A third mans DNA was on a bootlace, also found in the trash, but he had an alibi. On the night of Oct. 31, 2008, Arpana Jinaga and her neighbors at the Valley View Apartments, in Redmond, Wash., threw a party to celebrate Halloween. Guests took silly photos, downed shots and smoked pot. Kyler Alvord leads PEOPLE's politics coverage as a news editor for the brand. A spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office said in an email, we look forward to addressing these allegations in a public courtroom, and we are confident in our case.. I dont think he killed Arpana. When the night came to an end and the crowd began to disperse, Jinaga said what would be her final goodbyes. He said evidence about Jinagas neighbor raised significant questions for the jury. They interrogated Fair on the car ride to the station without reading his rights. He attributed them to wrestling a stranger he met at another Halloween party the next day, the lawsuit alleges. Halloween Party Host Murder Leads to Excess Suspects | Arpana Jinaga Source. I hope I never have to investigate a case like this again.. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. Fairs DNA was found on Jinagas robe and a roll of duct tape that was likely used to tape her underwear inside her mouth like a gag. Arpana Jinaga Unresolved Arpana Jinaga In October of 2008, a 24-year-old computer programmer living in the Seattle area would attend a Halloween party in her apartment complex. He had a prior history of violent sexual crimes. I fear and I worry that someone else may become a victim at some point in time, Ehlert said of Fairs acquittal during the 2020 interview. In the apartment, there was a strong smell of bleach, and also bleach stains were found. Fair filed a lawsuit against King County, Redmond, the Redmond Police Department and the lead detective on Dec. 29. link. Several people were at the party before Jinagas murder, so the scene was full of various DNA samples. He also successfully represented himself in a legal claim for an injury he sustained from handcuffs, receiving a $25,000 settlement from King County in 2017. Most people left Jinaga's apartment after 9pm to move to another apartment. At one time, Emanuel Fair was the longest-serving inmate in the King County Jail, spending nine years behind bars without being convicted of a crime. He replied: If youve done it before, youll do it again.. Police attempted to identify the partygoers and interview them. Johnson also had injuries that detectives said were consistent with a sexual assault. Fairs lawsuit contends the probable cause affidavit used to support the murder charge omitted multiple facts, including that several other mens DNA also was found on crime scene evidence and items found in the dumpster. A new true-crime podcast from Campside Media and Wondery delves into the brutal unsolved murder nearly 13 years and two trials later. Emanuel, his family, and friends ask for privacy, as he works to rebuild his life, wrote Goldsmith. The suit contends detectives aligned evidence to match their theory and disregarded half a dozen non-Black suspects in the case. Coats was asked during the podcast if the prior conviction was significant to his investigation. When Johnson found out Fair liked hip hop and wrote beats, Johnson invited him to his car to listen to some electronic music he had made. Eight Years in Jail With No Conviction: Emanuel Fair Files Lawsuit lt also points out that Jinagas neighbor quickly emerged as the lead suspect in the case as inconsistencies in his story began to surface.. He had a list of nearby pawnshops in his car printed the day Jinaga was killed, the lawsuit says. Jinaga and other tenants he hadnt met were co-hosting a large Halloween party in several units. A Real Life Halloween Horror Story - Arpana Jinaga - YouTube Jinagas phone and digital camera were missing from the scene and never recovered. Unidentified male DNA was also found on a bruise on Jinagas wrist. I just want to be myself., The Seattle Times closes comments on particularly sensitive stories. His lawyers said the ordeal has permanently damaged Fairs reputation, his emotional well-being, livelihood and relationships. A man by the name of Emanuel Fair was arrested in connection with her murder, but he has since been found not guilty of the crime. After a background check revealed Fairs criminal record, including a third-degree child rape conviction, Fair quickly became the new prime suspect despite leads about the neighbor and other viable suspects, the suit states. Contribute to Atlanta Black Star today and help us share our narratives. Court records show prosecutors did not believe they had enough evidence to charge Jinagas neighbor, who met Fair the night of the homicide. Her removed tampon alone had three separate unidentified male DNA profiles on it, according to Rolling Stones investigation. The officers allegedly did not change gloves between evidence collections, or between rooms or locations. The case turned into a classic whodunit, and Jinaga's costumed party guests were the prime suspects. The lawsuit says that Johnson also had a past of strange or violent behavior with women. He slept with Potts in her bed and woke up the next morning before 10 a.m., after which he helped her and other neighbors clean up the complex, according to the complaint. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Condition of the apartment: Jinaga's bed had been stripped, a fleece blanket was partially burned and her comforter was found in soaked the bathroom bathtub. Brian Bundridge was in a motorcycle club with Jinaga. It was a party, Fair was all over her apartment like EVERYONE ELSE. Suspect: With Matthew Shaer, Eric Benson, Matt Baglio, Ashley Fantz. My guess would be drugs. Shed been gagged, beaten and strangled during an apparent sexual attack. After nine years of fighting, Emanuel Fair has the freedom he deserves. This was mainly on the basis of party photographs. Ehlert, in the 2020 interview, noted prosecutors were barred from including some key evidence at trial: Fairs past convictions and the possibility that he and the neighbor acted together in Jinagas killing because there wasnt evidence to support that theory a decision upheld by the state Court of Appeals after Fairs first trial. Jinaga had been a prize-winner in a . He also drove to Canada the day of the murder and attempted to cross the border without a passport. Arpana Jinaga. Court files said there were also burn marks from an attempt to set the body or apartment on fire. Suspect Might Be the Best True-Crime Podcast of the Year - Vulture The neighbor, who later hired a lawyer and stopped cooperating, subsequently scrubbed his phone of call and text data, the suit states. Only one man was charged with murder. Johnson said he heard moaning sounds coming from Jinagas apartment around 3 a.m., and he assumed she was having sex. Death of Arpana being probed as homicide - DNA India Coats and another Redmond detective confronted the neighbor about his calls to Jinaga, but then released him and returned his phone without examining it. This is a person who is living her dream. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. He had been in her apartment once earlier in the night too. They found her nude body on her bedroom floor, face-down on the carpet and partially covered with cloth. https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/petitions/96468-8%20Answer%20to%20petition.pdf. During the night, neighbors of Jinaga heard muffled moaning sounds, and assumed she and a partner were having consensual sex. He assumed Jinaga was either vomiting or having sex. At his second trial, a jury found him not guilty. He was one of the three individual's whose DNA was found . Potts, Jinaga and two others neighbors decorated and opened up their units to allow partygoers to go in and out freely. Her father, a head professor of engineering in India, encouraged he to move to the US to attend Rutgers University. On Halloween night, 2008, Jinaga and several other tenants hosted a Halloween party, attended by residents of the apartment complex and their relatives and friends from outside. Fair was tried for Jinagas sexual assault twice and was acquitted after his second trial in June 2019. They interrogated Fair on the car ride to the station without reading his rights. I thought I was gonna die, Fair told Rolling Stone. He also heard a thud on the floor but figured she was alright when he heard water running shortly after the noise. The party ended between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., around the same time witnesses saw Jinaga going back to her apartment. The lawsuit alleges that a lighter was found in his apartment with a sticky substance on it, but investigators never collected it. The county, police department and Coats filed a response to Fairs initial complaint refuting the claims. The county, police department and Coats filed a response to Fairs initial complaint refuting the claims. Arpana was last seen in the early morning of Nov. 1 during a Halloween . He made calls to a few friends, including apparently pocket-dialing Potts. Bodicherla went to the apartment complex, where he encountered Cameron Johnson, who showed him the way to Jinaga's unit. I am far from shady. At some point during the night, partygoers recall Jinaga getting into an argument with a male, who made a race-related comment. Meanwhile they raided Emmanuels stuff and according to his best friend on the podcast took almost ALL of his things. Fair was staying with his friend Leslie Potts on Oct. 31, 2008, in Valley View Apartments when he attended the party that Potts and other neighbors organized. The neighbor, who later hired a lawyer and stopped cooperating, subsequently scrubbed his phone of call and text data, the suit states. Fair, the second-longest-serving inmate in the downtown Seattle facility after being booked into jail in November 2010, was released Tuesday afternoon, three hours after the jury delivered its not-guilty verdict, according to a jail spokeswoman. The defense also explained the innocuous opportunities Mr. Fair had to touch or indirectly transfer microscopic skin cells to these items during the party. Fair ultimately was charged based on trace DNA evidence found on Jinagas neck; a piece of duct tape used to gag her; paper found in the apartment; and mixed with Jinagas blood on a robe recovered from the apartment buildings dumpster. Cameron Johnson, who has never been charged, invoked his 5th Amendment right, and therefore only faced limited scope questioning during Fair's trial. Emanuel Fair was arrested in 2010. Arpana Jinaga Memorial on Vimeo New episodes of the nine-part series will be released weekly on Tuesdays. An exclusive trailer for Suspect is below. Fairs lawsuit includes many of the same facts that his public defender, Ben Goldsmith, used to poke holes in the prosecutions criminal case. Police staked out the house where he was staying, slowly rolled up on Fair and reportedly pointed guns at his chest. He had bruises consistent with a sexual attack, tried to flee the country, and was researching pawn shops (which the police never really followed up onor seemingly got a real answer from him on why he was researchingpawn shops). After her graduation, she got a job as a software engineer at EMC, in a suburb of Seattle. I lost a lot. Murder mystery continues nearly a year later: Redmond Police still have Goldsmith said evidence found at Jinagas apartment and produced during the investigation pointed to one of her neighbors as the likely killer. To contaminate evidence, Jinagas hands had been doused in blue toilet-bowl cleaner and her body covered in motor oil. Redmond police Lt. Brian Coats vividly recalls all that he learned about Arpana Jinaga, a Redmond woman who was strangled in her apartment in 2008, her body doused with bleach, toilet-bowl cleaner and motor oil in an apparent attempt to destroy DNA evidence of rape. Theyre still crying about it 10 years later and they will be for the rest of their lives because it was such a horrible thing.. Police let Johnson go after his questioning. His legal team expanded the lawsuit in late March, adding ten more pages of allegations and the prosecutor on the case and other detectives that handled the case to the list of defendants. Coats ran a background check on the Fair and found the rape charge. Fairs attorneys contend that some of the DNA evidence was not an exact match. Jinaga had been gagged, brutally beaten and most likely raped. Do we know how extensive the damage was? I think he may have been involved; I think he may have lied to us, Ehlert said of the neighbor. Fair was initially arrested for not updating his address with his probation officer. Detectives relied on her to help them find Jinagas missing phone and camera and consulted her about the potential of Fair as a suspect, the lawsuit says. When questioned, Fair claimed he retired to Potts' apartment around 1:30am on the night of the party. Fair spent six of the nearly nine years in jail, held by a seven-figure bond, isolated for 23 hours a day awaiting trial. He was drunk and brought bottles of liquor. In August 2009, a man named Emanuel Fair was interviewed by police. The DNA on her neck was microscopic and wasn't necessarily a match, it just couldn't be excluded. Investigators focused on Fair after seeing him in photos of the party. Fair was staying with his friend Leslie Potts on Oct. 31, 2008, in Valley View Apartments when he attended the party that Potts and other neighbors organized. Her fingers and nails were cleaned and then covered in toilet bowl cleaner, and there was a heavy scent of bleach throughout the house. The Murder of Arpana Jinaga, The Stickiest Heist In History, abnd The Crappiest Place on Earth Published December 28, 2021 at 12:01 AM EST Listen 12:50 Suspect premieres Aug. 17 on Wondery+ and Aug. 31 wherever podcasts are streamed. Fair had some criminal history: weapon and drug offenses as a juvenile, and a rape charge from 2004. According to the Rolling Stone report, most of the people at the party that night didnt remember Fairs name. Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. She had a keen interest in engineering and won several innovation competitions. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? According to the Rolling Stone report, most of the people at the party that night didnt remember Fairs name. So what else can they do but to continue to point their finger at me?. Maybe they were running out of time (had to be somewhere? We were limited in the way we were able to argue the case and we have to live with that We try cases and we accept we have to prove everything beyond a reasonable doubt. Johnson also said that he had driven to Canada on the day after the Halloween party and that he had been denied entry. His DNA was on the roll of duct tape found on the couch, not the tape that covered her face and according to the podcast there's a photo of him using the duct tape to hang up decorations so yea he touched it they already know that. Suspect Podcast on Amazon Music He also successfully represented himself in a legal claim for an injury he sustained from handcuffs, receiving a $25,000 settlement from King County in 2017. They also waited days to search a dumpster in the complex where a partial bottle of motor oil, a boot lace used to strangle Jinaga and her bed sheet and a bath robe were found. His first trial, in 2017, ended in a hung jury because one juror said Fair looked like a thug with tattoos on his hands. The jury in the second trial acquitted him. He was convicted of third-degree rape in 2004. It was the second time Fair had been tried in connection with Jinagas killing: The first time, in 2017, the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. Some guests were rowdy, but nothing out of the ordinary, it says. I covered for Emanuel because at the time I thought he was my friend, not because I was trying to cover for him for something he may or may not have done. When Johnson was interviewed by police on Nov 3 and 5th, he was noticeably limping with elbow and knee issues, but claimed it was due to an arm wrestling incident. 0:00 / 18:51 Halloween Party Host Murder Leads to Excess Suspects | Arpana Jinaga & Emanuel Fair Dr. Todd Grande 1.24M subscribers 67K views 2 months ago This video answers the question: Can I. Now, more than two years later, Fair is suing King County, the city of Redmond and Redmond Police Capt. Fair was initially arrested for not updating his address with his probation officer. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences in relation to this story, please email the reporter or, Fire on Lake City Way in Seattle raises smoke, flooding concerns, WA to end masking requirement in health care, correctional facilities, Tacoma woman refusing tuberculosis treatment continues to face arrest, Be bolder to get light rail done, expert panel tells Sound Transit, Driver makes U-turn, hits pedestrian near Pioneer Square, police say. Coats ran a background check on the Fair and found the rape charge. The lawsuit also says Fair threw garbage in the dumpster where the robe and other items were found while helping with party clean up. Her removed tampon alone had three separate unidentified male DNA profiles on it, according to Rolling Stones investigation. He assumed Jinaga was either vomiting or having sex. He also heard a thud on the floor but figured she was alright when he heard water running shortly after the noise. Johnson also had injuries that detectives said were consistent with a sexual assault. DNA evidence was linked to three men and. To just dismiss it as racism is ridiculous. On Thanksgiving, when he hadnt shown up to his familys dinner, Fair said an aunt called him to ask whether he was planning to come. Emanuel Fair: He was not a resident, but he was staying in the apartment of Leslie Potts. A few guests got rowdy, arguments broke out and a couple of people were asked to leave. Not sure if there would be any visible damages. According to court documents, Johnson called Jinaga around 3 a.m. but did not mention that to the police during his interview. He and Jinagas next-door neighbor who became a suspect in her slaying discovered her locked door had been kicked in and found her nude body on her bedroom floor. Around 1am, Fair visited Jinaga's apartment to eat pizza. "Choices that, once made, are difficult to reverse.". I just want to be myself.. I didnt know how to answer, so I just told her the truth: Im depressed. Were they old friends? Episode 213: Interview: Emanuel Fair, Found Not Guilty of Murder after According to reports, Fair accepted a plea agreement in 2004 while still maintaining his innocence. Jinagas father had asked a family friend to check in on her after she missed scheduled calls with family from India. She had opened her third-floor apartment to Fair and dozens of other partygoers, who traipsed in and out during the festivities. I just dont want to be around nobody, he said. Her other immediate neighbor, Kyle Rose, said he heard growling sounds around 8 a.m. Shed been gagged, beaten and strangled during an apparent sexual attack. On Halloween 2008, Jinaga and several of her neighbors at the Valley View Apartments threw a large Halloween party, with guests moving between their units. Arpana Jinaga, a 24 year old woman from India. The man was the last person to call her the night she was killed, he tried to destroy evidence of the calls, and he attempted to go to Canada after the homicide but was turned away, he said. She. Suspect (Podcast Series 2021- ) - IMDb Most of Fairs jail term was spent away from the general population in administrative segregation essentially, solitary confinement. In it, Ehlert stood firmly by the prosecuting teams decisions. Around 2:30 am, Fair and Johnson went to Johnson's apartment and then down to Johnson's car to listen to music. 2008, in Marshall . Coats and another Redmond detective confronted the neighbor about his calls to Jinaga, but then released him and returned his phone without examining it. The court documents detail negligence by detectives and the outsourcing of a famous psychic medium to opine on the case. lt also points out that Jinagas neighbor quickly emerged as the lead suspect in the case as inconsistencies in his story began to surface.. "It's a series about cutting-edge science and mislaid justice, race and policing, and the kinds of weighty choices that cops and prosecutors make every day," Wondery states in a release. At some point, though, things turned tense. Fair also used Jinaga's bathroom. I didnt know how to answer, so I just told her the truth: Im depressed. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. Ehlert, in the 2020 interview, noted prosecutors were barred from including some key evidence at trial: Fairs past convictions and the possibility that he and the neighbor acted together in Jinagas killing because there wasnt evidence to support that theory a decision upheld by the state Court of Appeals after Fairs first trial.