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. After Dax Shepard asked her about her musical chairs relationship situation. Over the next two years, C.J. 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. 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). Or it might not. 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. While O'Leary was ultimately arrested for crimes he committed in Colorado, he had committed earlier crimes in Washington; in particular, in the area where Arpana lived - where he lived, as well. In terms of pure execution, its probably the best narrative true-crime podcast Ive heard all year. 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. as an uncharged accomplice). 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. 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. 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. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, of course. Oh, Loosey! Whats Next for Convicted Sex Criminals Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly? When officers and investigators had first arrived at Arpana's apartment, they made note of the smell of chemical agents throughout it. Reply . 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). The final stretch of the series lingers in the bittersweet of the triumph: Its justice, but it comes after great loss. 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. 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. Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance: In this Part 2 Episode: 1. The two hung out often after Arpana moved to the Redmond area, but had begun to drift apart in the weeks before the murder (due to Arpana spending her free time volunteering and participating in her motorcycle club). 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. 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. 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. C.J. 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). Since its release on Aug. 31,Suspecthas vaulted to the top spot on Chartables U.S. rankings of most listened to Apple podcasts. Who knows how many lives she could have touched? When asked about this impromptu trip to the Canadian border, C.J. There has been no sign of activity in the case in some time, due to the prolonged trials of Emanuel Fair. 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. 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 . 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. throughout this episode - who, it turns out, had been one of the investigation's main suspects early on. Inside the apartment, it became clear to investigators that a struggle had taken place. It's also a lot more complicated than TV shows and movies would have us believe. Fair would begin serving out his four-year sentence in 2004 but was released by the end of 2006, serving less than three years and being labeled a "level one" offender (the ones that were least likely to re-offend). - 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. 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. They argue and fight. Can Anyone Predict Whos Going to Win Best Supporting Actress? 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. He was arrested for this crime and ended up pleading guilty to avoid a decade-plus prison sentence (pleading down from 2nd degree to 3rd-degree rape). Sign up for Vultures new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here. After making this gruesome discovery, Jay would begin dialing 911. An apartment complex hosts a big Halloween party with themed rooms and costumed . 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 even asserted that Emanuel Fair might have acted in-tandem with an uncharged accomplice - Arpana's neighbor, who I've identified as "C.J." 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. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. This area - Redmond, Washington - is a relative stranger to violent crime. 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. did nothing but create reasonable doubt (since he could no longer be referred to as an "uncharged accomplice"). 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. 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. There were really intense, long jury deliberations for the first trial and hearing about that from people who were truly going in cold to this case and this story, I thought it was really fascinating and not a place I really imagined that wed be going at the beginning. 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. C.J. If they did, youd probably see a news cycle about it by now. 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. 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. He lost 9 years of his life simply waiting for a chance to prove his innocence. Alanis' head was forcefully slammed to the ground and "Galarza violently punched and hit Alanis' head, face and body as his blood spilled to the ground.". would attend a party at a friend's house in Everett, and while there, attempted to wrestle them. was a similarly likely candidate to be Arpana's killer. 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). A lot of stuff has not been analyzed yet. In the weeks after Arpana's murder, Emanuel Fair was identified through photographs and eventually questioned. Everything Everywhere All at Once leads with eight nominations tonight. Just because it never happened doesnt mean they cant get back together. Those thoughts were welcomed by Arpana's family back home in India, who found it "heartening" to hear what an impact she had had on those in the Seattle area over just a few months. 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). Benson: We didnt know that the Redmond [Police Department] was going to be willing to participate in the show. 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. 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. 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? While armed robberies and sexual assaults do happen there, they are very low in number compared to other similarly-sized cities. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. was called to the stand during this trial to answer questions but was limited in what questions he could be asked, due to his privilege against self-incrimination. 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). By Monday, Arpana had not yet surfaced and she would fail to show up for work that morning. It was soaking in the tub, in a mixture of water and bleach. 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. Shaer and Benson previously collaborated on another true-crime podcast calledOver My Dead Body.. All of this evidence made it virtually impossible for prosecutors to rule out C.J. The team, led by Matthew Shaer and Eric Benson (who previously collaborated on Over My Dead Body), with further reporting by Natalia Winkelman, approaches every beat of the investigative documentary process with clinical precision and workmanly competence. 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. What drew you to this story, and why now? 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. It's also worth pointing out that the same evidence used against Emanuel Fair - the DNA evidence analyzed by TrueAllele - revealed that C.J. After attending a prestigious university in India, she decided to broaden her horizons for post-graduate life. At times the party veers out of control. It would later be found that other items were missing from the crime scene, including at least one of Arpana's ID cards, her Blackberry (cell phone), and her digital camera; none of which would ever be recovered. After leaving work, she would stop by a store to pick up some Halloween decorations, and began covering her apartment as other people began returning home and donning their costumes. The case is described to us as a true whodunit, one that relies purely on circumstantial and DNA evidence because there werent any witnesses to the killing. You see the consequences of a decision, even a relatively small decision. 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. 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. 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. 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.