NC NC - Faith Hedgepeth, 19, UNC student, Chapel Hill, 7 Sept 2012 #1

[youlostone]

It's Faith's birthday. #Justice4Faith

 

[Skigirl]

Inspired by Webthrush, I drove through the complex on Thursday.

My observations:

1) Webthrush is correct -- you couldn't have seen the comings and goings of FH's apartment from ETJ's.
2) It is so wooded near FH's apartment (something I didn't realize until I visited the complex) that someone could hide in the woods near the apartment and observe comings and goings, and I think probably walk from ETJ's apartment to hers through a wooded area and not be seen.
3) The area where the apartments are located is sort of strangely situated near a major intersection of the highway, a strip mall with big box stores, and an old residential area that has seen better days, plus a newer, nicer, development next door.
4) There were a couple sketchy characters walking around near the complex during the daytime when I was there.
5) The complex appears well-maintained and there are no overt signs that there is trouble or significant crime there.

I'm not sure that these observations add up to much, but for the first time, it dawned on me that someone could have been paid to murder FH.

The sexual assault and the note work against the idea of a paid hit, so almost rejected the idea out of hand the moment I had it.

On the other hand, what if it was someone EJT hired to kill KR (not FH), hadn't seen her many times, if ever, and just thought he was killing KR in the manner dictated by her ex-boyfriend? What if this person has a touch of sadism and wanted to add his own touch to the murder? Or what if ETJ gave the note to him impulsively to leave near the body? What if the note was a twisted way of saying, 'see, some other guy raped you and it doesn't make me jealous'?

Things that would fit:
- ETJ's weird tweet and FB status update
- ETJ's curiosity about the crime scene
- There would be opportunity, given the remoteness of the location
- The fact that there seems not to be any DNA match yet, despite a number of POIs

Things that don't fit:
- Crime seems personal
- What were the bottles from the kitchen doing in there?

I know it seems far-fetched, but nothing about this case is straightforward, so I'm brain-storming about possibilities. I can't really come up with one that simultaneously fits "it seems personal" and "they have no DNA match."

 

[Skigirl]

Skigirl (or anyone else who can answer it), which one is ETJ's cousin??? (I've missed that relation, though I think I know all who were at the Thrill)

Webthrush, I've been having a REALLY hard time keeping everyone straight. I'm not sure we know the name of ETJ's cousin, I think the case notes may have just mentioned "his cousin" and it was redacted. But I will go back and look. Maybe we should start a post that everyone can copy/paste and add to as we learn (or relearn) who the players relate to one another so that we have it all in one place.

ETA: Since you started a blog to organize everything, I should have checked that before suggesting this

 

[Skigirl]

I still haven't found the name of ETJ's cousin, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't somehow confused that his name had come up in all of this.

ETJ's cousin is mentioned in an article by the Tarheel. What I took from it is that *YES* ETJ's cousin was at The Thrill on the night of FH's murder. What is ambiguous is whether he lived in the same complex as FH and KR. It is clear that he lived in the same complex as SOMEBODY, but another complex is mentioned in the previous paragraph. He was with someone else ("a rapper") from "the same complex."

http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2012/10/on-last-night-an-uncertain-timeline

"That night, Hedgepeth and Rosario went to The Thrill — a popular dance club on East Rosemary Street — where they met up with two men who lived in the same apartment complex. One was a rapper, and the other was the cousin of Takoy Jones — Rosario’s ex-boyfriend."

I couldn't find any other mentions, though I have not been back through the case report to see if he's named. ETJ has many "Jones" facebook friends, many of whom could be cousins. He also has quite a few Farringtons -- Farrington is a very old Chapel Hill name and it's possible that he has family/cousins with that last name.

(as an aside, MR, the woman who was with KR at the apartment when FH was found, is facebook friends with ETJ, which I thought was interesting. Another aside, there are two TJ facebook pages. Both list where they are from as "Chapel Hill". The one that lists him as living in eastern NC has KR as a friend, but not MR.)

 

[Boodles]

Has anyone read the autopsy report? (I have not.). I am wondering if a person, possibly drunk, possibly jealous, became enraged and used the bottle(s) as the "blunt force" in the assault against Faith to inflict the head injuries.

 

[Skigirl]

Has anyone read the autopsy report? (I have not.). I am wondering if a person, possibly drunk, possibly jealous, became enraged and used the bottle(s) as the "blunt force" in the assault against Faith to inflict the head injuries.

Good idea. I haven't read the autopsy report, even though I read it was ordered to be released this past summer. I haven't seen more detail than, "beaten about the face and head and lots of blood, including on the closet door."

 

[chinacat67]

Has anyone read the autopsy report? (I have not.). I am wondering if a person, possibly drunk, possibly jealous, became enraged and used the bottle(s) as the "blunt force" in the assault against Faith to inflict the head injuries.

I don't know about NC, but in some states, you have to request the autopsy report from the coroner's office--it's separate from the police file. If it isn't in the documents being released tomorrow (10/1), my guess is that is the case....but I'm hoping it's released tomorrow and will be put up online by one of the media outlets...

Honestly, my imagination takes the use of the bottle one step "worser". IMO, glass wine bottles for sure, and rum bottles probably, would tend to break if smashing over one's head, but if being used to sexually assault someone, it probably wouldn't.

 

[Skigirl]

I don't know about NC, but in some states, you have to request the autopsy report from the coroner's office--it's separate from the police file. If it isn't in the documents being released tomorrow (10/1), my guess is that is the case....but I'm hoping it's released tomorrow and will be put up online by one of the media outlets...

Honestly, my imagination takes the use of the bottle one step "worser". IMO, glass wine bottles for sure, and rum bottles probably, would tend to break if smashing over one's head, but if being used to sexually assault someone, it probably wouldn't.

I hate to say it, but my imagination was going there, too

 

[Boodles]

I have now read the report. She had lacerations, as well as contusions on her head, face/eyes, hands/fingers, arm and knees. I don't think the bottle was used the way you're thinking above. I have to read again, but I didn't notice any time of death info. She wasn't drunk or drugged from what I could tell. I'm wondering to what extent this was redacted. I feel sick.

 

[NCsleuther]

I have now read the report. She had lacerations, as well as contusions on her head, face/eyes, hands/fingers, arm and knees. I don't think the bottle was used the way you're thinking above. I have to read again, but I didn't notice any time of death info. She wasn't drunk or drugged from what I could tell. I'm wondering to what extent this was redacted. I feel sick.

Where is the report? I can't find it.

 

[Skigirl]

I am hoping that the release of documents will result in some articles and links today, but nothing so far.

I went back over the 911 transcript put together by Tom Gaspo. My impression (without listening to the voice recording) is different from his. He hears "distance" in the recording. What I see reading the words is someone who is so profoundly shocked and horrified that she's confused and having trouble wrapping her mind around the situation and having even more trouble communicating to the operator. What she seems to be wanting to communicate is, "Something is wrong and I'm in shock and... OMG, I think my friend is dead. There is so much blood here that there is no way I can save her with first aid. I'm terrified and now it is dawning on me that someone came in our apartment and murdered her! Please get someone here because I'm terrified." I think the recording sounds convincing because I think it would be hard to fake that level of shock/confusion/difficulty communicating ("...it looks like there’s blood everywhere. I don’t know what’s happening...I don't want to touch her but...There's blood everywhere...There's blood... I'm sorry, I'm really trying...There's blood everywhere. I don't know where it came from...It looks like someone had came in here...It really does...Because I just don't understand."). She wants to comply with what the operator is telling her to do, but knows that the operator doesn't understand the situation. She knows FH is beyond help and wants someone to help HER. I would have trouble getting everything to snap into focus if I unexpectedly walked in on the scene of the murder of a friend, too.

 

[Boodles]

All the info is available via either the CHPD (for the 911 call only), the clerk of superior court (which includes the autopsy report), or the MEs office for the autopsy report.

Apparently more info is being released today to the media as well? It will be interesting to see what that includes.

 

[Skigirl]

Boodles, I've never actually gone to an office like that and requested information. Do you fill out a form? Do they give you the call on a disk? Is it awkward? Something has been holding me back, even though I would really, really like to see the source materials for myself.

In response to your question, the judge ordered some information sealed until 10/1 (today). I hope that it isn't resealed and that more information is released. I feel like the media is being somewhat half-hearted in its coverage of the FH case at this point, so my guess is that they won't publish much today, much to my frustration.

 

[Webthrush]

1) I too am waiting for any newly-released documents -- local news media were 'hijacked' overnight by an individual atop a hotel building, threatening for 18 hrs(!) to jump, before he was safely brought down. IF documents were released today I suspect the press got to them late, and after 24-48 hrs. of digesting them (depending how many) will have something to report.

2) I've not seen the autopsy report, but everyone recounting it describes a prolonged, horrifying assault (indeed sickening). It's been further noted that Faith must have put up an incredible, valiant struggle -- and at an hour of the morning when surely some tenants would've been preparing for work; perhaps even getting in cars to depart… yet very little was heard. So again I'll reiterate my conjecture that one individual could not have silenced Faith that well… it would require at least two people… possibly her top being pulled over head was a sign of someone holding her from the top and stuffing her mouth with the garment to muffle her sounds (almost certainly screams), while a 2nd individual was assaulting her lower half. I would expect at least one attacker to have suffered scratches, bruises, contusions, or other marks in such an assault, yet none of the early POIs looked at bore such marks so far as I've heard -- unbelievably, it was months later that individuals from The Thrill weren't investigated, by which time any such injuries would have healed.

3) One last note I'll make -- the legal drinking age in NC is 21, and though under-age drinking happens all the time, there are some stiff penalties for bars/nightclubs caught serving the under-aged, so many truly try to avoid it. Faith was 19; the autopsy found some, though not a great deal of alcohol in her system. It's certainly possible she took some sips of someone's drink at The Thrill, but also possible she had NO alcohol there, meaning that the alcohol in her system came from the bottles found at the crime scene -- was she drinking on her own or with the perp(s)… and if the latter, was she forced or drinking willingly?

visit my website: http://faithhedgepeth.blogspot.com/

 

[Webthrush]

In reference to my #3 note above, the below Brandon Edwards note written on the 2-yr. anniversary of Faith's death, implies that Faith was NOT drinking at the Thrill (because she had a quiz the next day):
http://instagram.com/p/sp7Jcvu49F/

This in turn implies that the alcohol found in Faith's system came from the bottles at the crime scene (which KR implies in her 911 call would not normally be found in the bedroom) -- so was Faith drinking on her own after KR left and before the perp(s) arrived (very doubtful I think), or drinking with the perp(s) after his/their arrival, or forced to drink by the perp(s)??? So many different possible interpretations…

BTW, Skigirl found Faith's Twitter feed (which I'd not seen previously) here:
https://twitter.com/IAmNoPocahontas
One can spend tons of time sorting through all the Twitter/FB/ other social media accts. trying to uncover connections/leads (and a lot of accts. have probably been scrubbed by now, or are in high privacy modes, but still interesting stuff, that only expands the POIs).

And still no word of any more newly-released documents???

 

[Skigirl]

I didn't see a search warrant for BE's apartment, but it looks like one was executed:
http://instagram.com/p/PZ0CZVu42T/?modal=true

 

[Boodles]

In reference to my #3 note above, the below Brandon Edwards note written on the 2-yr. anniversary of Faith's death, implies that Faith was NOT drinking at the Thrill (because she had a quiz the next day):
http://instagram.com/p/sp7Jcvu49F/

Thats an interesting post he made! It sounds like he was close to Faith, especially when he referred to "when I lost you" and "old times." But he was Karena's ex bf for whom she was apparently still carrying a flame. And it looks like he even got a tattoo of Faith's initials. Interesting. Those words and behavior don't sound like those of a person who murdered her, IMO.

The blood alcohol level was 0.02%. I didn't get the impression that KR referred to anything in the 911 call about bottles in the bedroom, as though she was implying FH was drinking in there. If she did, it went over my head. I assumed FH may have had one drink at the bar earlier that night while the roommate drank. In some of the warrants, KR is supposed to have said that Faith was asleep when KR left, and that she (KR) left the door unlocked. Whether those statements are accurate, who knows? Why would you leave the door unlocked? Or if you were so drunk that you forgot to lock it, then how do you remember that you left it unlocked?

What accounts have there been of details of the beating? No doubt it was brutal, but what reference is there to prolonged?

but everyone recounting it describes a prolonged, horrifying assault

Also, I don't think there are any more documents to be (imminently) unsealed. I believe the original unseal date was set for 10/1, but the release happened earlier instead. I think. JMO

I get the feeling this recent campaign to generate tips or leads fell flat. I hope I'm wrong! Maybe they wanted to stir up the killer(s) conscience(s). But if the people responsible have held out this long, while Faith's family suffers with lack of answers, I can't see why they would be compelled to fess up now. Sadly, conscience doesn't seem to be bothering whoever did this.

I can't stop wondering how Karena ended up returning with a female friend at 11am after staying at JB's place (after getting a ride there from JM). Did she need a lift home? Would JB or JM not drive her? (Were JB send JM roommates?). How did yet another person get brought into this equation? What a mess!

 

[youlostone]

I can't stop wondering how Karena ended up returning with a female friend at 11am after staying at JB's place (after getting a ride there from JM). Did she need a lift home? Would JB or JM not drive her? (Were JB send JM roommates?). How did yet another person get brought into this equation? What a mess!

I remember initial news articles saying that they went there to check on her because she didn't show up to class.

 

[youlostone]

Also if I had to guess KR may have likely had an 8 am or 9 am class herself and wanted to sleep somewhere closer to campus. Not at all uncommon practice at Carolina.

 

[Skigirl]

It is really too bad that LE wasn't more aggressive at the start. FH's apartment was near both a bunch of car dealerships' back entrance (Performance BMW among them) and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina, both of which may have caught cars going by their driveways. Not much traffic on that road before 7 AM or so. Maybe they were asked to look, but I doubt it.

On another note, I think it is very likely that the attack occurred before dawn and that the killer was gone by 6:30 am. It is possible it was later, but you would have to be pretty bold to risk leaving in broad daylight. At first I thought it was weird that KR called at almost 11 on the nose, but if I recall, lots of classes go to ten minutes of the hour, so she could have been picked up after a class that ended at 10:50 and been home at 11.

Finally, I believe the other person with her was MR.


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