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State of Washington v Emanuel Fair
TrueAllele in Halloween murder of Seattle software developer
| Crime | On Nov 1, 2008, Seattle software developer Arpana Jinaga (24) was sexually assaulted and killed after a Halloween party in her home. |
| Evidence | Evidence items included a red robe found in the trash, and duct tape used to secure a gag. |
| DNA | The Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory developed mixed DNA data from the evidence items. |
| Match | The crime lab could not draw conclusions from the data due to its complexity. |
| TrueAllele | On the same DNA data, the computer found match statistics connecting Emanuel Fair to the robe (56.8 million) and the duct tape (45.7 trillion). |
| Cybergenetics | In November of 2016, Dr. Mark Perlin testified in pretrial hearings on TrueAllele reliability and source code. King Court Superior Court Judge Mariane Spearman denied both defense motions. On March 27, 2017 Dr. Perlin testified about the TrueAllele results in Seattle, WA. On April 19, 2017, the trial ended in a hung jury. DNA analyst Jennifer Hornyak testified in the re-trial on May 29, 2019. |
| Outcome | On June 11, 2019, the jury acquitted Mr. Fair of first degree murder. |
Media
- Talented techie strangled to death; no suspects yet Redmond Reporter
- Woman found dead in Redmond apartment had recently moved to Northwest The Seattle Times
- Sex offender charged in 2008 Redmond Halloween slaying The Seattle Times
- Two years after Halloween rape-killing, man charged in Redmond woman's death Seattle Pi
- Convicted sex offender charged in brutal 2008 Redmond homicide Redmond Reporter
- Trial begins 8 years after Redmond woman raped, strangled Seattle Times
- Hung jury in Fair murder trial Redmond Reporter
- Second trial in killing of Redmond woman ends with not-guilty verdict Redmond Reporter
- Man accused of killing Arpana Jinaga freed after he’s held 9 years with no conviction Investigation Discovery
Documents
The defense filed a motion to compel source code. The prosecution responded. Nine scientists wrote declarations explaining why source code isn’t relevant to establishing reliability. Scientists test software by running executable software on data; they don’t have, read, or use source code. The documents are on Cybergenetics news page.