NC NC - Faith Hedgepeth, 19, UNC student, Chapel Hill, 7 Sep 2012 #3

[raiders444]

I am sure a lot of fellow sleuthers have been following the Idaho case. Is it me or have they already released like 5 times the information in 2 days that they've done about MESO? I realize that case was on national news nightly for weeks, whereas FH was a more regional case, but still. Hope we can get some details in early 2023!

 

[fluffypaste]

I am sure a lot of fellow sleuthers have been following the Idaho case. Is it me or have they already released like 5 times the information in 2 days that they've done about MESO? I realize that case was on national news nightly for weeks, whereas FH was a more regional case, but still. Hope we can get some details in early 2023!

I have been following the Idaho case obsessively since it first became big news and I've been repeatedly astounded by how communicative the Moscow PD has been in comparsion to Chapel Hill. It's actually lowered my perception of the CHPD quite a bit. The Moscow PD didn't just willfully let rumors run wild and ruin innocent people's lives.

I previously saw the CHPD's behavior as "just the way things are done." But now that I've seen it done differently, and better, I'm much more inclined to be critical of them. I'm now convinced that the CHPD could have and should have done more to protect Karena and her family.

 

[fluffypaste]

I have been following the Idaho case obsessively since it first became big news and I've been repeatedly astounded by how communicative the Moscow PD has been in comparsion to Chapel Hill. It's actually lowered my perception of the CHPD quite a bit. The Moscow PD didn't just willfully let rumors run wild and ruin innocent people's lives.

I previously saw the CHPD's behavior as "just the way things are done." But now that I've seen it done differently, and better, I'm much more inclined to be critical of them.

I also find it strange that the Moscow PD was apparently able to find their killer (or at least, a viable suspect) through forensic genealogy within weeks. Instead of years. It makes me wonder if the FH was genuinely mishandled somehow.

 

[raiders444]

It was interesting how quickly they figured out who it was via familial geneology connections. I also thought that stuff took way longer. And i agree with you I am starting to view CHPD as unprepared for this case. It is amazing to me that there has been such a hush about it across all media for a year. Why is no one asking any questions? WRAL reports on literal fender benders in their nightly news, yet no one there is asking CHPD or whomever for an update? Bizarre!

 

[faithx]

I also find it strange that the Moscow PD was apparently able to find their killer (or at least, a viable suspect) through forensic genealogy within weeks. Instead of years. It makes me wonder if the FH was genuinely mishandled somehow.

The main noticeable difference is that Kohberger is of White American descent, while Salguero-Olivares is Latino. People of White American heritage are more represented in genealogy databases, therefore it's typically easier and faster to identify them compared to other ethnicities/races.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

It was interesting how quickly they figured out who it was via familial geneology connections. I also thought that stuff took way longer. And i agree with you I am starting to view CHPD as unprepared for this case. It is amazing to me that there has been such a hush about it across all media for a year. Why is no one asking any questions? WRAL reports on literal fender benders in their nightly news, yet no one there is asking CHPD or whomever for an update? Bizarre!

I don't think it was just forensic genealogy. They had the vehicle description and possibly some other tips that helped narrow down the search for the suspect. Also, until Kohlberger was named, a lot of people were wondering if the Moscow PD was competent.

But I am also concerned with the lack of any recent local news and interest in Faith's case. FWIW the DA, Satana Deberry, was re-elected and started her new term this year.

 

[fluffypaste]

I

I don't think it was just forensic genealogy. They had the vehicle description and possibly some other tips that helped narrow down the search for the suspect. Also, until Kohlberger was named, a lot of people were wondering if the Moscow PD was competent.

But I am also concerned with the lack of any recent local news and interest in Faith's case. FWIW the DA, Satana Deberry, was re-elected and started her new term this year.

It's unforgivable that they dangled this idea of others being involved when MESO was arrested and then just complete silence for over a year. Meanwhile, the Moscow PD was able to say within a couple of hours of their suspect being arrested that they thought he acted alone and they didn't anticipate any further arrests. So what's taking so long?

The CHPD needs to either (1) admit that they have no evidence of others being involved or (2) actually charge another person. Stop leaving this thread hanging.

 

[fluffypaste]

I don't believe at all that this is still an ongoing investigation. Maybe in the first couple of months after MESO was arrested, there was still new evidence to uncover by looking through his internet history and electronic devices, or interviewing people who knew him around the time of the murder.

But it has now been over a year since MESO was arrested. They've had more than ample time to finish. The investigation is done at this point, and if they say otherwise then they are either lying or delusional.

 

[fluffypaste]

Void

 

[Webthrush]

Is there any legal limit to how long one can be held in prison charged with something, without having a trial date set?... and has MESO even entered a formal plea at this point, 'cuz I don't remember such?

 

[Skigirl]

Is there any legal limit to how long one can be held in prison charged with something, without having a trial date set?... and has MESO even entered a formal plea at this point, 'cuz I don't remember such?

I think that the pace is often up to the defense. Sometimes there are strategic reasons for not pressing for a speedy trial. If you are working with prosecutors on a complicated negotiation, you may want to give it time to play out instead of initiating a trial, for example.

Here's an article about what our constitutional right to a "speedy trial" means in practice: Right to a Speedy Trial: What Does It Mean? - FindLaw

 

[GottaHaveFaith]

Old news, but I feel as if we should revisit it... Per ABC News 11, a palm print on the murder weapon, a wine bottle, matches a palm print from Miguel’s left hand. (Court documents reveal how investigators linked suspect in Faith Hedgepeth's murder)

I reached out to the reporter in this video, Tim, to ask about his report. This is what Tim said: "That is how I believe it was worded. I believe that question came up at the time too. In previous reports, we showed the Bacardi Rum bottle as the weapon, and again we showed it during the story you mentioned where I reference the wine bottle."

Given the magnitude of the document Tim was reporting on, I think we should operate as if CHPD did not list the wine bottle as the murder weapon by mistake. However, until Tim's report, CHPD has always maintained that the murder weapon was a Bacardi bottle - not a wine bottle. I am sure everyone here is aware of that. Per News & Observer, “police believe a Bacardi bottle is the murder weapon; the Bacardi bottle had tissue fragments and DNA on it.” (https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article250170935.html)

Which begs a few questions -
Why did CHPD change their murder weapon from a Bacardi Bottle to a wine bottle when Miguel was arrested? Was it because Miguel’s palm print was on the wine bottle, but not on the Bacardi bottle (to our knowledge)? Why did the Bacardi bottle have tissue fragments on it, but the wine bottle did not (to our knowledge)? Tissue fragments on the Bacardi bottle suggest that the Bacardi bottle was used to beat someone (presumably Faith). But if Miguel didn't use the Bacardi bottle to beat someone, then who did?

 

[GottaHaveFaith]

Faith’s autopsy shows blunt force trauma to the right side of her skull - which indicates that the perp swinging the murder weapon (wine bottle) was holding the bottle in their left hand. Per my last post, ABC News 11 reported that the murder weapon, a wine bottle, matches a palm print from Miguel’s left hand.

As a rule of thumb, most people wear a watch on their non-dominant hand. So a left-handed person typically wears a watch on their right hand... However, Miguel wears a watch on his left hand (image below), which suggests that he is right-handed.

Could Miguel have used his non-dominant hand to kill Faith? Of course. Anything is possible. But how likely is it?

 

[GottaHaveFaith]

The note left at the crime scene read: “IM NOT STUPID B*TCH JEALOUS.” There were no spelling errors. However, according to CHPD, Miguel spoke "little to no English." (https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article254309613.html)

If Miguel had recently moved to the U.S. from Guatemala, and he spoke “little to no English,” how likely is it that he wrote a note in English with no spelling errors without any help?

Or think of it like this - how many people on here could go to Guatemala, speak "little to no Spanish," and write “IM NOT STUPID B*TCH JEALOUS” in Spanish with no spelling errors without any help?

 

[Webthrush]

Interesting points GottaHaveFaith… (the wine bottle especially confounds me, since yes, I believe the earlier claim was that both touch DNA and tissue fragments showed the rum bottle to be the murder weapon?).

…and the silence of CHPD is deafening (if not humiliating)… the dismal failure of the local press on this crime is also hard to fathom. Meanwhile, Faith’s friends/relatives gradually die off never to see resolution to this heartbreaking case.

And for those who don’t know, Chapel Hill is off to a fine start this year with at least 3 shootings, including 2 more unsolved murders, in the first week of 2023, as we compete with our rival sister city Durham.

 

[sleuth.sloth]

The note left at the crime scene read: “IM NOT STUPID B*TCH JEALOUS.” There were no spelling errors. However, according to CHPD, Miguel spoke "little to no English." (https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article254309613.html)

If Miguel had recently moved to the U.S. from Guatemala, and he spoke “little to no English,” how likely is it that he wrote a note in English with no spelling errors without any help?

Or think of it like this - how many people on here could go to Guatemala, speak "little to no Spanish," and write “IM NOT STUPID B*TCH JEALOUS” in Spanish with no spelling errors without any help?

This one actually makes sense to me. Because “I’m not stupid b*tch jealous” in Spanish would be written “no soy estupida perra celosa” (or, if it was MESO who wrote it, the masculine version of that) but then that phrase translated back literally is “I’m not a stupid, jealous b*tch”.

So the literal word-for-word translation of the Spanish phrase would not make a lot of sense grammatically and would be exactly what was on the Time Out box. But he could have meant the latter, which makes more sense grammatically.

Hope this is easy enough to follow.

 

[sleuth.sloth]

This one actually makes sense to me. Because “I’m not stupid b*tch jealous” in Spanish would be written “no soy estupida perra celosa” (or, if it was MESO who wrote it, the masculine version of that) but then that phrase translated back literally is “I’m not a stupid, jealous b*tch”.

So the literal word-for-word translation of the Spanish phrase would not make a lot of sense grammatically and would be exactly what was on the Time Out box. But he could have meant the latter, which makes more sense grammatically.

Hope this is easy enough to follow.

Perra could also translate to puta. So, the masculine version in Spanish would read, “no soy estupido puto celoso”. Plugged back into Google translate, it reads “I’m not stupid f*cking jealous.”

I speak Spanish fairly well but the intricacies of the language to really dissect this letter are a little above my comprehension level. So I just type it into Google translate to get a crude version of what I believe the author of the note (assuming male and a native Spanish speaker) was trying to say. Because the note in English doesn’t make any sense.

I’m not sure that any of these varying Spanish to English translations of the note make any difference, but I do spend a lot of time trying to understand this note and in what context it was written. The only other theory I’ve come up with is that someone could have jotted the note down in anger while the other person was on the phone. But then placed there after the murders? Idk.

I think that after 10 years, investigators should be required to hand over all evidence to Websleuths to solve for them

 

[Sikkim]

I

It's unforgivable that they dangled this idea of others being involved when MESO was arrested and then just complete silence for over a year. Meanwhile, the Moscow PD was able to say within a couple of hours of their suspect being arrested that they thought he acted alone and they didn't anticipate any further arrests. So what's taking so long?

The CHPD needs to either (1) admit that they have no evidence of others being involved or (2) actually charge another person. Stop leaving this thread hanging.

The vast majority of murders are committed by one person acting alone, so why would they need to go out of their way to say there is only one killer? Some people here are still desperate to pretend her roommate was involved, I guess. She wasn't. This guy did it alone.

 

[fluffypaste]

The vast majority of murders are committed by one person acting alone, so why would they need to go out of their way to say there is only one killer? Some people here are still desperate to pretend her roommate was involved, I guess. She wasn't. This guy did it alone.

Yes, which is exactly why it is so unforgivable that they would pretend to have evidence that they obviously don't actually have, just for the sake of dragging out this "investigation."

 

[fluffypaste]

void