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

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"Approximately 2,000 people have been questioned and the DNA of more than 100 people has been tested. But nearly eight years later, there’s still not a match."

I thought I recall reading on a previous post or news item that the number of tested was 800? 100 seems somewhat small- think of how big a university lecture hall is- just one class would have over 100 people. If Faith was so social and bubbly and met tons of people, I'd think her circle would extend well beyond 100
 
allboys said:
I just had a random theory pop into my head. Please feel free to refute it, as many here are more knowledgeable about the case.

Faith was said to leave the library that night to meet a man, correct?

What if she and that man went back to her (KR’s) apartment, and had sex, and drank some rum or at least at some point the man handled the bottle. During this meeting Faith mentions to this man that KR doesn’t like him and thinks he’s “stupid.” Maybe she tells him not to let anyone know they went back to her apartment.

As Faith is in the bathroom or other room, this man writes a quick note for KR to find when she gets home. “I’m not stupid. *****. Jealous.” (Faith never sees the note).

Faith goes back to the library to meet KR (Unsure if she did or did not tell her where she’d been and with whom)

When KR and Faith come home from the night club, KR finds the note somewhere in the apartment, but not close enough to where Faith was killed or there would be blood on the (note)bag.

I won’t speculate on how this turned into an argument. But possibly KR was pissed that Faith had sex in *her* bed. Faith goes over to the bed to take the sheets off or something...and KR increasingly agitated and drunk, comes into the room and bashes Faith over the head with the bottle.

KR moves the note to the bed where Faith lays bludgeoned.

All texts sent from Faith’s phone were to either cast suspicion on who the texts were sent to, or to lure them over to find the body.

Any DNA of KR’s on the rum bottle, note on bag, pen or anything else could be explained away by the fact she lived there.

Problems with this theory:
- even though it hasn’t been released who Faith went to meet during break from library visit, it is assumed LE does know who that person is. So, they would be able to get that man’s dna to see if it matches semen sample and dna on note and pen.
- some have said that KR would not have had the strength to have committed that kind of extreme physical attack.

I know some feel the dna is a red herring, and this seems like a way of explaining it.

I guess the only way this is a possibility is if Faith did have a sexual encounter at the apartment that day, but who that person is is still unknown to LE, and has never come forward. I guess this is a long shot too, because if that person was innocent of committing murder, he would want to clear his name immediately.

Feel free to trample all over this idea. I’m just thinking aloud. ;)
Click to expand...

From reading through into this case I noticed a bloodied tampon was found by the body so I would be really surprised if she went off to have a secret sexual encounter with a man while on her period. Ty McNeil has said on record that him and Faith were still having casual sex in this time, they had been intimate the weekend before her death and had planned another encounter on the night of the 6th, he messaged her around 6pm that evening to see if she was still down for meeting up, but had no reply. With sex not an option, I believe Faith changed her plans and decided to go out clubbing with Karena instead. Faith attended a rush event for Alpha pi Omega at 6pm, went to the library after to study for a few hours and then went back to the apartment with Karena to get ready for Thrill nightclub. This would mean no semen would have been present on Faith before she went out.

I think one of the challenges for police in this case is how much DNA would have been found on different items in the small apartment. It was student accom so people could have been staying over regularly, helping themselves to drinks (Barcardi), using the toilet, shower etc. Brandon M Williams was said to have stayed over on the night of the 5th, Eriq T Jones had obviously previously been in the apartment at some point during that summer having been the ex of Karena (he may have even lived there with her?), plus the casual partners each of the girls had around that time, Jordan Mccrary & Ty McNeil to only name two, In addition to the girls DNA being everywhere, it would have been challenging for Police to determine who's was who's. However that said, the fact that DNA was found from an unknown male latino individual on 3 things directly connected to the crime, semen on the body, touch/skin DNA on the bloodied Bacardi bottle said to be the murder weapon and touch/skin DNA on the pen & paper bag used to write the note, all are extremely powerful in solving this.

There is no question in my mind this unknown individual was 100% involved in the crime and highly likely to be the murderer. All other theories on how an extremely jealous, raging, very manipulative 20 year old decided to bludgeon her friend to death in her own room only after convincing 2 or 3 other males accomplices to sexually abuse and torture her, only for a but dial to capture them in the midst of this, then for one of the males to leave his semen at the crime scene, or the even more extreme for this unknown DNA to be placed at the scene to stage the crime and mislead the police, and then for Karena to convince another male friend to pick her up at 4.30am to drive her away from the scene without showing any unusual behaviour, physical injuries or guilt, while the other perpetrators escape into the night unnoticed and all details tightly kept under wraps for 8 years is too far fetched.

I'm not saying you can eliminate anyone for knowing more information than they are providing or even being involved at some level, but sometimes you need to look at the facts. One thing is for sure, nearly 8 years with no real answers, suspects or arrests given the evidence can only be down to weak and very disorganised police work from the outset. I feel police had tunnel vision and solely focussed on people closest to Faith for too long in hope that someone would crack, statistics show this is the correct approach. In this case however for one reason or another the door was left unlocked, probably because Karena was drunk and selfishly only thinking about herself and the male attention she was obviously desperate for that night, plus the girls only had 1 key between as it was Karena's apartment and Faith was only lodging there temporary until she found a place. Faith was left exposed, anyone could have entered that apartment completely unannounced, a stalker who had a secret obsession over Faith? Someone who had a jealous vendetta against Karena and the entire crime was mistaken identity? A neighbour who had been watching the girls and monitoring their movements for a while? A random sex attack who took the opportunity and felt the only way out was murder?

The nature of the crime wasn't planned or thought-out, it was full on brutality, aggression and erratic with what seems to have been the nearest weapon they could find. From the evidence I believe Faith was struck by a left handed individual while she was on the bed putting up a slight struggle until she was overpowered and killed, then her face was covered with clothing and the sexual assault was carried out, the individual then had time to wash his hands and write a note in an attempt to mislead law enforcement. With the location and secluded position of the property, surrounded by woodland, it baffles how the woods were not searched, neighbouring properties and residents were not looked into in more detail and probed for longer, including the properties on the other side of the woodland and the adjoining roads as the perpetrator could have easily been on foot and escaped via this route.

With 800 people said to have been DNA tested without a match, the majority are likely to be close male acquaintances of Faith, it is vital for the investigation to be picked up and a new approach taken. As we stand it is unfortunate, but very clear the CHP are relying heavily on someones conscience to cave or for DNA profiling to develop in its expansion which could take many more years and still doesn't guarantee a connected match.

#Justice4Faith
 
Great and interesting comments on this aggravating case. I just keep seeing her father's image in my head -- I think she was the apple of his eye, STS, and I think she loved her Daddy more than anything. This is all just so wrong, sad, a frustrating for everyone who knows about the case, and especially for those who knew and loved her.
And one more thing --

Welcome to Websleuths,
MinoT !!​
 
MinoT said:
From reading through into this case I noticed a bloodied tampon was found by the body so I would be really surprised if she went off to have a secret sexual encounter with a man while on her period. Ty McNeil has said on record that him and Faith were still having casual sex in this time, they had been intimate the weekend before her death and had planned another encounter on the night of the 6th, he messaged her around 6pm that evening to see if she was still down for meeting up, but had no reply. With sex not an option, I believe Faith changed her plans and decided to go out clubbing with Karena instead. Faith attended a rush event for Alpha pi Omega at 6pm, went to the library after to study for a few hours and then went back to the apartment with Karena to get ready for Thrill nightclub. This would mean no semen would have been present on Faith before she went out.

I think one of the challenges for police in this case is how much DNA would have been found on different items in the small apartment. It was student accom so people could have been staying over regularly, helping themselves to drinks (Barcardi), using the toilet, shower etc. Brandon M Williams was said to have stayed over on the night of the 5th, Eriq T Jones had obviously previously been in the apartment at some point during that summer having been the ex of Karena (he may have even lived there with her?), plus the casual partners each of the girls had around that time, Jordan Mccrary & Ty McNeil to only name two, In addition to the girls DNA being everywhere, it would have been challenging for Police to determine who's was who's. However that said, the fact that DNA was found from an unknown male latino individual on 3 things directly connected to the crime, semen on the body, touch/skin DNA on the bloodied Bacardi bottle said to be the murder weapon and touch/skin DNA on the pen & paper bag used to write the note, all are extremely powerful in solving this.

There is no question in my mind this unknown individual was 100% involved in the crime and highly likely to be the murderer. All other theories on how an extremely jealous, raging, very manipulative 20 year old decided to bludgeon her friend to death in her own room only after convincing 2 or 3 other males accomplices to sexually abuse and torture her, only for a but dial to capture them in the midst of this, then for one of the males to leave his semen at the crime scene, or the even more extreme for this unknown DNA to be placed at the scene to stage the crime and mislead the police, and then for Karena to convince another male friend to pick her up at 4.30am to drive her away from the scene without showing any unusual behaviour, physical injuries or guilt, while the other perpetrators escape into the night unnoticed and all details tightly kept under wraps for 8 years is too far fetched.

I'm not saying you can eliminate anyone for knowing more information than they are providing or even being involved at some level, but sometimes you need to look at the facts. One thing is for sure, nearly 8 years with no real answers, suspects or arrests given the evidence can only be down to weak and very disorganised police work from the outset. I feel police had tunnel vision and solely focussed on people closest to Faith for too long in hope that someone would crack, statistics show this is the correct approach. In this case however for one reason or another the door was left unlocked, probably because Karena was drunk and selfishly only thinking about herself and the male attention she was obviously desperate for that night, plus the girls only had 1 key between as it was Karena's apartment and Faith was only lodging there temporary until she found a place. Faith was left exposed, anyone could have entered that apartment completely unannounced, a stalker who had a secret obsession over Faith? Someone who had a jealous vendetta against Karena and the entire crime was mistaken identity? A neighbour who had been watching the girls and monitoring their movements for a while? A random sex attack who took the opportunity and felt the only way out was murder?

The nature of the crime wasn't planned or thought-out, it was full on brutality, aggression and erratic with what seems to have been the nearest weapon they could find. From the evidence I believe Faith was struck by a left handed individual while she was on the bed putting up a slight struggle until she was overpowered and killed, then her face was covered with clothing and the sexual assault was carried out, the individual then had time to wash his hands and write a note in an attempt to mislead law enforcement. With the location and secluded position of the property, surrounded by woodland, it baffles how the woods were not searched, neighbouring properties and residents were not looked into in more detail and probed for longer, including the properties on the other side of the woodland and the adjoining roads as the perpetrator could have easily been on foot and escaped via this route.

With 800 people said to have been DNA tested without a match, the majority are likely to be close male acquaintances of Faith, it is vital for the investigation to be picked up and a new approach taken. As we stand it is unfortunate, but very clear the CHP are relying heavily on someones conscience to cave or for DNA profiling to develop in its expansion which could take many more years and still doesn't guarantee a connected match.

#Justice4Faith
Click to expand...
This is such a frustrating case. The note bothers me. Karena’s actions bother me. I would really like to know if there was anyone who refused to submit DNA, and if so, who? If there was someone who refused, my guess is that it is someone who is not on LE’s radar, otherwise, they would probably hade found other means to capture a dna sample from that person by now (discarded trash).

I am going to continue to follow this case and hope for justice, but honestly, I feel like I’m missing way too much information to make any kind of intelligent assessments.
 
Webthrush said:
Not specific to the Hedgepeth case but of interest, ABC has a new series coming along (May 19) with CeCe Moore, "The Genetic Detective" all about the use of genetic genealogy to solve crime:
Crime-Solving Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore Stars in New ABC Series, 'The Genetic Detective'
Click to expand...
What are your thoughts on this? I keep reading articles on how Genealogy sites such as GEDmatch have come under a lot of scrutiny and negative press regarding privacy and confidentiality issues for allowing law enforcement access to their data without clear consent from users. This resource worked incredibly well and aided LE in cracking some huge cold cases especially between 2016 - 2019. However, due to the uproar of privacy concerns from general users, in May 2019 GEDmatch had no choice but to default all of its users data out of any LE activity, only to give users the option to opt in at their own discretion to allow LE access to their comparable genetic data. This has been detrimental to LE by vastly limiting the number of users they now have access to down by nearly 90% of the database. GEDmatch has 1.3 million users from which only 185,000 users have opted in since May 2019 to allow LE access, where as other genealogy sites such as 23andme and Ancestry whos database of users are 10 times the size of GEDmatch, are set up in a way that they do everything in their legal power to prevent any open access/requests from LE to their users data, which has so far been successful.

New federal rules limit police searches of family tree DNA databases | Science | AAAS

The Messy Consequences of the Golden State Killer Case

GEDmatch Just Made Big Changes To How Police Can Use Its Data To Solve Crimes

Police were cracking cold cases with a DNA website. Then the fine print changed.
 
MinoT said:
From reading through into this case I noticed a bloodied tampon was found by the body so I would be really surprised if she went off to have a secret sexual encounter with a man while on her period. Ty McNeil has said on record that him and Faith were still having casual sex in this time, they had been intimate the weekend before her death and had planned another encounter on the night of the 6th, he messaged her around 6pm that evening to see if she was still down for meeting up, but had no reply. With sex not an option, I believe Faith changed her plans and decided to go out clubbing with Karena instead. Faith attended a rush event for Alpha pi Omega at 6pm, went to the library after to study for a few hours and then went back to the apartment with Karena to get ready for Thrill nightclub. This would mean no semen would have been present on Faith before she went out.

I think one of the challenges for police in this case is how much DNA would have been found on different items in the small apartment. It was student accom so people could have been staying over regularly, helping themselves to drinks (Barcardi), using the toilet, shower etc. Brandon M Williams was said to have stayed over on the night of the 5th, Eriq T Jones had obviously previously been in the apartment at some point during that summer having been the ex of Karena (he may have even lived there with her?), plus the casual partners each of the girls had around that time, Jordan Mccrary & Ty McNeil to only name two, In addition to the girls DNA being everywhere, it would have been challenging for Police to determine who's was who's. However that said, the fact that DNA was found from an unknown male latino individual on 3 things directly connected to the crime, semen on the body, touch/skin DNA on the bloodied Bacardi bottle said to be the murder weapon and touch/skin DNA on the pen & paper bag used to write the note, all are extremely powerful in solving this.

There is no question in my mind this unknown individual was 100% involved in the crime and highly likely to be the murderer. All other theories on how an extremely jealous, raging, very manipulative 20 year old decided to bludgeon her friend to death in her own room only after convincing 2 or 3 other males accomplices to sexually abuse and torture her, only for a but dial to capture them in the midst of this, then for one of the males to leave his semen at the crime scene, or the even more extreme for this unknown DNA to be placed at the scene to stage the crime and mislead the police, and then for Karena to convince another male friend to pick her up at 4.30am to drive her away from the scene without showing any unusual behaviour, physical injuries or guilt, while the other perpetrators escape into the night unnoticed and all details tightly kept under wraps for 8 years is too far fetched.

I'm not saying you can eliminate anyone for knowing more information than they are providing or even being involved at some level, but sometimes you need to look at the facts. One thing is for sure, nearly 8 years with no real answers, suspects or arrests given the evidence can only be down to weak and very disorganised police work from the outset. I feel police had tunnel vision and solely focussed on people closest to Faith for too long in hope that someone would crack, statistics show this is the correct approach. In this case however for one reason or another the door was left unlocked, probably because Karena was drunk and selfishly only thinking about herself and the male attention she was obviously desperate for that night, plus the girls only had 1 key between as it was Karena's apartment and Faith was only lodging there temporary until she found a place. Faith was left exposed, anyone could have entered that apartment completely unannounced, a stalker who had a secret obsession over Faith? Someone who had a jealous vendetta against Karena and the entire crime was mistaken identity? A neighbour who had been watching the girls and monitoring their movements for a while? A random sex attack who took the opportunity and felt the only way out was murder?

The nature of the crime wasn't planned or thought-out, it was full on brutality, aggression and erratic with what seems to have been the nearest weapon they could find. From the evidence I believe Faith was struck by a left handed individual while she was on the bed putting up a slight struggle until she was overpowered and killed, then her face was covered with clothing and the sexual assault was carried out, the individual then had time to wash his hands and write a note in an attempt to mislead law enforcement. With the location and secluded position of the property, surrounded by woodland, it baffles how the woods were not searched, neighbouring properties and residents were not looked into in more detail and probed for longer, including the properties on the other side of the woodland and the adjoining roads as the perpetrator could have easily been on foot and escaped via this route.

With 800 people said to have been DNA tested without a match, the majority are likely to be close male acquaintances of Faith, it is vital for the investigation to be picked up and a new approach taken. As we stand it is unfortunate, but very clear the CHP are relying heavily on someones conscience to cave or for DNA profiling to develop in its expansion which could take many more years and still doesn't guarantee a connected match.

#Justice4Faith
Click to expand...
 
I agree with so much of this! I have two theories that I don’t believe have been mentioned. (I’m not convinced of either one but they *seem* to make logical sense. Both make some assumptions, though every theory I’ve seen thus far does too.)

IIRC, JM lived in a 6-bedroom apartment, so he likely had multiple roommates, and there could be many people at his apartment on any given night—friends of roommates, friends of those friends, etc. I remember houses like this when I was in college. Often there were guys from other schools and their friends, locals who people met at bars, etc. People you had never seen before and never saw (or even thought about) again. There were probably enough people coming and going that it was difficult to keep track of or remember who was in that apartment at any given time. Given that JM was up in the middle of the night to pick up KR, there may have been other guys up in JM’s house too. Maybe one knew *of* Faith, but wasn’t close enough to her to be considered “an acquaintance” and DNA tested. (I am making the assumption that this guy wasn’t a roommate or close friend of any of the guys who lived there or he would have been DNA tested.) Either when JM left and said he was going to get KR or when JR came back with KR this guy realized that Faith was home alone and decided to “visit” Faith. He’s seen her around, he likes her, maybe he thinks this is his chance to get her alone. Maybe he put the moves on her and she resisted—who knows? I do think it was an unplanned crime, given the weapon and the fact that the assailant didn’t have a condom and left semen at the crime scene.

Another theory is that perhaps there was an undocumented co-worker at Red Robin who had a thing for her, stalked her, etc. If he he was watching her, he could have followed her home from The Thrill. It wasn’t long before KR left and he would have known Faith was alone; it’s not like he had to stake her apartment out for hours. If he was undocumented, he could easily avoid being questioned or even known by police. The restaurant likely wouldn’t mention him either, if he wasn’t legally supposed to be working here. He could easily disappear without a trace. (No judgment implied here about undocumented workers.)

I don’t put too much weight in KR keeping the door unlocked for nefarious reasons. Since there was only one key, maybe it was the type of lock that needs a key on both sides and she didn’t want to lock Faith in. Or maybe she was drunk and forgot, or it was just a habit. Having her violent ex in the same apartment complex makes this stupid, yes, but doesn’t mean she’s guilty. In college, we never carried keys, left rocks in the outside doors to prop them open, and left inside doors unlocked in all the dorms. We’d get written up for it all the time and we still did it. Looking back, it was so stupid and dangerous, and yet we still did it.

I’d love to hear thoughts, and feel free to blow holes through my theories! I’ve read so much in such a short time that I may be forgetting key facts that make these scenarios implausible or impossible!
 
MinoT said:
What are your thoughts on this? I keep reading articles on how Genealogy sites such as GEDmatch have come under a lot of scrutiny and negative press regarding privacy and confidentiality issues for allowing law enforcement access to their data without clear consent from users. This resource worked incredibly well and aided LE in cracking some huge cold cases especially between 2016 - 2019. However, due to the uproar of privacy concerns from general users, in May 2019 GEDmatch had no choice but to default all of its users data out of any LE activity, only to give users the option to opt in at their own discretion to allow LE access to their comparable genetic data. This has been detrimental to LE by vastly limiting the number of users they now have access to down by nearly 90% of the database. GEDmatch has 1.3 million users from which only 185,000 users have opted in since May 2019 to allow LE access, where as other genealogy sites such as 23andme and Ancestry whos database of users are 10 times the size of GEDmatch, are set up in a way that they do everything in their legal power to prevent any open access/requests from LE to their users data, which has so far been successful.

New federal rules limit police searches of family tree DNA databases | Science | AAAS

The Messy Consequences of the Golden State Killer Case

GEDmatch Just Made Big Changes To How Police Can Use Its Data To Solve Crimes

Police were cracking cold cases with a DNA website. Then the fine print changed.
Click to expand...
My thoughts are that I would rather live in a world with less killers walking around free but have a little less privacy than the current way things are being done. Drives me crazy that sites like Ancestry do not work with LE to solve heinous rapes and murders. I guess it's all about the almighty dollar- if they allowed it, people might complain and stop paying them. Shame GEDmatch caved in too, as I believe that is a free site anyway.

With all the things that might tread into "gray area of the law" that LE probably does to gain information for a case, I am surprised no one at CHPD has ever just taken that DNA and posted it to one of the geneology sites. I am 100% confident if they did this case would already be solved
 
Kellieander said:
I agree with so much of this! I have two theories that I don’t believe have been mentioned. (I’m not convinced of either one but they *seem* to make logical sense. Both make some assumptions, though every theory I’ve seen thus far does too.)

IIRC, JM lived in a 6-bedroom apartment, so he likely had multiple roommates, and there could be many people at his apartment on any given night—friends of roommates, friends of those friends, etc. I remember houses like this when I was in college. Often there were guys from other schools and their friends, locals who people met at bars, etc. People you had never seen before and never saw (or even thought about) again. There were probably enough people coming and going that it was difficult to keep track of or remember who was in that apartment at any given time. Given that JM was up in the middle of the night to pick up KR, there may have been other guys up in JM’s house too. Maybe one knew *of* Faith, but wasn’t close enough to her to be considered “an acquaintance” and DNA tested. (I am making the assumption that this guy wasn’t a roommate or close friend of any of the guys who lived there or he would have been DNA tested.) Either when JM left and said he was going to get KR or when JR came back with KR this guy realized that Faith was home alone and decided to “visit” Faith. He’s seen her around, he likes her, maybe he thinks this is his chance to get her alone. Maybe he put the moves on her and she resisted—who knows? I do think it was an unplanned crime, given the weapon and the fact that the assailant didn’t have a condom and left semen at the crime scene.

Another theory is that perhaps there was an undocumented co-worker at Red Robin who had a thing for her, stalked her, etc. If he he was watching her, he could have followed her home from The Thrill. It wasn’t long before KR left and he would have known Faith was alone; it’s not like he had to stake her apartment out for hours. If he was undocumented, he could easily avoid being questioned or even known by police. The restaurant likely wouldn’t mention him either, if he wasn’t legally supposed to be working here. He could easily disappear without a trace. (No judgment implied here about undocumented workers.)

I don’t put too much weight in KR keeping the door unlocked for nefarious reasons. Since there was only one key, maybe it was the type of lock that needs a key on both sides and she didn’t want to lock Faith in. Or maybe she was drunk and forgot, or it was just a habit. Having her violent ex in the same apartment complex makes this stupid, yes, but doesn’t mean she’s guilty. In college, we never carried keys, left rocks in the outside doors to prop them open, and left inside doors unlocked in all the dorms. We’d get written up for it all the time and we still did it. Looking back, it was so stupid and dangerous, and yet we still did it.

I’d love to hear thoughts, and feel free to blow holes through my theories! I’ve read so much in such a short time that I may be forgetting key facts that make these scenarios implausible or impossible!
Click to expand...
Your theories are no less plausible than most of the others on here. It easily could have been a friend of JM or a coworker at Red Robin. Though I thought i recall reading on here of an admirer FH had there- a customer maybe that she commented about a tip she received on social media, so LE may have looked into possible connections at Red Robin
 
raiders444 said:
Your theories are no less plausible than most of the others on here. It easily could have been a friend of JM or a coworker at Red Robin. Though I thought i recall reading on here of an admirer FH had there- a customer maybe that she commented about a tip she received on social media, so LE may have looked into possible connections at Red Robin
Click to expand...
 
I guess what has me leaning more toward a friend-of-a-friend who *knew of* Faith (versus stalker totally unrelated to the guy friend groups) is that there are some shady dudes in their guy friend groups. At least one drug dealer (according to either 20/20 or 48 Hours—I can’t recall which), several guys with violent pasts, etc. Shady dudes have shady friends and it would seem more likely to be connected to that group than something more random.

Maybe one or more of these friends and friends-of-friends came over after the club. KR may know or suspect who did this, but is scared to speak out. (I certainly would be.) This could be why LE has stated they think she knows more than she’s saying, and also the detective’s carefully chosen words about Faith being in bed when KR left; she doesn’t say she was sleeping, and doesn’t say she was alone.

Also, if guys were there when KR left, it would explain why she left the door unlocked in the middle of the night and why she brought MR upstairs when she got home and knew Faith had missed class. She may have gotten a bad feeling knowing Faith had been alone with sketchy guys. And disbelief/guilt could explain her odd demeanor on the 911 call. Maybe KR didn’t like the crowd and that’s why she was so desperate to get out that night. Of course, speculation is all we have and this is of course MOO.
 
Slain UNC student’s mother hopes new documentary will shed light on unsolved murder: ‘I need to keep going for her’

Connie Hedgepeth is hoping someone will finally come forward and reveal what really happened to her daughter.

Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old student at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was beaten to death with an empty rum bottle inside her off-campus apartment in September 2012. Her brutal murder is now the subject of a new Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary titled “Who Killed the Co-Ed? An ID Murder Mystery.” It features interviews with investigators and loved ones eager to finally solve the case.

The special is part of “ID Presents: Nine at 9,” which offers new shows running nightly on the true-crime network.
 
happy128 said:
Slain UNC student’s mother hopes new documentary will shed light on unsolved murder: ‘I need to keep going for her’

Connie Hedgepeth is hoping someone will finally come forward and reveal what really happened to her daughter.

Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old student at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was beaten to death with an empty rum bottle inside her off-campus apartment in September 2012. Her brutal murder is now the subject of a new Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary titled “Who Killed the Co-Ed? An ID Murder Mystery.” It features interviews with investigators and loved ones eager to finally solve the case.

The special is part of “ID Presents: Nine at 9,” which offers new shows running nightly on the true-crime network.
Click to expand...

Just saw this on ID: So disappointed this is an unsolved case. I am at a loss to try and figure out "who done it': I do have a question: has that voice mail message been entirely dismissed as taking place at the time of the murder? That 911 call is messed up big time-- I can't help but think Korena (sp) is somehow involved though of course I could be wrong. So glad I found a thread for this case here at WS!!! I hope they find who murdered this lovely young woman: I feel her family's deep pain.
 
MinoT said:
From reading through into this case I noticed a bloodied tampon was found by the body so I would be really surprised if she went off to have a secret sexual encounter with a man while on her period. Ty McNeil has said on record that him and Faith were still having casual sex in this time, they had been intimate the weekend before her death and had planned another encounter on the night of the 6th, he messaged her around 6pm that evening to see if she was still down for meeting up, but had no reply. With sex not an option, I believe Faith changed her plans and decided to go out clubbing with Karena instead. Faith attended a rush event for Alpha pi Omega at 6pm, went to the library after to study for a few hours and then went back to the apartment with Karena to get ready for Thrill nightclub. This would mean no semen would have been present on Faith before she went out.

I think one of the challenges for police in this case is how much DNA would have been found on different items in the small apartment. It was student accom so people could have been staying over regularly, helping themselves to drinks (Barcardi), using the toilet, shower etc. Brandon M Williams was said to have stayed over on the night of the 5th, Eriq T Jones had obviously previously been in the apartment at some point during that summer having been the ex of Karena (he may have even lived there with her?), plus the casual partners each of the girls had around that time, Jordan Mccrary & Ty McNeil to only name two, In addition to the girls DNA being everywhere, it would have been challenging for Police to determine who's was who's. However that said, the fact that DNA was found from an unknown male latino individual on 3 things directly connected to the crime, semen on the body, touch/skin DNA on the bloodied Bacardi bottle said to be the murder weapon and touch/skin DNA on the pen & paper bag used to write the note, all are extremely powerful in solving this.

There is no question in my mind this unknown individual was 100% involved in the crime and highly likely to be the murderer. All other theories on how an extremely jealous, raging, very manipulative 20 year old decided to bludgeon her friend to death in her own room only after convincing 2 or 3 other males accomplices to sexually abuse and torture her, only for a but dial to capture them in the midst of this, then for one of the males to leave his semen at the crime scene, or the even more extreme for this unknown DNA to be placed at the scene to stage the crime and mislead the police, and then for Karena to convince another male friend to pick her up at 4.30am to drive her away from the scene without showing any unusual behaviour, physical injuries or guilt, while the other perpetrators escape into the night unnoticed and all details tightly kept under wraps for 8 years is too far fetched.

I'm not saying you can eliminate anyone for knowing more information than they are providing or even being involved at some level, but sometimes you need to look at the facts. One thing is for sure, nearly 8 years with no real answers, suspects or arrests given the evidence can only be down to weak and very disorganised police work from the outset. I feel police had tunnel vision and solely focussed on people closest to Faith for too long in hope that someone would crack, statistics show this is the correct approach. In this case however for one reason or another the door was left unlocked, probably because Karena was drunk and selfishly only thinking about herself and the male attention she was obviously desperate for that night, plus the girls only had 1 key between as it was Karena's apartment and Faith was only lodging there temporary until she found a place. Faith was left exposed, anyone could have entered that apartment completely unannounced, a stalker who had a secret obsession over Faith? Someone who had a jealous vendetta against Karena and the entire crime was mistaken identity? A neighbour who had been watching the girls and monitoring their movements for a while? A random sex attack who took the opportunity and felt the only way out was murder?

The nature of the crime wasn't planned or thought-out, it was full on brutality, aggression and erratic with what seems to have been the nearest weapon they could find. From the evidence I believe Faith was struck by a left handed individual while she was on the bed putting up a slight struggle until she was overpowered and killed, then her face was covered with clothing and the sexual assault was carried out, the individual then had time to wash his hands and write a note in an attempt to mislead law enforcement. With the location and secluded position of the property, surrounded by woodland, it baffles how the woods were not searched, neighbouring properties and residents were not looked into in more detail and probed for longer, including the properties on the other side of the woodland and the adjoining roads as the perpetrator could have easily been on foot and escaped via this route.

With 800 people said to have been DNA tested without a match, the majority are likely to be close male acquaintances of Faith, it is vital for the investigation to be picked up and a new approach taken. As we stand it is unfortunate, but very clear the CHP are relying heavily on someones conscience to cave or for DNA profiling to develop in its expansion which could take many more years and still doesn't guarantee a connected match.

#Justice4Faith
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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.
 
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J.M. Bee said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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