, a Black man from Seattle. Its probably a spoiler to tell you at this point that the team doesnt end up solving Jinagas murder. 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. While Arpana didn't have any friends or family in the area, she didn't let that deter her from leaning into the community. For Arpana's parents, they had to grieve not only the loss of their oldest daughter, but an inspiring and bright young soul that had managed to accomplish so much in such little time, and seemed poised to accomplish great things in the future - not only professionally, but personally. 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. In terms of pure execution, it's probably the best narrative true-crime podcast I've heard all year. did nothing but create reasonable doubt (since he could no longer be referred to as an "uncharged accomplice"). Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. 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. 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. A new true-crime podcast delves into the complicated murder case of a rising 24-year-old software programmer in Redmond, Wash. 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. 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. Prosecutors implied that Fair had been lying about where he was during these vital hours, which remained unexplained nearly two years later. 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 they wake up the next morning, one resident is dead. Shaer and Benson previously collaborated on another true-crime podcast calledOver My Dead Body.. as a suspect which is why they ultimately presented a case that didn't do so. There, she would receive her master's degree in electrical and computer engineering in December of 2007. The world is a sadder place without her but the people she touched while she was here will remember her for an eternity.". 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). 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. Despite her not having any experience riding a motorcycle, she planned on using one as her primary mode of transportation. 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). Speaking to the Bellevue Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard of the Redmond Police Department said: "We're a safe community. She moved into the Valley View Apartments just north of Marymoor Park, along the 8900 block of Redmond-Woodinville Road. 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. 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). She would begin working there in March of 2008, and a company spokesman would later say that during her brief six-month tenure at the company, she had cemented herself as a hardworking and bright employee, who was considered a "rising star" among the higher-ups at EMC. After Dax Shepard asked her about her musical chairs relationship situation. 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. Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. This is sort of in the background of the show, but Seattle is a liberal place. throughout the episode - stating during the trial that: " the State's position is that [C.J.] does not exculpate Fair. In fact, Suspect is as straightforward as a true-crime podcast can get. 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. The analysis of this evidence had been performed by TrueAllele, making it the first criminal trial in Washington state that this was done; it had been used in prosecutions from other states - as well as exonerations in Washington - but never in this manner. Fair and C.J. As you can imagine, this analysis was seen as invaluable to the prosecution, who saw this as being ironclad proof of Fair's guilt. 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). Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: In this Part 2 Episode: 1. For the next two years, investigators would struggle to make sense of this case. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. and Nirmala Jinaga, a professor of computer engineering and a housewife, respectively. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. A tech prodigy from an early age, Arpana seemed poised to achieve great things in life. How did that happen? Its the best we can do forensically, but it still requires human beings to translate. claimed to not remember anything about them. The two disgraced men have both been sentenced for sex crimes. In that sense, the end of Suspect could very well be the start of the rest of the story. Inside of Arpana's bathroom, investigators would find a white comforter from her bed, which had also been stained with blood. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. 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. 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. And there is nobody in prison or even charged with this murder right now. Gregory Hobbs, another member of the club, said in the same article: "She would strive to succeed in everything and she did just that. Lets get this out of the way: Suspect is a very good listen. 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. Benson: We didnt know that the Redmond [Police Department] was going to be willing to participate in the show. He previously suffered a brain aneurysm on February 18, and was ultimately taken off life support. The best musical instrument is a love triangle. 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. After all, he was the only one facing charges, and him facing charges for two people was - at its core - unconstitutional. 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. 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. Alanis-Mejia was booked into Carrizales on Sept. 10, 2020, on an outstanding warrant, that alleges he was unaware of, according to the lawsuit. 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. There has been no sign of activity in the case in some time, due to the prolonged trials of Emanuel Fair. 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. 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. Speaking to the Redmond Reporter, Lt. Doug Shepard said: "She did not make enemies, she just made friends and a lot of them. But instead of returning home to India, she decided to take another huge leap and accepted a job as a software quality assurance engineer with the tech giant EMC (now known as Dell EMC). Those pleas would continue to amplify months after Arpana's murder, when it became evident that answers were not readily available. 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). Sarah Neilson is a freelance writer and book critic based in Seattle. However, without charging C.J. Here was a case where a woman was murdered and there were years of investigation, years of pursuing various suspects, two trials. Most of the guests left Arpana's apartment for her neighbors just after 9:00 PM, but there were a lot of moving pieces that evening, and no real comprehensive way to determine who was where at what time. 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.