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

[wfgodot]

Native American UNC student found murdered in her apartment and
more than a 1,000 from her tribe mourn the 19-year-old's mysterious death

Police are investigating the mysterious death of a 19-year-old UNC Chapel Hill student as a murder.

Faith Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe of Hollister, North Carolina, was found dead in her home around 11am on Friday.

Police have not disclosed whether they are questioning a suspect or if they have made any arrests. Chapel Hill police have confirmed that they are treating the death as a homicide and say they don’t believe it was a random act.
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Hedgepeth was a biology major who won a Gates Millennium scholarship to study at UNC.
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More than 1,000 people from the Haliwa-Saponi tribe gathered to grieve Hedgepeth’s death during the tribe’s annual powwow on Sunday.
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According to her friends, Hedgepeth planned to return to live with the Native American tribe, which has about 4,000 members, after she finished her studies.
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much more, with pictures and a video, at Daily Mail link above

 

[Webthrush]

Haven't had time to listen myself yet, but new Trace-Evidence podcast on the Hedgepeth case is now up:
https://www.trace-evidence.com

 

[Webthrush]

Haven't had time to listen myself yet, but new Trace-Evidence podcast on the Hedgepeth case is now up:
https://www.trace-evidence.com

I've listened now (it's over an hour long) and believe the podcaster, Steven Pacheco, does a really good & fair job of covering the case -- I don't agree with all his details of course but definitely worth a close listen!
Thanks for this effort Steven!

 

[J.M. Bee]

The Trace Evidence episode does a good job of presenting all of the important information in one place and it also provides certain details, like names of persons of interest, that are otherwise difficult to come by. I also like how he lays out the four or five leading theories re what happened that night. Given that police have the male DNA and believe with 100% certainty that they will solve this crime, it's worth making a list of the male persons of interest:

1. ETJ
2. DB
3. JB
4. RLJ
5. former roommate of BE

Unless I misunderstood something, Pacheco seems to be saying that none of 2-5 has ever submitted DNA.

 

[J.M. Bee]

I've listened now (it's over an hour long) and believe the podcaster, Steven Pacheco, does a really good & fair job of covering the case -- I don't agree with all his details of course but definitely worth a close listen!
Thanks for this effort Steven!

What details, specifically, do you disagree with?

 

[Webthrush]

The Trace Evidence episode does a good job of presenting all of the important information in one place and it also provides certain details, like names of persons of interest, that are otherwise difficult to come by. I also like how he lays out the four or five leading theories re what happened that night. Given that police have the male DNA and believe with 100% certainty that they will solve this crime, it's worth making a list of the male persons of interest:

1. ETJ
2. DB
3. JB
4. RLJ
5. former roommate of BE

Unless I misunderstood something, Pacheco seems to be saying that none of 2-5 has ever submitted DNA.

yeah, I don't think he was clear on it, but am almost certain 2-4 HAVE given DNA by now (JB was late in the process, the other two earlier on). #5 I don't know about -- a private investigator was pursuing him, and I presume CHPD did as well, but they've never said.

ETA: as far as details I'd quibble with, too small to mention and argue about here (though I did leave a comment for him about 2 matters). For a 75-min. podcast he did a darn good job on a case there is so much speculative disagreement on!

 

[Simplestarz86]

The Trace Evidence episode does a good job of presenting all of the important information in one place and it also provides certain details, like names of persons of interest, that are otherwise difficult to come by. I also like how he lays out the four or five leading theories re what happened that night. Given that police have the male DNA and believe with 100% certainty that they will solve this crime, it's worth making a list of the male persons of interest:

1. ETJ
2. DB
3. JB
4. RLJ
5. former roommate of BE

Unless I misunderstood something, Pacheco seems to be saying that none of 2-5 has ever submitted DNA.

All but #5 have submitted to DNA tests


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SteveP]

All but #5 have submitted to DNA tests


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know we cannot sleuth him, but does this former roommate of BE fit the phenotype released?

 

[CADwrest]

I know we cannot sleuth him, but does this former roommate of BE fit the phenotype released?

I don’t think we know anything about him, aside from the fact that he has a violent criminal record, and handwriting that might​ match the note.

 

[Boodles]

yeah, I don't think he was clear on it, but am almost certain 2-4 HAVE given DNA by now (JB was late in the process, the other two earlier on). #5 I don't know about -- a private investigator was pursuing him, and I presume CHPD did as well, but they've never said.

ETA: as far as details I'd quibble with, too small to mention and argue about here (though I did leave a comment for him about 2 matters). For a 75-min. podcast he did a darn good job on a case there is so much speculative disagreement on!

He did have several basic facts wrong, just one example is saying that Faith was one of three daughters, one of whom struggled with drugs, IIRC, which isn’t true. She’s the youngest of two daughters. There were other things he got wrong, misstated. He said she was a junior; she was in fact a sophomore. He said she was sexually assaulted, which LE has said “is more likely than not” but is not an established fact. He also said semen was found in Faith. That is not an established fact; he’s making an assumption which may or may not be true. I don’t recall the other things he states which are questionable. It’s a lot of his opinion, which he acknowledges. He did have details regarding names of the Thrill guys (if he was correct). But I don’t think he has any insight that we haven’t covered here.

He got enough wrong so that I’m not trusting his credibility. But the basic potential scenarios he outlines are what we discuss here.

 

[Webthrush]

He did have several basic facts wrong, just one example is saying that Faith was one of three daughters, one of whom struggled with drugs, IIRC, which isn’t true. She’s the youngest of two daughters. There were other things he got wrong, misstated. He said she was a junior; she was in fact a sophomore. He said she was sexually assaulted, which LE has said “is more likely than not” but is not an established fact. He also said semen was found in Faith. That is not an established fact; he’s making an assumption which may or may not be true. I don’t recall the other things he states which are questionable. It’s a lot of his opinion, which he acknowledges. He did have details regarding names of the Thrill guys (if he was correct). But I don’t think he has any insight that we haven’t covered here.

He got enough wrong so that I’m not trusting his credibility. But the basic potential scenarios he outlines are what we discuss here.

I largely agree, but do think his report is quite credible (at least as much so as newspaper accounts where he probably picked up some of the mis-info and things still under dispute). The names of the Thrill guys wasn’t new, but has been available ever since the police released documents 3 years ago; in fact he left some names out. But again all the names we have are either White or Black men, no Latinos. I probably have less than 20 names of potential interest, but the police have DNA tested over 700, as an indication of how much we’re still missing. I think his main insight was to put in one place most (not all) of the scenarios people have proposed and most of the key information readily available (again, certainly not all), but no, nothing breaking new ground.

 

[CADwrest]

I listened to it last night. It was a good overview of the case, IMO, and yes, a few of the details were wrong.

I had a couple of quibbles myself. The biggest one: I don't think the time of the pocket-dial voicemail is really in dispute anymore. There's never really been an indication that it's wrong at all, but we're past just having a single phone with a time-stamp at this point. LE says they've verified the metadata of the call. If it doesn't make sense that Faith was viciously assaulted in the club by 2 or 3 people and calmly left 45 minutes later, it points to a problem with the transcript, not the time-stamp.

Second, and I've seen it mentioned but never elaborated upon, but what's driving the idea that MR made the 911 call and not KR? Even if one suspects KR, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Is she so overjoyed that her plot succeeded that she handed the phone to MR to do a victory dance in the background? Does MR not question this or think it's weird enough to ever mention again?

 

[J.M. Bee]

I listened to it last night. It was a good overview of the case, IMO, and yes, a few of the details were wrong.

I had a couple of quibbles myself. The biggest one: I don't think the time of the pocket-dial voicemail is really in dispute anymore. There's never really been an indication that it's wrong at all, but we're past just having a single phone with a time-stamp at this point. LE says they've verified the metadata of the call. If it doesn't make sense that Faith was viciously assaulted in the club by 2 or 3 people and calmly left 45 minutes later, it points to a problem with the transcript, not the time-stamp.

Second, and I've seen it mentioned but never elaborated upon, but what's driving the idea that MR made the 911 call and not KR? Even if one suspects KR, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Is she so overjoyed that her plot succeeded that she handed the phone to MR to do a victory dance in the background? Does MR not question this or think it's weird enough to ever mention again?

Yeah, I was thinking something similar. I get why people hear MR in the 911 call --- it does sound a little like her --- but I don't get the logic of why she would be making the call. She is a puddle of tears in her 20/20 interviews so if she knew anything at all about this crime she would have long ago, IMO, spilled the beans. She hasn't. If anyone knows more than she is saying, it is KR.

 

[Tricia]

Hey Everyone,

A heads up: By request, I am allowing the blog of Thomas Gasparoli as an approved source for the Faith Hedgepeth case.

You can check out Mr. Gasparoli's credentials right here!

I only brought over the first post from 2012 and the rest of the posts brought over are from a couple of days ago until today. It sounds like there is a great podcast that will help you catch up on the latest details called Trace Evidence. Listen HERE
Keep up the good work on this thread everyone. We are grateful that you are helping keep Faith's case in the public eye.

Tricia

 

[CADwrest]

<snipped> Or take KR: if not for the male DNA at the scene, she would be, IMO, the lead suspect. The note. The bottle. The 4:30am departure. The 911 call. The I-don't-feel-well-at-2:30am-but-I'm-headed-out-for-a-booty-call-at-4:30am. And yet the male DNA seems to suggest that it wasn't her. Could she have committed the crime but somehow have had a male assist in some way? I just don't see how that is plausible. At the moment I'm left with the thought that LE bungled the crime scene, that it was KR, and that the male DNA is the result of contamination and not the crime itself.

(This post was one of the last ones from the old thread- for some reason, it wasn't carried over.)

If we're talking contamination, I think we're talking something that happened in the lab during testing, though. The male DNA at the scene was, at least partially, semen. Someone earlier mentioned that the semen was collected as part of the crime scene examination and not the rape kit, meaning it was evident on the body or bedding. KR didn't leave that herself, and I can't see how LE bungled the crime scene to the extent they caused semen to be there that shouldn't have been. That brings in a male accomplice as a requirement, and all the issues that scenario has.

 

[Webthrush]

(This post was one of the last ones from the old thread- for some reason, it wasn't carried over.)

If we're talking contamination, I think we're talking something that happened in the lab during testing, though. The male DNA at the scene was, at least partially, semen. Someone earlier mentioned that the semen was collected as part of the crime scene examination and not the rape kit, meaning it was evident on the body or bedding. KR didn't leave that herself, and I can't see how LE bungled the crime scene to the extent they caused semen to be there that shouldn't have been. That brings in a male accomplice as a requirement, and all the issues that scenario has.

And again, if what we are told is true, the (male) DNA of the semen MATCHES the DNA on other objects (the rum bottle & pen if I recall correctly) -- that seems to me like pretty much a slam-dunk that not only was a male present at the crime but was likely the killer.
On a side note, I too have never seen the plausibility of MR being the person who made the 911 call.

 

[raiders444]

Sorry I know this is redundant, but I still am mildly confused about JM. Some sources say he was KR's booty call that night, while other's say he was just her pickup and I think JB was the booty call? I guess I'm confused as to why JM would come pick up KR at 4:30 am if he wasn't the one sleeping with her. Seems VERY "friendzoney" to me, and JM had to have been quite popular with the ladies in his own right- being a big soccer star and all. I don't think I ever drove to pick up a girl who then hooked up with a friend or roommate....just seems really odd. Why didn't JB just come pick her up?

 

[CADwrest]

Sorry I know this is redundant, but I still am mildly confused about JM. Some sources say he was KR's booty call that night, while other's say he was just her pickup and I think JB was the booty call? I guess I'm confused as to why JM would come pick up KR at 4:30 am if he wasn't the one sleeping with her. Seems VERY "friendzoney" to me, and JM had to have been quite popular with the ladies in his own right- being a big soccer star and all. I don't think I ever drove to pick up a girl who then hooked up with a friend or roommate....just seems really odd. Why didn't JB just come pick her up?

IIRC, one of the articles last month said that KR was hooking up with JB, but that was the only source that had ever made that claim, with all others saying it was JM. We concluded it was a mistake in the article. JM was the one who picked her up and the one she had a relationship with.

JB just gets brought into the mix because his cell pinged the tower near the girls' apartment right at the same time KR was getting picked up. LE noticed this a few months later and confronted him with that information, and he claimed he'd never been over there and was asleep at the time. LE recognized his cell number because it was associated with a prior police matter in Ohio, when he had some sort of domestic situation with his mother and her boyfriend, and also it was thought JB might have stolen a firearm.

My belief is that he's only tangentially associated to everyone because JM was his roommate, and the whole thing was just a lead LE chased down that came to nothing. Because the phone pinged the tower right when JM was known to be there, I think the probable explanation is it was just in JM's car, and JB didn't remember that because he wasn't asked about it until two months later.

The discussion in the old thread was in posts 985, and 990-992.

 

[raiders444]

Ahh okay that makes sense if the source listing JB as the booty call was inaccurate. HOWEVER, I do have one major issue with the facts as you listed them. There is no chance a 20-something year old college male (JB) or female would ever leave his/her cell phone in someone's car overnight. Absolute 0% chance. People today are so addicted and attached to their smart phones, it is literally their life line and connection to the world today and I am sure it was the same way in 2012. I seriously hope LE dove deep into this claim by JB of him being asleep and the phone being in JM's car!

 

[CADwrest]

Ahh okay that makes sense if the source listing JB as the booty call was inaccurate. HOWEVER, I do have one major issue with the facts as you listed them. There is no chance a 20-something year old college male (JB) or female would ever leave his/her cell phone in someone's car overnight. Absolute 0% chance. People today are so addicted and attached to their smart phones, it is literally their life line and connection to the world today and I am sure it was the same way in 2012. I seriously hope LE dove deep into this claim by JB of him being asleep and the phone being in JM's car!

The phone being left in the car isn't a fact, it's just a theory of mine to explain the situation and JB's seeming innocence (he submitted to a DNA swab unless I'm very mistaken). I don't think he actually made that claim, or if he did, we don't know about it.

I know that people are very attached to their phones, and not even just that age group, but things do happen sometimes. You put it down in the center console and forget it's there, grab a bunch of other stuff out of the car thinking it's in your pocket, etc. Then if you go right to sleep, you don't really miss it until the morning. I use my phone quite a bit, and I've done that a few times. If memory serves, JB was at the Thrill, so if he left it in the car and went inside and straight to sleep, he might not have noticed it was gone until later.