Criminology - Faith Hedgepeth

Episode Date: September 27, 2020

In September 2012, 19-year-old college student Faith Hedgepeth was brutally murdered inside her friend's apartment in Durham, NC. A hateful note was left at the brutal scene, scrawled on a fast-food bag Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the brutal unsolved murder of Faith Hedgepeth. Faith's friend made a 911 call that has been dissected by many and some have called her demeanor unusual. There are many mysterious elements to this case, including a voicemail that may have recorded events leading up to Faith's death. A number of individuals have been looked at for the crime but the question of who killed Faith Hedgepeth remains unanswered. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology  An Emash Digital Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, moms and mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for moms and mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heist to whodunit.

We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch. Subscribe now to moms and mysteries wherever you get your podcast. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 128 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mr. Morford, how are you doing? I'm doing good. I'm feeling good. No illnesses. No house on fire. This week's been a banner week.

How about you? Yeah, I was going to say, it's like lately every time we record, something strange is going on, either an illness or your house is about ready to catch on fire. So I'm glad to hear that, uh, that everything's kind of normal. Yeah, this has been, uh, as, as good a week as you can expect here in 2020. So I'm happy. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm doing great as well. I'm ready to get into this episode. But before we do, let's give our Patreon shoutouts. You know, I just made a, a quick mention last week more of that we didn't have many. And people really stepped up. We saw a lot of support in this last week. So I really want to thank everybody. It means a lot to us. I think we said

it last week. Everybody's going through the same things, right? Small businesses are hurting. Families are hurting. People have lost their jobs. It's tough. So for people that can to step up and help you and I out in this kind of very slow advertising cycle, it really means a lot to us. You hit the nail right on the head. This is a slow time for. advertising and that affects all of us and we still want to keep putting episodes out. So anytime anyone is willing to help us by supporting us, that's really appreciated. And we say it every week, but we can't say it enough. We had Renee Oliver jump out to our highest level, Catherine Watson, Ashley Zierley, Lettie Mae, Carrie, Tasha Jackson, Victoria Southall,

Jennifer Jennings, Judith McShay, Stephanie Hanson Fisher, and Rebecca H. And there's a lot more names morph that I pushed back till next week. I mean, it just really shows you the people that stepped up. It's greatly appreciated. If anyone out there would like to help support the show, you can go to patreon.com slash criminology. Don't forget about Stitcher Premium. That's where you can find all of our criminology episodes older than six months.

and they have a free 30-day trial. So you really have nothing to lose. Check that out. All right, Morf, it's time to jump right into our episode. It was eight years ago this month in September 2012 that 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth was brutally murdered in her friend's apartment in Durham, North Carolina. A hateful note was left at the scene. There was an unusual 911 call made by one of her friends.

and a voicemail message that may have recorded the events leading up to her death. All of that is a part of the mystery surrounding her still unsolved murder and the overriding question, who killed Faith Hedgepath. Chapel Hill, North Carolina is located in the northern part of the state and about 30 miles southwest of Raleigh. It's home to the University of North Carolina, where approximately 25,000 to 30,000 students attend each year. Faith Daniel Hedgepeth was born in Rocky Mount North Carolina. On September 26, 1992, to Roland and Connie Hedgepeth. She was the third child of four. Her sister, Rolanda, is 17 years or senior, and her brother, Chadwick, is 14 years older than

Faith. She also has a younger brother named Caleb, who graduated from high school in May of this year. Faith also has two nieces and four nephews. She graduated from Warren County, High School in 2010 and was awarded a full-ride scholarship to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill from Gates Millennium Scholars, which was established in 1999, and is funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. GMS, as is known, awards 1,000 students each year with scholarships to four-year colleges or universities. The program's goal is to promote academic excellence and provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential. Faith was a member of the Haliewa-Suponi tribe of Hollister,

North Carolina, which currently consists of about 4,300 enrolled tribal members, with about 2,700 living in a close-knit tribal community on the border of Warren in Halifax County. About 1,900 members reside in Halifax County, while nearly 900 live in Warren County. Tribal members are the descendants of three tribes who inhabited the area before European settlement and conflict. For several years, they called themselves Indians without a more specific tribal name. They started using the Halewa name in the 1950s. Halea was a derivative of Halifax and Warren. It wasn't until the late 1970s that tribal leaders added Suponi to the name.

They did so in recognition of an ancient tribe from which many members descended. Twenty years ago, the tribe opened a school for its members, which serves children in kindergarten through high school. Faith was a role model for many in her tribe. She volunteered at the American Indian Center and was a member of the Education and Outreach Group, Carolina Indian Circle. She was also very outgoing, performing in an a cappella group, unheard voices. Faith was a beautiful young person with an infectious smile and bubbly personality, who loved her family and God and had dreams of a bright future. She was a biology major at UNC and wanted to become a pediatrician because her community desperately needed doctors. The nearest emergency department was 25 miles away in Rocky Mount.

But during her first year of pre-med classes, Faith, found the course is challenging and took a semester off. She was considering changing her major to elementary education to become a teacher. Faith loved children, and she was hoping to work with them and make a difference in their lives. She enrolled in summer classes at UNC in 2012. On top of her heavy school workload, Faith also worked part-time at the Red Robin restaurant off US-15-501 in Durham. She liked having her own money for close. clothes, gas, groceries, and going out on the town with friends. One of those friends was Karina Rosario, who lived in an off-campus apartment at the Hawthorne

on the View apartment complex at 5639 Old Chapel Hill Road in Durham. This was pretty close to Faith's job at the Red Robin. While waiting for financial aid from school to go through so she could get her own apartment, Faith temporarily moved in with Karina in August 2012. Karina was from New Jersey. Faith and Karina became very close friends and helped each other through some tough times. Karina had been in an abusive relationship with her former boyfriend, Eric Tokoi Jones. On July 5th, 2012, Jones kicked in Karina's bedroom door, fought with her and forcibly took her phone

in order to prevent her from calling the police. Karina changed the locks on the apartment, but Jones showed up a few days later and broke into the apartment. But somehow, he wasn't charged for that incident. The next day, Faith helped Karina get a restraining order against Jones. A judge ordered Jones to stay away from Karina, her apartment, and her school for a year. When Jones found out that Faith helped get the restraining order, he threatened a killer if Karina didn't take him back.

It was just a month after this incident that Faith moved in with Karina. At 5.45 p.m. on September 6th, Faith attended a rush event for Alpha Pi Omega, a Native American sorority she was hoping to join. At around 8 p.m., she and Karina were studying in the university's David Library. Between 8.30 and 9, Faith sent a text to her father, Roland, telling him that she was hoping to join the sorority. She and Karina returned to the apartment around midnight. At 1230 a.m., the girls headed to downtown Chapel Hill to a nightclub called The Thrill. They arrived there at around 1240. The Thrill was located at 157 East Rosemary Street, and it was a popular nightclub for undergraduate students,

because those younger than 21 years of age were allowed to go into the club to dance. About two hours later, Karina said she wasn't feeling well. At 206 a.m., the club security video captured Karina. Marina leaving thrill, followed by faith. The girls returned to Karina's apartment around 3 a.m. At 3.40, someone sent a text from Face Phone to her former boyfriend Brandon Edwards, which read, Hey, B, can you come over here, please? Rosario needs you more.

Aha. You know, please let her know you care. Three minutes later, another text was sent to Brandon's phone. with the single word, then. Most likely a correction for the aha. At 4.16 a.m., Brandon sent a return text, asking who had sent the previous text, but no one responded. Karina's phone record showed that she tried calling Brandon around the time the texts were sent, but he didn't answer.

So Karina called UNC soccer player Jordan McCrary. She later said she thought Faith was asleep in the bedroom. Karina left the apartment at 4.25 a.m. with McCrary in his car, leaving the front door unlocked. Later that morning, another friend, Marisol Rangel, received a phone call from Karina. On this call, Karina asked Marisol to give her a ride to her apartment. Karina had tried calling Faith, but there was no answer. Marisol also tried calling Faith and got the same result. Karina and Marisol went to the apartment and saw Faith's car there.

Just before 11 a.m., Corina and Marisol entered Karina's apartment. Marisol yelled out for faith, but got no answer. The pair went upstairs to the bedroom and found Faith on the floor in a pool of blood. At 11.01 a.m., a.m. a 911 call was placed, allegedly by Karina. Marisol later said that she was in the bedroom during the call, but Karina kept walking in and out of the room. The call was strange, to say the least, and it wasn't released to the public until 2014. During the call to 911, Marisol is never heard in the background. Karina told the dispatcher her friend was unconscious, not dead,

even though it was evident upon sight that Faith was dead. Karina said, she's unconscious. I just walked into the apartment and there looks like there is blood everywhere. She never tells the dispatcher the victim's name, nor does the operator ever ask. before giving the dispatcher the address, Karina says, I just, I just moved here. I'm about to get it. There's a pause. And then she says, oh my God, before giving the address. It's unclear what she meant when she said she was about to get it. The dispatcher tells her several times to check to see if faith is breathing or to see if she felt warm or cold. But Karina said she didn't want to touch her.

She kept saying in response to the dispatcher, there is blood everywhere. Finally, she told the operator, Faith was cold. She also said that Faith was lying on her back, but she thought she fell off the bed. Karina said, there's blood all over the pillows and the comforter. I just don't know what happened. The 911 operator asked the caller's name several times, and Karina wouldn't answer. A couple of times, she said, this is crazy or I can't believe. believe this in response. Finally, at around the four-minute mark of the call, she tells the

dispatcher her name is Karina. During the call, Karina says, I don't know what's going on, like there's stuff in my room that, like, was not there before. She seems genuinely confused by what she's seeing. Reports later state she was referring to a Bacardi rum bottle. We'll play a portion of this call so you can hear the exchange for yourself. I just walked into my apartment and my friend like I just walked in the apartment and there looks like there's blood Okay listen to when you touch you how does she feel? Does she feel warm? No, she feels cold. She feels cold? Okay. Okay. All right. Don't touch anything else. Okay.

Some people believe that it was actually Marisol who made this call and not Karina. Well, and I think more if there are a lot of people that believe Karina's choice of words, her actions, pretty much everything about the call is very strange. Now, I'm always careful in this type of situation to make too many assumptions. Because frankly, I don't know what it's like to walk in and find someone that you know or even a stranger dead and have to pick up the phone and make a 911 call. I don't know what that's like. Yeah, I think a lot of people make assumptions based on what they hear in these kind of calls.

This person was too emotional. They weren't emotional enough. And they make judgments just based on that. No, I agree with you. Now, sometimes those judgments turn out to be correct. So, I mean, I think it's tough to say how someone should act or what, you know, what they should say. in a certain type of frantic, very emotional situation. But when it comes to true crime, I think it's also part of a case to analyze it.

You just have to be careful, right? There's dangers there in making too many assumptions. I know online a lot of people pointed out the fact that Karina didn't even want to touch faith's body. and they said how could a friend treat another friend like that? She should try and help her no matter what. But she may have just been in shock and, you know, who knows? Again, if you're standing there at that scene with blood all over the place,

unless you're in that situation, you don't know how you're going to react to it. Yeah, I mean, you'll see a lot of stuff online. You know, why did it take her so long to give her name? Why could she not give the address? But again, unless you're in that situation, I don't know that any of us really know exactly, you know, how we would handle it. Would we be able to focus?

Would we be able to think and do the things that we think we'd be able to do? That's really the big question. When police arrived at the apartment, they discovered faith, deceased, and partially new. She had suffered severe head injuries. Chapel Hill Police Lieutenant Salisa LeHugh told ABC. news in 2017 that faith was partially wrapped in a comforter that had been located on the bed. There was blood spatter throughout the bedroom, as well as where the pillow had been. Karina had placed the pillows on the floor during the 911 call per the dispatcher's request.

Chapel Hill police were tight-lipped about the investigation for two years and refused to release any details on it other than saying, that they didn't believe it was a random crime. A few days after face murder, a judge ordered the 911 call recording and search warrants related to the homicide sealed indefinitely in face case. The UNC Board of Trustees. Initially, a $4,000 reward was offered up for information leading to the arrest of face killer. The UNC Board of Trustees added $25,000 to it, bringing. the total to 29,000. In 2008, the board offered a similar reward for tips leading to the arrest of Eve Carson's killer. Eve was the student body president at UNC and she was murdered during a car hijacking. The reward led to the arrest of her killers, DeMario James Atwater, and Lawrence

Alvin Lovett Jr. But in this case, the reward did not lead to an arrest in face murder. In January 2013, authorities finally released the first bit of information in FACE case. They revealed that DNA evidence discovered the scene of the crime was tested and determined to come from a man. Police also released a behavior profile of the killer, developed by the FBI's behavioral analysis unit, and they hoped that the description would bring witnesses forward. According to the news and observer, the FBI's description stated, the suspect knew Faith Hedgepath and may have lived near her in the past.

The suspect was unaccounted for during the early morning hours of September 7, 2012. The suspect may have made comments regarding faith to close associates in the past. And there may have been some change in the suspect's behavior after the killing or a change in work or school performance. The profile was fundamental and could have been anyone,

but it was a start in the right direction after months of silence. And I think that a lot more, when I hear or read a profile. I get it. It's hard to narrow it down. Some are, I think,

more narrow than others. Some are just very general and would, you know, encompass quite a few people. But again, it's not like they have a crystal ball. But I also think,

you know, and I've heard this from people who listen to, to a lot of true crime, well, I could have, I could have given you that. You know, a lot of people think that they could have told you the same things. And it makes you wonder if people among her circle in her, in that community, her classmates, if they were looking at each other wondering, hey, this sounds like so-and-so and having thoughts about them possibly being involved.

Well, I'm sure they were. I'm sure people were walking around looking sideways at men of a certain age range. You know, that's the one thing that this one didn't include that you normally see the suspects between 25 and 45 years old. You know, there's a white male. You know, you see a lot of those same kind of profiles. And I'm not putting the FBI down at all. I'm just saying that you hear that from a lot of true crime fans. that, man, it's really general.

I could tell you that it's most likely this, this, this, and this. Yeah, and a lot of TV shows, we see those things in 60 minutes. They saw the case based on that analysis, but we know that in real life, it doesn't always happen like that. On March 13, 2013, investigators persuade the judge to reseal the search warrants on the case for another 60 days to keep information confidential that only investigators and the suspects might know. On May 21st, 2013, a judge resealed them for an additional 60 days. At the end of March, UNC's Carolina Indian Circle, a student organization that Faith was involved

in, hosted the 26th annual powwow and her honor. Inside Fetzer Jim and Chapel Hill, hundreds were in attendance, and the theme of the event was keeping the faith. A year later in March, 2000, a hearing took place after several news organizations challenged the seal, put on the 911 call, the autopsy report, and the search warrants. The Durham County District Attorney's Office filed a motion to keep them sealed. The motion revealed that the Chapel Hill Police Department had prepared search warrant affidavits for two apartments at 5639 Old Chapel Hill Road, a 1977-1977 Honda Accord. Faith and Karina's Facebook pages. The girls laugh.

In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. Number one, which emergency? We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved, until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, blood and water. Listen now.

wherever you get your podcasts. Top computers and face bank account. During the hearing, Hugh Stevens and attorney for Raleigh's newspaper, the news and observer, argued that the 911 call autopsy report and search warrants were public record and the state had to give a compelling reason

why the item should remain sealed. Moreover, it had been 18 months since face murder and the public still did not know hardly anything about her death. If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, Moms and Mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa.

Join us every Tuesday for Moms and Mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from Heist to Who Donuts. We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch. Subscribe now to Moms and Mysteries wherever you get your podcast. If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, moms and mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for.

Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for Moms and Mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from Heist to Who Donuts, where you're a go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch. Subscribe now to Moms and Mysteries wherever you get your podcast. The news and observer reported that law enforcement officers usually give specific reasons in a search warrant affidavit as to why a search must be conducted.

The affidavits often provide detailed information about the crime and the crime scene, and they're not public record before the search. But once the search has occurred, the law enforcement agency files a copy of the court's clerk office, along with the list of items confiscated, and they become public record. The assistant district attorney argued that unsealing the items and allowing the press and the public to view them would hinder the investigation. Still, they didn't give compelling reasons why withholding the information could hurt the case. She further said that the police in North Carolina Bureau of Investigation was still investigating the case and had a list of over 90 tasks they had

not yet finished. Faith's parents supported the items staying sealed because they didn't want anything to jeopardize an arrest in their daughter's murder. But Stephen said that if there were parts of the search warrants authorities didn't want to be released, those parts could be redacted, and the rest of it made public. He also stated that by unsealing some of the records, someone might learn something and realize they have vital information to assist the police. And I see both sides of that argument more if I really do. I understand the police wanting to keep everything as close to the vest as they possibly can. I also see the need for the public to know certain things that should be public.

It's one of those things that I guess you just have to weigh the benefits versus the negative effects that could come from it. I think in the true crime world especially, we want to hear those details. else, we're curious. But you have to feel for faith's family and be in their shoes, God forbid anything would happen that would keep the person that did this to their daughter from paying the price for it. But I did like the proposed compromise, right? Which is, okay, unseal it, just redact anything that would be like that information that no one else would know, The information that you would need to confirm the person you're talking to was the actual killer. That's the part I get.

At a July 2014 hearing, Superior Court Judge Howard Manning partially unsealed search warrants and the 911 call related to face murder. Many details in the search warrants were redacted and he did not unseal the autopsy report. The search warrants showed that Karina Rosario met by the search warrants. police officers at the door when they responded to her 911 call at 11 a.m. on the day of the murder. Detective secured the crime scene and returned two days later to search the apartment along with a Nissan Ultima, registered to face mother Connie in Warrington. According to the warrants, investigators collected bedding, an IBM laptop, undergarments,

other clothing, evidence swabs, baths, bathroom items and a key from the crime scene. Investigators returned the following day to collect even more clothing. On September 11, 2012, officers searched another apartment of the complex, and a Jeep belonging to Eric Ticoy Jones. They seized more clothing, betting, and miscellaneous papers and items. Authorities questioned Jones early in the investigation and contacted Facebook to get information from pages belonging to Faith, Carina, and Jones. The warrants further stated that the search continued on September 12th, when investigators took evidence samples from the back of the driver's side seat cushion and the bottom of the driver's side back door of a 1997 Honda court. The court was registered to Ronnie L. Edwards.

The warrants didn't explain who Ronnie was, or how he might be connected to the case, but he may be related to face former boyfriend, Brandon Edwards. Police obtained another warrant dated October 18, 2012. For FACE financial records with the state employees credit union, they had hoped to find out how and where Faith had been spending money before her murder. They also wanted to see if there was anything unusual going on with her spending. About a week later, investigators sought another search warrant for two Lenovo laptop computers that belonged to Faith in Carina. On September 4th, 2014, two years after face murder, Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue held several media interviews

hoping to draw fresh attention to the case and possibly generate new clues. He also released new information in the case, including documents and video interviews filmed by his own department. 300 pages of documents were released to the public, including the autopsy report, which revealed that Faith had been beaten to death in an extremely violent attack. She suffered skull fractures and cuts to her face and head and was also severely beaten on her arms and legs. The documents also revealed what investigators found when they arrived at the scene. Face body was in the bedroom leaning against a bed with her shirt pulled up.

She was unclowed from the waist down. Blood was pulled around the body and spattered on the wall in a closet door. On the bed next to her was a handwritten note. scrawled on a bag from a fast food restaurant that read, I'm not stupid, followed by bitch and jealous. Detectives believed the killer wrote the note. They also released a picture of the note to the public. A Bacardi rum bottle that was usually kept in Karina's kitchen

was found in the bedroom with tissue fragments and DNA on it. According to search warns, the rum bottle and a wine bottle were collected into evidence of the scene. The autopsy indicated that faith had been raped. Police said a rape kit detected the presence of semen. The DNA from that semen matched other DNA evidence collected at the crime scene. Investigators believe the DNA belongs to FACE killer. Police also released more information on Faith's whereabouts in the hours before her death. In the early morning hours of September 7, 2012, the girls arrived at the Wallace parking deck on East Rosemary Street just before 1 a.m.

and walked to the thrill nightclub. They left the bar together at 206 a.m. And drove back to Karina's apartment in Face White Nissan Ultima. Karina then left the apartment at 4.25 a.m. with Jordan McCrary, returned at 11 a.m. and discovered face body. In 2016, investigators released audio of what they believe may have been a pocket dial voicemail that captured Faith, another woman, and two men having a heated conversation.

Una Chavez, another friend of Faith, gave them the recording. The voicemail was timestamped at 1.23 a.m., which meant Faith and Karina were still at the nightclub. Eunice said when she received the message, she could hear music playing in the background, and what sounded like static-y fabric rubbing up against the phone. She figured Faith had accidentally pocketed out her, as she had done many times before, so she simply deleted the voicemail. But after Face Murder, she went to her cell phone carrier to retrieve the recording. It's believed to be the final account of Faith's last moments alive.

Crime Watch Daily aired an episode titled Murder on Voicemail. The show hired Arlo West, an audio expert, to analyze the voicemail recording. The show obtained the recording from Una Chavez. West believes that the voicemail actually happened later during the time. of face murder, he said that discrepancies and timestamps could have been caused by a known software glitch. Audio technology had advanced by 2016 that allowed Wes to clean up the recording. He took out all the background noises and stripped it down so only the voices and words could be heard. He then made a transcript of the recording. West's interpretation of the transcript

resulted in him claiming he heard faith crying out saying things like ow my head help me get off me West also said that the other female could be heard threatening faith saying fuck you I'm pissed I'm gonna kick your face bitch I figured out that bullshit you liar you intentionally lot don't be a pussy put up a fight he says that a male is heard saying I can't believe that you really did it, Rosie. The female then said to him, go help Eric. West said that one of the males could be heard saying, I think she's dying. Followed by the other male saying, do it anyhow.

He said faith could be heard begging them to untie her hands. According to West, the most chilling part of the recording is when the men talk about their next victim. And one of the males is heard rapping. West was convinced that this was not at the club, but was later on at Carina's apartment. The name's Rosie and Eric, he said possibly point to Carina Rosario and her former boyfriend, Eric Tocoy Jones. Face father Roland believes the voicemail recorded his daughter's death. So obviously, Morth, this guy was an audio expert.

probably still is, this West guy, the versions of this that I've heard, I can't make all of this out. You know, it sounds like a kind of a garbled mess to me. Yeah, I think it's one of those things that you ask 100 different people what they're hearing and you're going to get all kinds of different responses. But it is out there. You can find this on YouTube or wherever else and listen to the audio for yourself and see what you think and see what conclusion you come to. Crime Watch Daily took this new information

to the Chapel Hill Police. However, because of the background music and the 123 a.m. time stamp, they believe the recording took place while Faith was at the nightclub. But West discounted the background sound being music, since his analysis didn't produce any sounds like percussion, a heavy bass, or synthesizers.

West was quoted as saying, there's no drums, there's no keyboards, there's no thumping baseline because I look for all that stuff. Additionally, there are none of the typical nightclub background sounds, such as glasses, clinking, or background conversations. That one would associate with a call from a nightclub. But a police spokesman said in many Chapel Hill clubs, there are no waitresses, there are no clinking glasses,

there are solo cups. This is a college town. And I do remember those days. I have to admit it was many, many years. years ago, but, you know, when I was in college, and I assume it's pretty similar now, they weren't giving a bunch of drunk kids glasses to take out on the dance floor. That, that just wasn't going to happen. That was going to be a mess.

And my club days from back then, I didn't have a cell phone that was before, a cell phone, I guess I'm dating myself, but I can imagine trying to make a call in some of those clubs. And I would have, I would have gone outside myself if I was trying to. But again, we're talking about a butt dial. But the noise that would be coming from there, I would just think would be too much. But that's just my opinion. No, yeah, I think that's a good point to make.

You know, oftentimes in some of those clubs, you can't even hear yourself talking or someone talking right next to you. So to try to make a phone call or to try to make out what was on a recording. I mean, I think that's why it's so tough. You know, if it really happened. at the nightclub, okay, pretty hard to make out. Faith's case was the subject of a segment on ABC's 2020 that aired on September 23rd, 2016. In that segment, Chapel Hill Police released a photo of the bloody Bacardi rum bottle, they believed was used to bludgeon Faith to death. A neighbor who was

watching TV said she heard three thumps coming from the apartment above hers, which was, was Karina Rosarios. The neighbor told 2020 that the noise sounded like it could have been a heavy book bag being dropped. Or it could have been an end table being turned over. Around the time that the neighbor said that she heard this noise, records show that someone accessed Facebook page. 2020 also released a computer-generated composite sketch created by Parabon Nanolabs. of the possible suspect using the DNA evidence collected at the crime scene.

A process called phenotyping predicts physical appearance through DNA. Parabon's snapshot tool was able to create a 3D image of a face based on the DNA's traits. Parabon founder and CEO Stephen Armantrout said on 2020, what Snapshot is doing is treating the DNA like a blueprint, the genetic blueprint that allows us to predict what someone, looks like, because in that genetic code is the information for how to build that person. Snapshot predicts eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, face morphology, and ancestry. The sketch of face possible killer shows a young man around 25 years of age, light or dark olive

skin with few freckles, brown or hazel eyes, and black hair. It does not show such things as body mass index, hairstyle, or actual age. Based on the profile, the man is not of African descent, but has a strong mix of Native American and European mixed ancestry, and could be Latino. This has led some people to wonder if face killer could have been a member of her own tribe. Earlier in the investigation, police sought a DNA sample from Eric Ticoy Jones, Karina over Zerio's ex-boyfriend. Investigators were surprised when his DNA did not match the semen sample from the apartment.

They excluded him as a suspect. DNA from Ronnie L. Edwards and several other men who were at the thrilled nightclub around the same time as Faith and Karina were also tested. None of them matched, and they've been ruled out. After the airing of the 2020 episode, Chapel Hill Police received hundreds of tips after granting the show exclusive and unprecedented access into the murder investigation. Face Family had hoped the show would get people talking about her 2012 murder. Approximately half of the tips received were on the computer. generated composite. And that makes sense to me, that at least half, if not more of the tips that would come in,

would be people viewing a composite and saying, okay, I think that looks like so and so. The one thing that we have to point out is that this 2020 episode aired in 2016, which was before the big forensic genealogy crime fighting boom that caught people like the Golden State Killer and stuff. several dozens and dozens of criminals after that. So in a sense, this snapshot DNA composite is outdated in many ways because you can cut right to the chase. And if you have enough of a DNA profile, you can go through and build a family tree and

find potential family members of this person and work your way back to find them. In September 2019, TV journalist and newspaper columnist Tom Gasparoli, who has written for Durham's The Herald Sun and the News and Observer and Covered Face Murder released a 10-episode podcast called Pursuit. Tom wanted to help in any way he could in solving the murder and hoped it would bring in new information and witnesses. He told the Herald's son in September 2019, what I try to do in the podcast is go at some things that I didn't think had been analyzed in the public arena, which includes the 911 call

and the note and the idea that more than one person is involved. It's now been eight years since Faith Hedgepath was murdered, and there have been no arrest in the case. Her family established the Faith Memorial Scholarship in her honor. According to the family's website, Justice for Faith.com, it's awarded annually to encourage other Native American females from North Carolina to follow. follow in face footsteps. A $40,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call crime stoppers at 911, 942-7515. So, Morph, this is obviously a

sad case, but it's also an extremely interesting baffling case. You have the movements of Faith and Carina that night into the early morning. Corina, leaving, returning to find faith debt. And then I think years later, after some of the details got released, you know, I do think people have analyzed some of these things. I mean, you can go out on the internet and find forums and message boards and all that stuff of people talking about this case. The 911 call, I think, has been analyzed by a lot of people. And you'll probably find that a lot of people are split on it. Some people believe that Karina was acting strangely. Others believe that it was just a very stressful, shocking type situation and she did the

best she could. The one thing that we really haven't talked about a lot, and I wanted to save it to the end, was the note that was written on the fast food bag. That is one of the things that has always intrigued me in the case. You know, we used the language that was on the bag and the language is obviously rough, but it's important because to me, and I think to a lot of other people, it points to the fact that it's possible that a woman was involved in the murder. I mean, if you go back and kind of think about the words that are on that bag, right? jealous, bitch.

It makes it seem as though a woman wrote that that message. Now, there are also people that believe it's not a woman, but it's written specifically to make authorities or to make people believe that it was a woman. If there is a woman involved, then that means this was a two-person murder, two-person crime, because we know that a man also raped her. which makes it even more disturbing that there's two people out there that might be sharing this horrible secret of what they did to this poor girl, and neither one has been identified. Yeah, that's the one thing I did not mention is that there are a lot of people that believe

there is more than one person involved in the murder of Faith Hedgepeth. I think you can go back to us talking about the audio expert Mr. West. he's in that camp, right? I believe he thinks there are multiple people based on what he thinks he heard on the pocket dial voicemail. That pocket dial voicemail, if that's what it is, is very interesting. Is there anything that can be learned from that to help unmask the killer killers? For me, every one of these unsolved cases that we do, I think that question is there, right?

when you talk about this piece of evidence or that piece of evidence, what does it mean? Or does it mean anything or nothing at all? Does it point to a certain killer or does it or was it designed to throw authorities off the trail? You know, it's part of what makes some of these unsolved cases so interesting because we are trying to play all of us amateur detective and go through sift the, through the clues. and figure out what they mean to us. And we mentioned that this is airing, this episode is airing eight years to the month after Faith was murdered.

And you and I didn't realize until we started recording that this episode is actually going to be released on Faith's birthday. And that's just a reminder that her family is going to be missing their daughter for yet another birthday. and still hasn't found justice for her. Yeah, I think for the family of a murdered daughter, son, relative, there have to be certain dates that stick out. Birthday, the date, the actual murder occurred, holidays, things like that. And then, you know, if a person is arrested and convicted, those dates would stand out as well.

But definitely the birthday. Because to your point, morph, it's another year without faith, and it's another year without her killer being identified. And both of those are extremely tough to take, I would think. Let's hope that the DNA evidence that they have eventually leads to the killer or killers. Yeah, and I think that's important, right? Because in some of these unsolved cases, they don't have that. and my level of hope is not very high without DNA. When you get back into some of the older cases,

in this case, they have it. And we have seen what they can do with some of this new technology. You know, it's been a while since you and I have talked about it, but I'll say it again, if you're a killer who thinks they got away with murder, you have to be looking over your shoulder all the time.

if you know in the case of your murder, they have DNA evidence. You have to be because this technology just keeps evolving. It's a matter of time in some cases before the police are going to knock on your door and they're going to haul you away. Thanks go out to Debbie Buck at True Crime Diva.com for writing and research assistants in this episode. As always, if you love the show and haven't done so yet, take a minute. go out, give us a five-star rating. You can leave a review as well if you want. But also keep telling your friends. Tell your friends that are into true crime about the podcast. That word of mouth goes a long way. If you're on social media, we'd love to hear from you. You can find us on Twitter with the handle

at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast or by joining our Facebook discussion group, which is Criminology Podcast, Discussion and Fans. All right. That is it. for our episode on the unsolved murder of faith hedge path. Tragic, baffling, mysterious. But Morph and I will be back next Saturday night with a brand new episode of criminology. So until then, for Mike. And Morph.

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