NC NC - Faith Hedgepeth, 19, UNC student, Chapel Hill, 7 Sep 2012 #2

[J.M. Bee]

well, the other (or another) possibility is that someone (could even be a transient) simply followed the women to their residence after an encounter at the Thrill, and certainly didn't go there with any intent to kill (having taken no weapon, but relying on a rum bottle), but probably just to sexually assault, and then in an act of rage or impulse while high or drunk, when Faith fought back, ended up killing.

Maybe, but the girls arrived home from The Thrill at 2:30am, and Karena didn't leave the apartment until 4:30am. The theory above has the assailant waiting outside their apartment for two hours --- why, exactly? --- and then getting lucky in that after two hours of waiting he sees Karena leaving and leaving the door unlocked? I don't find that all that plausible.

 

[MinoT]

Excellent post. Really, really good. I have been following this case for years --- it is the case I find most perplexing and that I most want to see solved --- and somehow you've managed to speak more clearly about it than almost anyone I've ever read or listened to. Bravo.

Further, while I have long been suspicious of Karena for a variety of reasons, I can't really argue against what you have said above. And the list of scenarios you lay out as the remaining possibilities --- a stalker with an obsession, someone with a vendetta against Karena (and a case of mistaken identity), a neighbor who had been watching the girls for some time (more or less the first scenario) or a sexual predator --- is a very good one.

The thing that has never made sense to me about any of the above, however, is the time window. Karena left the apartment at 4:30am. How likely is it that any of the above would be entering the apartment intent on evil sometime between 4:30am and 7:00am or so? That time window just seems too late to me. I wish I could explain this better, but I just find that time window an unlikely one.

However, a thought just occurred to me which I haven't really ever considered before, and that is this: what if it wasn't a late night assault as it were but a morning assault? That is, what if this perpetrator awoke that morning with evil intentions, what if he had been fixating on the two girls, and what if he decided to see if he could get into their apartment that morning? Well, that's possible, except that there's one important thing against this theory, and that's the fact that he would have had reason to assume that both girls were in the apartment, and that should have kept him from carrying out an assault at that time.

And that takes me back to an idea I've expressed before, namely that it must be the case that the perpetrator somehow knew Faith was alone. And I can only think of one way he'd know that, and that's if he saw Karena leave. So that actually brings me back to it being a "late night" assault, i.e., he entered the apartment at 4:3oam, just after Karena left.

You are absolutely right that the police should have done better investigative work at the time, because the perpetrator absolutely had to be living in that apartment complex (in one way or another) at that time. I don't see any other possibility.

Thanks for your comments.

Yes you're right, it is difficult to run through the different scenarios without having strong suspicion of Karena, especially given her actions since the murder, going into hiding by moving back home, not once has she given a public interview or appealed to help find the perpetrator which some may find odd as her and Faith were supposedly good friends and she was the last known person to see Faith alive . I feel she must know a lot more information than has been made available to us and whether she has provided this to the police remains to be seen..

The time of the crime has a huge question mark over it. I can see where you are coming from by looking into the possibility of a window sometime between 7am - 11am or the time of the 911 call, again nothing can be ruled out and makes you think that it could have been a completely random attack, a neighbour or even a delivery man/ post man who found the door ajar? But this would have been completely opportunistic and as you say just by chance that this one time both girls happened to not be in the apartment together or (of course unless Karena was one to frequently have men come and pick her up in the early hours of the morning after a night out for that type of attention.)

As Webthrush has mentioned it could well be someone they had encountered at Thrill night club that night or an obsessive admirer of the girls who decided to follow them home and subsequently made his move after seeing Karena leave. For me there are so many questions I wish I had the answers for which would be vital to this case from the time the girls left the Thrill night club to when they arrived home. All we have is CCTV of the girls leaving the club and only Karena's statement of their movements after. How did they get home? Did one of the girls drive? Did they take a ride with someone? Did they arrive home on their own? Did they stop off anywhere? for food? to pick someone up/ drop someone off? Surely Karena's statement needs to be cross-checked with some more evidence as it is an essential time period in the investigation, the downstairs neighbours statement on hearing the 'girls' return around 2.30am and then two loud bangs there after isn't enough. I read somewhere that the Thrill night club at the time had an unconnected car park to the side or at the back which people would use when visiting the club. This car park in fact had CCTV however the Chapel Hill police department didn't check it out until months after the murder and by this time the footage from that night had already been taped over, if this is true then it further shows how badly the investigation was bungled.

 

[Seratonin]

 

[akemicat]

Hi everyone, I am new here but the Faith Hedgepeth case has been one of my pet cases for years now.

I think that Karena knows what happened and who killed Faith, I am unsure if she was involved or not, but I do find her very suspicious.

What I am slightly hung up on, is the fact that Faith was found in Karena's bed. When Karena mentioned that she had left Faith alone in the apartment and asleep, she never said: Oh, I left her asleep in my bed/my room. So, either she did not leave Faith asleep in her room, or it was such a common occurrence that she didn't see the need to mention it (which I find not very likely).
Why was Faith sleeping in Karena's bed, if she has a perfectly good bed and room of her own to use?

 

[raiders444]

Hi everyone, I am new here but the Faith Hedgepeth case has been one of my pet cases for years now.

I think that Karena knows what happened and who killed Faith, I am unsure if she was involved or not, but I do find her very suspicious.

What I am slightly hung up on, is the fact that Faith was found in Karena's bed. When Karena mentioned that she had left Faith alone in the apartment and asleep, she never said: Oh, I left her asleep in my bed/my room. So, either she did not leave Faith asleep in her room, or it was such a common occurrence that she didn't see the need to mention it (which I find not very likely).
Why was Faith sleeping in Karena's bed, if she has a perfectly good bed and room of her own to use?

welcome aboard! get ready for years of frustration and no new developments to come!

In answer to your question- I believe that KR's apartment was a 1 bedroom set up. Faith was there crashing temporarily if I am not mistaken. So I think in a situation when it was known one girl was not sleeping there, the other one would take the bed rather than the couch

 

[Skigirl]

Hi everyone, I am new here but the Faith Hedgepeth case has been one of my pet cases for years now.

I think that Karena knows what happened and who killed Faith, I am unsure if she was involved or not, but I do find her very suspicious.

What I am slightly hung up on, is the fact that Faith was found in Karena's bed. When Karena mentioned that she had left Faith alone in the apartment and asleep, she never said: Oh, I left her asleep in my bed/my room. So, either she did not leave Faith asleep in her room, or it was such a common occurrence that she didn't see the need to mention it (which I find not very likely).
Why was Faith sleeping in Karena's bed, if she has a perfectly good bed and room of her own to use?

My understanding is that they were only roommates temporarily because Faith was in between apartments, and there was only one bedroom. I would imagine that if Karena was going out, Faith may have found the bed more comfortable than the couch.

 

[cluciano63]

I watched a documentary today on Faith’s murder. I had no idea until now that it had not been solved. I do not know what to think.

I really thought the so-called cleaned up voice mail was a lot of nonsense, as far as the words the expert claimed to hear. Reminded me of the tape of a phone call in the Baby Sabrina case in the late 90’s where the police claimed to hear a conversation between the parents about killing the baby...even the judge rolled his eyes and said you have got to be kidding and threw it out as evidence, therefore the case was dropped.

I find the DNA confusing...I assume it is male DNA though they never said so on the show. So Karena could not be the killer, certainly not on her own. And if her ex-boyfriend was not a match, as was stated, who else would Karena have been close enough to, to participate in such a horrible murder? I don’t recall it being said that she had other close male friends, other than those who were tested and ruled out.

Anyway...I hope this case can be solved, even if they have to go the familial DNA route. I wish that would be done in a lot more cold cases. I know it is pricy but not as much as it used to be and seems to work so often. I have been on a true crime binge on YouTube lately and many of the cold cases that have been solved since 2018 were done in this way.

 

[cluciano63]

welcome aboard! get ready for years of frustration and no new developments to come!

In answer to your question- I believe that KR's apartment was a 1 bedroom set up. Faith was there crashing temporarily if I am not mistaken. So I think in a situation when it was known one girl was not sleeping there, the other one would take the bed rather than the couch

I got the impression they were roommates but that Faith was wanting to move out...at least that is what another of her friends said on the doc...not that she was in a temporary situation. Jmo

 

[Simplestarz86]

I got the impression they were roommates but that Faith was wanting to move out...at least that is what another of her friends said on the doc...not that she was in a temporary situation. Jmo

Faith was indeed in a temporary living situation. Faith was waiting for her financial aid to come through so she could move into a place with another close friend. Faith had only been staying with Karena a couple weeks when she was brutally murdered. #J4F

 

[akemicat]

Anyway...I hope this case can be solved, even if they have to go the familial DNA route. I wish that would be done in a lot more cold cases. I know it is pricy but not as much as it used to be and seems to work so often. I have been on a true crime binge on YouTube lately and many of the cold cases that have been solved since 2018 were done in this way.

I would love if the investigation would go this way. Could it be possible they are already doing this, but just not making it public? Familial DNA seems to be the next big help in solving cold cases.

 

[cluciano63]

I would love if the investigation would go this way. Could it be possible they are already doing this, but just not making it public? Familial DNA seems to be the next big help in solving cold cases.

I guess it could be possible, though it seems like they wait a very long time before doing this. Or maybe not all states are as willing to do it. As I said, I kind of wish it was an automatic step in any case of a determined number of years...why wait and make victim’s family member suffer...

 

[Webthrush]

I guess it could be possible, though it seems like they wait a very long time before doing this. Or maybe not all states are as willing to do it. As I said, I kind of wish it was an automatic step in any case of a determined number of years...why wait and make victim’s family member suffer...

It is a relatively new technique with relatively few practitioners trained in doing it. Meanwhile there are 1000s of cold cases and they seem to be primarily working on cases 20 to 40+ yrs. old... Faith's case is only 8 yrs. old... hard to say when they might get to it (assuming Chapel Hill police are willing to cover the cost of doing it). But yes, I certainly wish it would be applied here as well.

 

[DeathbyBoobie]

If this is not ok, please delete. Darkmatter: Faith Hedgepeth Attended UNC in Chapel Hill When She Was Bludgeoned To Death And A Mysterious Note Left Behind.

 

[GottaHaveFaith]

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article244903777.html

 

[Lamima]

It is a relatively new technique with relatively few practitioners trained in doing it. Meanwhile there are 1000s of cold cases and they seem to be primarily working on cases 20 to 40+ yrs. old... Faith's case is only 8 yrs. old... hard to say when they might get to it (assuming Chapel Hill police are willing to cover the cost of doing it). But yes, I certainly wish it would be applied here as well.

See I think they should work on newer cases as the offender might offend again. Whereas in old old cases, the offender might be deceased, incarcerated or too feeble to be any threat. Better to use this to prevent more folks from being harmed.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The Chapel Hill Police Department gathered a considerable amount of forensic evidence from the scene, including DNA, a murder weapon and a cryptic note written on a fast food bag. The department has performed hundreds of DNA tests and generated a composite image of the killer based on DNA, yet the case seems no closer to being solved than it did almost eight years ago.

At Sunday’s event, people close to missing and murdered Indigenous women will speak about their “lost ones.” Singer Alexis Raeana will perform throughout the event. After speakers and performances, the group will move to the sidewalk outside Vecino and hold up signs to raise awareness.
...
Sunday’s event organizers, which include the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of NC Coalition and the producers of “The Lost Ones” podcast, ask that all attendees follow local orders and wear face masks and maintain a safe physical distance from others. Hand sanitizer will be provided on-site.

Audio may be recorded at the event for use in a future podcast about Hedgepeth and other missing and murdered women.

Find more details about the event at: facebook.com/TheLostOnesPodcast.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article244903777.html

 

[louvillian08]

I'm knew to WebSleuths but I've been obsessed with this case over the past few weeks. A random thing to ask but I've heard conflicting information, was KR a student at UNC?

Part of the reason I ask, after combing through a bulk of these posts, articles, etc. It seems MR’s story is a bit off.

 

[louvillian08]

I'm knew to WebSleuths but I've been obsessed with this case over the past few weeks. A random thing to ask but I've heard conflicting information, was KR a student at UNC?

Part of the reason I ask, after combing through a bulk of these posts, articles, etc. It seems MR’s story is a bit off.

*new. I'm embarrassing myself with my first post!

 

[lizziebordenxx]

I'm knew to WebSleuths but I've been obsessed with this case over the past few weeks. A random thing to ask but I've heard conflicting information, was KR a student at UNC?

Part of the reason I ask, after combing through a bulk of these posts, articles, etc. It seems MR’s story is a bit off.

I don't think KR was a student at UNC. From everything I've seen they became friends outside of school.

 

[BullCityLab]

She was definitely a student at UNC. Karena and Faith were studying at the student library together just prior to going out. Karena was in NC to attend UNC, she’s from NJ.