She is suspected to have died from strangulation from a bootlace. Johnson was hanging out near Jinagas apartment when her friend arrived to check on her, and he helped the family friend identify the body, the lawsuit alleges. Arpana Jinaga was murdered in her apartment in 2008 . To contaminate evidence, Jinagas hands had been doused in blue toilet-bowl cleaner and her body covered in motor oil. In addition, several neighbors in the complex told investigators that he had a sexual attraction to Jinaga, and he exhibited jealous behavior when she talked to other men at the Halloween party that night. Another apartment complex resident committed suicide just days after Jinaga's death, and his. The lawsuit also says Fair threw garbage in the dumpster where the robe and other items were found while helping with party clean up. Johnson engaged in a number of suspicious activities after the murder. 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. 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. She was outgoing and friendly, joining a motorcycle club, practicing tae kwon do, and volunteering at an animal shelter and fire department, all within eight months of moving to Redmond, he said. This was mainly on the basis of party photographs. Fair is seeking damages for the emotional stress he faced from when police investigated him until he was released. 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. Jinaga had moved to the Pacific Northwest about six months ago. On the evening of Oct. 31, 2008, Arpana Jinaga, a 24-year-old software engineer and Indian immigrant, co-hosted the holiday get-together at the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle. Coats was asked during the podcast if the prior conviction was significant to his investigation. 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. According to the complaint, Johnsons fingerprints were found inside a window in Jinagas apartment, and his DNA was found on the motor oil bottle and a portion of wet carpet at the crime scene. I think he may have been involved; I think he may have lied to us, Ehlert said of the neighbor. Jinaga and other tenants he hadnt met were co-hosting a large Halloween party in several units. Theres very little justice left to salvage., In a 2020 interview, the lead detective said Fair stood out to him because he was the only African-American male at the party and looked like an outsider.. As a man who was incarcerated and released but not convicted, Fair left jail without the support and resources typically offered to exonerated people or parolees, such as job support and mental health services. 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. 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. Fair was tried for Jinagas sexual assault twice and was acquitted after his second trial in June 2019. Several people were at the party before Jinagas murder, so the scene was full of various DNA samples. Ive never seen a worse case, Corinne Sebren, one of Fairs lawyers, who specializes in civil rights cases, told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. The prosecutors office told Rolling Stone: We look forward to addressing these allegations in a public courtroom; we stand by our case., Fair said that he was reluctant to file the lawsuit at first because Jinagas family still hasnt gotten justice: theres no resolution for this case, no resolution for her.. The damage from that can be quite minimal and close to the floor with the door discreetly closed on departure, you might not notice unless you looked for it. Investigators said the lower half of the womans body was covered in motor oil. I always knew I was going to get out; I just didnt think it would take as a long as it took, Fair, 38, said last month. He was staying with Potts in the mostly white neighborhood that weekend, and his attendance at the party was impromptu. Family of Missing Black Woman, Last Seen Living with Man She Met on Craigslist, Frustrated By Lack of Response to Case: Were Not Trying to Annoy Anybody, Happened As a Result of Jealousy: New York Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Stabbing Black 16-Year-Old Boy In the Heart for Walking a Girl Home, I Wanted to be a Trailblazer: Zandra Flemister, the First Black Woman Hired as a Secret Service Agent, Enduring Years of Blatant Racism, Dies at 71. In the intervening hours, neighbors who lived on either side of Jinagas apartment heard muffled moaning sounds but assumed she and a partner were having consensual sex. Fair also used Jinaga's bathroom. and even burning of sheets, but then they would be so careless and stupid to just discard it all into the apartment dumpster. Bodicherla went to the apartment complex, where he encountered Cameron Johnson, who showed him the way to Jinaga's unit. 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. After nine years of fighting, Emanuel Fair has the freedom he deserves. Fair spent six of the nearly nine years in jail, held by a seven-figure bond, isolated for 23 hours a day awaiting trial. Preliminary reports said Arpana may have died on Friday evening. Investigators focused on Fair after seeing him in photos of the party. Her father, a head professor of engineering in India, encouraged he to move to the US to attend Rutgers University. Most of Fairs jail term was spent away from the general population in administrative segregation essentially, solitary confinement. Do we know from the OP that it would have been obvious? She had opened her third-floor apartment to Fair and dozens of other partygoers, who traipsed in and out during the festivities. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. When asked about the calls, Johnson reportedly said, oh crap, but he could not remember why he called Jinaga. 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. No one cleaning up reported seeing anything suspicious. Detectives also found a trace of his DNA on the front of Jinagas neck that was so small that it had to be sent to a specialized lab for review. 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. Coats ran a background check on the Fair and found the rape charge. Cameron Johnson, who has never been charged, invoked his 5th Amendment right, and therefore only faced limited scope questioning during Fair's trial. During the trials, the neighbor, whom prosecutors at one point granted immunity for information, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. but Im not free., Thailand's 'most beautiful transgender woman' and husband wear $580K in attire at extravagant wedding, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; 'We are coming,' sheriff says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh's new mugshot revealed after double life sentence, Rebel Wilson says she was banned from Disneyland for 30 days for taking a bathroom selfie, SoCal in for cool start to weekend, but light rain makes brief return, Why 4 of Mizzou's seniors have a personal meaning for Dennis Gates, Iliman Ndiaye: Senegal midfielder an 'unbelievable' player. That decision was upheld by the state Court of Appeals following Fairs first trial. Poor victim was surrounded by shady people it seems. Jinagas naked body was discovered by a close friend and an immediate neighbor in her home on Nov. 1, 2008. According to the complaint, Johnsons fingerprints were found inside a window in Jinagas apartment, and his DNA was found on the motor oil bottle and a portion of wet carpet at the crime scene. Emanuel Fair was arrested in 2010. According to reports, when lead Detective Brian Coats saw photos from the party, he narrowed in on Fair, who he referred to as theonly African-American male at the party on the podcast Suspect. He had a prior history of violent sexual crimes. Maybe they were running out of time (had to be somewhere? All the while, Fair, whose family was unable to foot his seven-figure bail, said he had faith he would one day walk away free from a charge alleging he murdered Arpana Jinaga, 24, in her Redmond . After the party wound down, Jinaga was seen returning to her apartment about 3 a.m.; investigators believe she was killed at about 8 a.m. Nov. 1. In my opinion, and in my heart, I dont have any question about anything we did in regards to charging that Emanuel Fair killed Arpana Jinaga, she said. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. Police attempted to identify the partygoers and interview them. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. Suspect: With Matthew Shaer, Eric Benson, Matt Baglio, Ashley Fantz. He also heard a thud on the floor but figured she was alright when he heard water running shortly after the noise. She volunteered at the. Arpana Jinaga was a 24-year-old computer programmer, who had moved to the Pacific Northwest in March of 2008. He matched the description of the man the other resident saw around 3 a.m. at the murdered womans door and had a wide window of suspicion around him, the lawsuit alleges. The party ended between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., around the same time witnesses saw Jinaga going back to her apartment. He was drunk and brought bottles of liquor. Fairs 23-page complaint, filed last month by his attorney, Ryan Dreveskracht, contends police and prosecutors botched the probe and wrongly targeted him because he was a Black man with a criminal record, despite evidence implicating Jinagas then-neighbor, who is white. His attorneys allege Fair was isolated as the main suspect for her murder because of his race and his past criminal record. The majority of criminals arent very bright. Two days later on Monday, Jinagas father in India was worried that her daughter was not answering her phone, so he asked family friend Jay Bodicherla in the US to check up on her. He scrubbed his phone right after the interrogation, the lawsuit says. All the while, Fair, whose family was unable to foot his seven-figure bail, said he had faith he would one day walk away free from a charge alleging he murdered Arpana Jinaga, 24, in her. 2008, in Marshall . The lab technicians simply could not exclude Fair as a match, and his DNA was found alongside other DNA matches. Arpana dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and her apartment was one of four areas in the complex. He scrubbed his phone right after the interrogation, the lawsuit says. So its kind of messed up. Her fingers and nails were cleaned and then covered in toilet bowl cleaner, and there was a heavy scent of bleach throughout the house. 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. Emanuel Fair: He was not a resident, but he was staying in the apartment of Leslie Potts. All the while, Fair, whose family was unable to foot his seven-figure bail, said he had faith he would one day walk away free from a charge alleging he murdered Arpana Jinaga, 24, in her. He attributed them to wrestling a stranger he met at another Halloween party the next day, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit says that Johnson also had a past of strange or violent behavior with women. Emanuel has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout this case and he, his family, and friends are greatly relieved that justice was served by his acquittal, defense attorney Benjamin Goldsmith wrote in an email Friday. After her graduation, she got a job as a software engineer at EMC, in a suburb of Seattle. Johnson also said that he had driven to Canada on the day after the Halloween party and that he had been denied entry. On Oct. 30, 2010, Fair was placed in a Seattle holding cell while detectives gathered more evidence against him for the 2008 sexual assault and murder of a 24-year-old software engineer and Indian immigrant named Arpana Jinaga. 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. Nobody heard from her in the following days, and that Monday, her body was discovered on the floor of her apartment, doused in chemicals and showing signs of strangulation. 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 He was her pimp, or as the podcast preferred to describe it, the person who placed craiglist ads for her escort services. On Tuesday, that man, Emanuel Fair, 35, was found not guilty of first-degree murder with sexual motivation by a King County jury. Detectives interviewed Fair three times in jail before the district attorney recommended a first-degree murder against him. Host Matthew Shaer and and reporter Eric Benson go to the scene of the crime in an effort to discover if police identified the right suspect. 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. If you have probable cause, you dont go to a psychic, he said. His phone records revealed that he had called Jinaga at 3am on the night of the murder, but he stated he did not remember making the calls.