They also want him to be reimbursed for the attorney fees he incurred while fighting the charges. Her removed tampon alone had three separate unidentified male DNA profiles on it, according to Rolling Stones investigation. The party was big enough that it spanned multiple apartments and drew many revelers. Detectives interviewed Fair three times in jail before the district attorney recommended a first-degree murder against him. A third mans DNA was on a bootlace, also found in the trash, but he had an alibi. We found [Fair] not guilty because of reasonable doubt, not because we thought he was completely innocent., The Seattle Times closes comments on particularly sensitive stories. Nearly a year later. Those are times when you should be around family. Ive been away for so long, I dont believe in holidays no more, he said. When contacted by police, Leslie Potts falsely claimed that she was alone, even though Emanuel Fair was staying with her. 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. 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 am far from shady. Perhaps the perpetrator(s) kicked in the door, then while leaving they shut it again. 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.. Jinaga had been gagged, brutally beaten and most likely raped. Fair was initially arrested for not updating his address with his probation officer. 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. But I dont have a desire to do that. He assumed Jinaga was either vomiting or having sex. The officers allegedly did not change gloves between evidence collections, or between rooms or locations. According to court documents, Johnson called Jinaga around 3 a.m. but did not mention that to the police during his interview. 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 thats hard.. We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. After-the-fact contentions about inadmissible evidence are a little disingenuous, said Dreveskracht, Fairs attorney, who noted police at one point consulted with a psychic medium who attempted to contact Jinaga beyond the grave. 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. He scrubbed his phone right after the interrogation, the lawsuit says. 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 complaint alleges that police failed to properly secure and gather evidence. 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. It was a party, Fair was all over her apartment like EVERYONE ELSE. For three and a half decades, her disappearance was a mystery - a riddle neither authorities . At approximately 8 am, Jinaga's next-door neighbor Kyle Rose, was awakened by sounds coming from her apartment. She had a keen interest in engineering and won several innovation competitions. 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. The lawsuit alleges there was heavy drinking at the party of 40 to 50 people. 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. Do we know from the OP that it would have been obvious? Contribute to Atlanta Black Star today and help us share our narratives. According to the Rolling Stone report, most of the people at the party that night didnt remember Fairs name. DNA was found on a discarded bottle of motor oil (same bag as robe). I think he may have been involved; I think he may have lied to us, Ehlert said of the neighbor. "Choices that, once made, are difficult to reverse.". 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. She died from ligature strangulation, a bootlace the suspected murder weapon. Emanuel Fair stayed in the King County Correctional Facility for nearly nine years for a crime he did not commit based on a botched and bizarre murder investigation driven by racial discrimination, a recent lawsuit alleges. Jinagas father had asked a family friend to check in on her after she missed scheduled calls with family from India. When the night came to an end and the crowd began to disperse, Jinaga said what would be her final goodbyes. She had opened her third-floor apartment to Fair and dozens of other partygoers, who traipsed in and out during the festivities. At some point during the night, partygoers recall Jinaga getting into an argument with a male, who made a race-related comment. Potts, Jinaga and two others neighbors decorated and opened up their units to allow partygoers to go in and out freely. 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. Investigators focused on Fair after seeing him in photos of the party. A few guests got rowdy, arguments broke out and a couple of people were asked to leave. According to court documents, a neighbor who did not attend the party reported seeing a man with olive complexion and light stubble standing in Jinagas doorway, talking to someone inside around 3 a.m. Fair went inside Potts apartment between 2:30 and 3 a.m. after listening to music with Jinagas immediate neighbor Cameron Johnson. The area she was living is considered an upscale area with a very low crime rate, and is the home to technology companies such as Microsoft and Nintendo. Fair said the lawsuit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, is the closest thing to justice I can get.. 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. They also failed to look for evidence of a missing bootlace. 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. He appeared drunk and brought liquor. He also heard a thud on the floor but figured she was alright when he heard water running shortly after the noise. 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. 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 heard "a horrible growling" for about twenty seconds until he heard a thud. 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. Jinagas bruised body was discovered covered with a cloth on Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. Her finger and fingernails were cleaned. Unidentified male DNA was also found on a bruise on Jinagas wrist. Since his release two-and-a-half years ago, Fair said hes struggled to adjust to life outside of jail or find steady work. 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. The complaint alleges that police failed to properly secure and gather evidence. 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. Jinaga showed Fair and other partygoers something on her computer on another occasion. He was staying with Potts in the mostly white neighborhood that weekend, and his attendance at the party was impromptu. To contaminate evidence, Jinagas hands had been doused in blue toilet-bowl cleaner and her body covered in motor oil. Shed been gagged, beaten and strangled during an apparent sexual attack. His lawyers said the ordeal has permanently damaged Fairs reputation, his emotional well-being, livelihood and relationships. 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. 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. At his second trial, a jury found him not guilty. . Only one man was charged with murder. 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. On Oct. 31, 2008, Fair took a bus to Redmond to stay the weekend with a friend at the Valley View Apartments. Fair was initially arrested for not updating his address with his probation officer. According to court documents, a neighbor who did not attend the party reported seeing a man with olive complexion and light stubble standing in Jinagas doorway, talking to someone inside around 3 a.m. Fair went inside Potts apartment between 2:30 and 3 a.m. after listening to music with Jinagas immediate neighbor Cameron Johnson. 2008, in Marshall . Maybe they realized only at the last minute that they should get rid of the sheets and empty oil bottle and without anyone seeing them do it? Ehlert also defended an immunity deal with the suspected neighbor, and the decision to solely prosecute Fair for first-degree murder with sexual motivation a charge that hinged mostly on trace DNA collected from a crime scene teeming with genetic evidence linked to multiple people. Police let Johnson go after his questioning. 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. An online memorial for Arpana has been created, for family and friends to share pictures and memories, at crypticgirl.com. Coats is now a captain in the department. I thought I was gonna die, Fair told Rolling Stone. But I dont have a desire to do that. 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. Preliminary reports said Arpana may have died on Friday evening. 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. Jinaga showed Fair and other partygoers something on her computer on another occasion. So what else can they do but to continue to point their finger at me?. His DNA was also found, he was sexually interested in her, called her around 3am and said oh crap when caught in the lie, also matched the description of the guy seen at her door at 3am. Bodicherla went to the apartment complex, where he encountered Cameron Johnson, who showed him the way to Jinaga's unit. The county, police department and Coats filed a response to Fairs initial complaint refuting the claims. Fair is seeking damages for the emotional stress he faced from when police investigated him until he was released. After the sound stopped, Rose then heard steps and the sound of running water for 1 hour. After nine years of fighting, Emanuel Fair has the freedom he deserves. 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. 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. 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. 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 suspect is identified, arrested, and convicted, but this morphed into a greater mystery when journalists began investigating the case years later. Fair was tried for Jinagas sexual assault twice and was acquitted after his second trial in June 2019. To just dismiss it as racism is ridiculous. 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. By Bill Christianson January 8, 2009 5:35 pm. He went on afterwards, he got his degree, hes never had a crime., Fair, who had only met the neighbor at the party that night, said prosecutors immunity deal was just another biased action taken to strengthen the case against him that backfired, because the neighbor didnt even implicate me, he implicated himself.. 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. He was convicted of third-degree rape in 2004. 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. 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. Jinaga was. Jinaga's killer had clearly gone to great lengths to destroy any biological traces linking him to the crime scene. 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. He used the bathroom on one occasion. When residents of the Valley View Apartments in Redmond, Wash., decided to host a Halloween party nearly 13 years ago, nobody expected that it would end with murder. He scrubbed his phone right after the interrogation, the lawsuit says. 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. Detectives interviewed Fair three times in jail before the district attorney recommended a first-degree murder against him. 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. I may be misremembering but I seem to remember there being explanations for Fairs DNA on those items? The second trial was in 2019, where he got a not-guilty verdict. Fairs lawsuit includes many of the same facts that his public defender, Ben Goldsmith, used to poke holes in the prosecutions criminal case. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. When youre in jail, you dont have a holiday. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. At age 20, Jinaga moved from her native India to the United States and quickly found success. Potts had not known Fair for a long time. According to reports, Fair accepted a plea agreement in 2004 while still maintaining his innocence. If you have probable cause, you dont go to a psychic, he said. After the jury in his first trial deadlocked in 2017, King County prosecutors tried Fair again in 2019.