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. Jinaga was. 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. 2008, in Marshall . beansbaxter. The lawsuit alleges there was heavy drinking at the party of 40 to 50 people. Detectives interviewed Fair three times in jail before the district attorney recommended a first-degree murder against him. I dont think he killed Arpana. Witnesses said Neil Marshall, a partygoer, was sexually aggressive toward Jinaga on Halloween. Investigators focused on Fair after seeing him in photos of the party. Some guests were rowdy, but nothing out of the ordinary, it says. Her finger and fingernails were cleaned. When youre in jail, you dont have a holiday. 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. Im out, Fair said. 'I'm Out, But I'm Not Free': Man Sues After Spending More Than Eight The following Monday, her body would be discovered inside of her apartment, the victim of an apparent homicide. Sunshine2018/BT - He was convicted of third-degree rape in 2004. The suit contends detectives aligned evidence to match their theory and disregarded half a dozen non-Black suspects in the case. Man jailed for 9 years sues King County, Redmond after acquittal in It was just gruesome, he said. 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. 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. The officers allegedly did not change gloves between evidence collections, or between rooms or locations. Jinagas phone and digital camera were missing from the scene and never recovered. So she was protecting him from interacting with cops and ending up going to jail for that. He told detectives he had a desire to explore. Canadian officials said Johnson tried to blow through the gates. Prior to that, she had attended Rutgers University on the east coast, but had grown up in the Indian city of Hyderabad as the oldest of two daughters. Halloween Party Host Murder Leads to Excess Suspects | Arpana Jinaga Arpana Jinaga. And thats hard.. On Oct. 31, 2008, 24-year-old Arpana Jinaga dressed up in a Little Red Riding Hood costume and prepared for a Friday night to remember. Jinaga, an outgoing Rutgers University grad, had moved to Redmond six months earlier to work as a software engineer at a Bellevue firm. During the party, [Fair] was accidentally hit in the mouth and had a bloody lip, so he used a tissue in Ms. Jinagas apartment; he likely used her bathroom during the party where her robe hung; he may have touched the duct tape holding decorations during the party; and photographs show he touched Ms. Jinaga and others while posing during the party. Jinaga had been a prize-winner in a . One juror said that when the jury began its deliberations on June 6, the 12-member panel was evenly split: Four thought Fair was not guilty, four thought he was guilty, and four were undecided. There was DNA from 2-3 males found at the crime scene. Its just another day. In it, Ehlert stood firmly by the prosecuting teams decisions. Her arm and a blanket also were partially burned and her comforter was soaking in a bathtub. Murder mystery continues nearly a year later: Redmond Police still have Around 2:30 am, Fair and Johnson went to Johnson's apartment and then down to Johnson's car to listen to music. He scrubbed his phone right after the interrogation, the lawsuit says. 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. He had a list of nearby pawnshops in his car printed the day Jinaga was killed, the lawsuit says. 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.Season 2: Vanished in the Snow chronicles the disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews. The county, police department and Coats filed a response to Fairs initial complaint refuting the claims. He was her pimp, or as the podcast preferred to describe it, the person who placed craiglist ads for her escort services. But as they worked through the evidence, jurors came to believe the state had not met its burden of proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt, said the juror, a 35-year-old Bellevue software engineer who asked not to be named to protect his privacy, It was tough for us to vote not guilty because the family still doesnt know exactly who killed her, the juror said. Maybe they were running out of time (had to be somewhere? Court files said there were also burn marks from an attempt to set the body or apartment on fire. Jinaga showed Fair and other partygoers something on her computer on another occasion. Brian Coats, who led the investigation into Jinagas murder as a detective 13 years ago. There were also other men in Jinagas life that detectives suspected of the murder, and some of their DNA was found at the crime scene. Johnson also had injuries that detectives said were consistent with a sexual assault. 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. Police believe she was killed around 8 am. Do we know from the OP that it would have been obvious? 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 apartment after a Halloween party in 2008. The lab technicians simply could not exclude Fair as a match, and his DNA was found alongside other DNA matches. Why didnt he tell police that her door was kicked in? Her father, a head professor of engineering in India, encouraged he to move to the US to attend Rutgers University. Was Kyle Rose ever questioned as a suspect? His case went on trial in 2017, the jury deadlocked and there was a mistrial. After her graduation, she got a job as a software engineer at EMC, in a suburb of Seattle. Coats and another Redmond detective confronted the neighbor about his calls to Jinaga, but then released him and returned his phone without examining it. 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. To get in one of those cheap hollow core doors (if thats what the apartment had) by kicking, you dont need to kick a hole through, just knock it out of the lock. The result, it claims, was a biased probe that caused Fair to be arrested and charged without probable cause for a murder he did not commit.. Johnson's friends and family stated he said "what if I did the murder and I don't remember". A third mans DNA was on a bootlace, also found in the trash, but he had an alibi. There was forced entry into Jinaga's second-story apartment, signs of trauma to Jinaga and the apartment was in disarray. The party started like many others. 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. His lawyers said he suffers from depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Jinaga was sprawled on the floor in her bedroom, bloody, naked, and drenched in bleach, toilet bowl cleaner, and motor oil. He assumed Jinaga was either vomiting or having sex. As the fact that Fair was the only black African American at the party and involved in this case, some are also accusing racial discrimination. She had opened her third-floor apartment to Fair and dozens of other partygoers, who traipsed in and out during the festivities. Several people were at the party before Jinagas murder, so the scene was full of various DNA samples. It seems odd to me that the killer(s) would go to such extremes to cover up DNA on her body and in her apartment with the motor oil and toilet bowl cleaner and bleach etc. and even burning of sheets, but then they would be so careless and stupid to just discard it all into the apartment dumpster. Jinagas hands were covered in blue toilet-bowl cleaner, her body and other items were covered in motor oil, her bed had been stripped, a blanket was partially burned and her soaked comforter was found in the bathtub. Her apartment was decorated as a haunted forest, one of four themed areas at the Valley View that would welcome visitors for the Halloween party, which spanned multiple units in the complex. After zeroing in on Fair because of his race and rap sheet, investigators relied on cherry-picked DNA evidence while disregarding other genetic findings and suspects as part of a gather facts that fit the theory strategy, the suit alleges. He was staying with Potts in the mostly white neighborhood that weekend, and his attendance at the party was impromptu. Around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, Jinaga left a gathering in a ground-floor apartment and returned to her apartment on the third floor. 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. link. After the jury in his first trial deadlocked in 2017, King County prosecutors tried Fair again in 2019. He had a lighter covered in gook that looked like motor oil which they took a photo of but never bagged it nor did they check his shoes for a missing lace. Arpana Jinaga was a 24-year-old computer programmer, who had moved to the Pacific Northwest in March of 2008. The result, it claims, was a biased probe that caused Fair to be arrested and charged without probable cause for a murder he did not commit.. Bodicherla went to the apartment complex, where he encountered Cameron Johnson, who showed him the way to Jinaga's unit. In the investigation that followed, authorities scrambled to determine who would hurt the lovable young woman from India, a promising software programmer who volunteered at the local fire department and rode her motorcycle with friends in her free time. She volunteered at the. 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. 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. Were they old friends? Then, due to inexcusable delays in Fairs trial and prolonged pretrial detention, he spent more than nine years in the King County Correctional Facility as an innocent man, in conditions of inhumane confinement that are well known to have a detrimental effect on mental health, the suit contends. Police believe she was killed around 8 a.m. Two days later, a friend of Jinagas father went to check up on her because she hadnt answered phone calls from her family in India. There was evidence of rape. Suspect: With Matthew Shaer, Eric Benson, Matt Baglio, Ashley Fantz. He was drunk and brought bottles of liquor. During trial the jury heard significant evidence that another person, Ms. Jinagas next door neighbor, may have murdered her on that tragic night.. 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. Since his release two-and-a-half years ago, Fair said hes struggled to adjust to life outside of jail or find steady work. Coats was asked during the podcast if the prior conviction was significant to his investigation. Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens. Suspect is a true crime podcast that examines the murder of Arpana Jinaga who was killed at a Halloween party hosted by her apartment complex. 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. There were also other men in Jinagas life that detectives suspected of the murder, and some of their DNA was found at the crime scene. 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. Legal Expert Weighs In, Idaho Murder Victims' Families React to Suspect's Arrest: 'Such a Blessing and Relief', 'She Had No Idea': Sister of Idaho Victim Reacts to Claim that Suspect's Phone Pinged Near House 12 Times, Parents Charged with Murder After 4-Year-Old Son Dies from Alleged 'Exorcisms', Idaho Killings: Surviving Roommate Saw Alleged Killer Wearing Black Clothes and a Mask, Affidavit Says. The neighbors DNA was found on a discarded bottle of motor oil, found in the same bag with the robe. Meanwhile they raided Emmanuels stuff and according to his best friend on the podcast took almost ALL of his things. 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. He attributed them to wrestling a stranger he met at another Halloween party the next day, the lawsuit alleges. He made calls to a few friends, including apparently pocket-dialing Potts. She had a keen interest in engineering and won several innovation competitions. During the night, neighbors of Jinaga heard muffled moaning sounds, and assumed she and a partner were having consensual sex. According to the Rolling Stone report, most of the people at the party that night didnt remember Fairs name. Fair said the lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, is the closest thing to justice I can get.. If her rape was that violent he'd have had SOME scratches or scars. 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. The evidence of Fairs involvement is compelling, Larson said this week. Since his release two-and-a-half years ago, Fair said hes struggled to adjust to life outside of jail or find steady work. My guess would be drugs. Potts covered for Fair because he had a warrant out for not updating his address with his parole officer.