Cold Case???

With school newly open and the 6th anniversary of Faith’s brutal death approaching within weeks, Chapel Hill police will be out in force conducting speed traps, checking for underage drinking, citing jaywalkers, monitoring protests, patrolling sport events… but will they have anything new to say, any consoling information for Faith's family, ANYthing new at all concerning Faith’s death? ANYTHING?

Just askin'....

Faith’s Killer Is Doomed

IF you’re a perpetrator who left DNA at a crime scene… you will be caught… you WILL BE CAUGHT in due time, almost certainly, thanks to new “game-changer” genetic genealogy techniques (I've cited before). News this week that a 6th old case has been solved, using the new methods — a 30-year-old child murder in Indiana:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-made-30-year-child-murder-indiana-dna/story?id=56611688

http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local-news/2018/07/16/type-of-dna-technology-used-in-april-marie-tinsley-case-described-as-game-changer-in-cold-cases/

140 more cases are being looked at, but of course there are 1000s, potentially, to be solved.

DNA doesn't go away, and doesn't lie. Faith’s killer should know that they are doomed… it’s only a matter of time now. They must fear every ring of the phone, every knock on the door, every tap on the shoulder, every check of their mailbox, every news flash, every new contact, every time they hear their name called... never knowing which will be the time they will hear, 'we know what you did, now come with us.' 

Estimated-Time-Of-Death... What If?

I’ve been thinking about this more and more so will post it here….

A few things worth noting:

1)  Faith’s body was discovered around 11am, with police there soon after.

2)  We know Faith and Karena arrived home from the Thrill shortly before 3am. and Karena then left again around 4:30 — IF Karena killed Faith (which I DON’T believe, but some do) she had a narrow window of opportunity to do it, basically an hour, say between 3:15 and 4:15am., 7-8 hrs. before Faith's body was found.

3)  I (and I think many others) have always presumed the crime occurred after Karena departed, but still under the cover of darkness before sunrise, say between 4:45 and 6:45am, a 2-hr. window, 4-6 hrs. before discovery.

4)  We have never been told an estimated-time-of-death for Faith, either from the police nor the Coroner.

The table below, I found on the Web, summarizes bodily changes that take place within 48 hours of death:

********************

Time since death: …. Change observed

1-2 hours: ………Early signs of lividity. [blue-gray discoloring]

2-5 hours: ………Clear signs of lividity throughout body.

5-7 hours: ………Rigor mortis begins in face.

8-12 hours: ….….Rigor mortis established throughout the body, extending to arms and legs

12 hours: ……….Body has cooled to about 25°C internally.

20-24 hours: …...Body has cooled to surrounding temperature.

24 hours: ……….Rigor mortis begins to disappear from the body in roughly the same order as it appeared.

36 hours: ……….Rigor mortis has completely disappeared.

48 hours: ……….Body discoloration shows that decomposition is beginning.

********************

Thus, if Karena were the killer, 7-8 hours earlier, one would expect some noticeable rigor mortis and extensive lividity.

IF the crime occurred after Karena left but before sunrise, 4-6 hrs. before the body was found, one might only expect some rigor mortis beginning in the face, if any at all.

Of course neither rigor mortis or lividity is described in Karena’s 911 call, which may be understandable under the circumstances. I’m a bit more surprised that the first officer on the scene also made no mention of rigor mortis or lividity in his brief initial report (though perhaps I’m wrong to think such an observation would be routinely recorded?).

But this all does leave yet one other possibility: that there was NO lividity or rigor mortis to note when the body was discovered! That the murder took place much closer to 11am! Perhaps this would account too for why very little suspicious was seen or heard from the apt. that morning. By say 9:30am. maybe most occupants had left for work or school and there were few renters (potential witnesses) lingering around? Perhaps the crime occurred AFTER 10 am. in the morning! Is that plausible? — I have no idea (especially since I think Faith would've left for classes well before 10?); again the police can probably either rule that possibility in or out, but haven’t allowed us to do so. Such a late time for the crime might also very much alter theories of who-done-it.

I still believe the 4:45 - 6:45 time slot is the most probable; but I'm less certain than I was previously in this confounding case.

Crossing My Fingers… This May Be Encouraging!?

I'm increasingly, hesitantly hopeful in this case!:

Most have heard the news of familial DNA being used recently to pinpoint a suspect in the decades-old “Golden State Killer” cold case. And now a second cold case in Washington state from 1987 may have been solved using the same technique: 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/investigators-genetic-genealogy-arrest-suspect-cold-case-1987/story?id=55273043

This is all being done as a relatively new application by Parabon NanoLabs the SAME company that developed the highly publicized DNA phenotype/profile in Faith’s case. Their new technique is called genetic genealogy service. You can read more about it (and how it differs from more traditional familial searching) here:

https://snapshot.parabon-nanolabs.com/genealogy

But here’s the article that gives me hope/encouragement:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/peteraldhous/parabon-genetic-genealogy-cold-cases

Apparently the company has already used the procedure in ~100 more cold-type cases and gotten leads in ~20 of them, though nothing has been publicly released yet, but a company spokesperson says, “I think there is going to be press around this very soon.” Given that police in Faith’s case have already employed Parabon previously I’m hoping just perhaps (I don’t know) Faith’s case is one of those involved, or if it isn't it soon will be.

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ADDENDUM:  No doubt there will be more articles coming along, and there is now this one from Atlantic Magazine saying the "floodgates" may soon open to solving crimes with genetic technology:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/the-coming-wave-of-murders-solved-by-genealogy/560750/?utm_source=twb

A Numbers Game?

Not much real news happening so I’ll just put in a sort of ‘filler’ post…

I continue to receive notes from folks (as well as seeing them across the Web) pointing the finger at Karena Rosario, essentially proclaiming ‘It’s obvious Karena did it,’ ‘Karena is guilty, how can anyone not see that,’ ‘Any fool knows Karena killed her’… etc. All you have to do is explain how and why such a brutal, seemingly impulsive attack would have been pulled off by a ‘best’ friend (while there could have been some bad blood between Faith and Karena, no evidence solidly demonstrates it)… And moreover how Karena managed to talk a male acquaintance to pick up a few key items in the apartment and also leave his semen at the scene, just to draw attention away from her is another task you must explain. One can concoct some scenarios for how she could have done such, especially if you assume the crime was planned for days or weeks in advance, but it requires a pretty convoluted route (in my opinion)… and even more convoluted if you think she killed Faith first and then asked a male to help her out a bit. The police are convinced the killer is a male, and so am I (...one thing I'm not entirely convinced of though is whether or not Faith was even the intended victim).

Certainly possible that KR knows more than she’s told — perhaps she is protecting someone, or quiet because she fears for her own life or that of her family… but, I doubt it. She’s spoken to police at least 10 times about the crime; there’s absolutely no reason for her to continue to give in (and re-live that day over again) to badgering from press or public asking the same redundant questions over and over and over and over.

Because of the “Breaking Homicide” episode some others are now pointing at the boyfriend Ty McNeil… the sort of new flavor-of-the-month for this crime… again based on speculation and circumstantial details; and again little solid evidence that I’m aware of.

And way back at the very beginning of the investigation of course we had Eriq Takoy Jones, who seemed a slam-dunk suspect, and one of the few named figures I’m still quite curious about — would love to know how he answered police interrogation about his incriminating social messages, or his disingenuous comments at the crime scene on day 1. Again, no solid evidence he is the perp, but does he know more than he's told?

Anyway, the point is that people, quite naturally, keep throwing their aspersions at the names we already know, that have appeared in police documents or online videos. That’s convenient and easy, but may be hasty or ill-conceived.

If I look over all my old notes, based on official documents released at the 2-year point and press coverage since, I can maybe come up with a dozen names of some suspicious interest. And researching those names in turn I might even come up with an additional dozen names or so, but that’s about it.

On-the-other-hand, on the morning of Sept. 7, 2012, Faith and Karena attended a night club for about an hour-and-a-half where they were exposed to dozens if not over 100 males, who may have approached them, encountered them, interacted with them, or simply admired them from afar — that, to me, is a LOT of possible suspects who we know almost nothing about (…and it’s not clear to me that police have very deep knowledge of ALL the males at the Thrill that morning either). So just from the standpoint of proximity of the Thrill visit to the murder, and the sheer number of males present there, I continue to believe the probability is great that the perp stems from that population (and all the more-so given that 100s of males from Faith's own social circles have already been tested and cleared). I’m always willing to be persuaded otherwise, but so far nothing has done it.

Outside-the-Box ...+Addenda

Will hesitantly re-state my own purely-speculative guess as to what may have transpired the night of Faith’s murder… even though I’m less confident than ever that it is even close to actuality, and acknowledging there are LOTS of other plausible theories out there, just none that seem to conform well to all the things we know! But I'll do it because the Breaking Homicide broadcast once again leads people down the path to Karena and Takoy (and now a boyfriend as well), and I’m not comfortable that that is the best or simplest fit for the known evidence (though I do remain suspicious of Eric Takoy Jones and his associates, and the new Ty McNeil connection is intriguing, but that is all). In fact it’s hard for me to imagine that if Karena or Eric is involved, police haven’t been able to demonstrate it after 5+ years of investigation in such a brutal case and crime scene — even without a DNA match there ought be a lot more to connect one of them directly to the crime by now.

My own rough scenario has always been along the following general lines:

First I’ll note that this was a very vicious, brutal crime… with no real indication it (the murder) was pre-planned, premeditated, or “staged” at all (though possible). Instead I think it stemmed from spontaneous, momentary and impulsive rage following a robbery, rape attempt, or other crime/encounter gone awry. With that said…:

Faith and Karena go to the Thrill where at some point they encounter a couple of guys (who are either blood relatives or close friends of one another) — these may be complete strangers (possibly event transients) to the women, or 2 men who slightly knew them through some other social context. The men take a fancy to the girls and try to hook up, but are rejected.  Annoyed by them, Karena eventually concocts the excuse of a headache to leave the Club and escape any unwanted advances, leaving the men angry/jealous. Either from the girls themselves or from others at the Club the men get enough information to Google around and get the girls’ address. After some further drinking or drugs they decide they should pay the women a visit, and maybe they can yet party with them (or maybe teach them a lesson for being too snooty). 

There are many possible scenarios once they get to the Hawthorn apt., but my point is I think they may have gone looking for both women and with NO intent whatsoever for murder. But getting there and finding Faith alone they took advantage of the situation, leading to a sexual assault on Faith. At some point in her struggle to resist, she either bit one of them, kicked him in the groin, tried poking his eyes out, or otherwise committed a painful, defensive act absolutely enraging the assaulter in-the-moment, causing him/them to subdue her with the nearest thing possible (the bottle). (I believe it may have required 2 individuals to have simultaneously manhandled Faith so brutally yet produced so little noise from the apt.)

The hardest thing for me to account for is the bag note, but then that is difficult to explain under any scenario. I believe the above scheme, which admittedly has its own problems, nonetheless fits what is known at least as well as other scenarios.

People are naturally gravitating toward Karena, Takoy, etc. because they want to believe this crime can be solved and that the solution is right before their eyes (in the form of names/characters we already know). But (for now) I’ll continue to speculate that the perp may be someone entirely unknown from released documents and reports, and that is exactly why the case has dragged on for so long (...I’m reminded of the Mississippi Jessica Chambers vicious-burning murder case that I followed for a year where dozens of names were mentioned on the Web, yet in the end the person arrested was someone who hadn't crossed internet radar).
We’re all tired of hearing it, but unless some major flaw is found in the DNA analysis done, this case needs a (perhaps NON-Black, NON-Caucasian) male DNA match above all else (possibly from an eventual CODIS hit); ALL the circumstantial speculation about other matters will not get us to an endpoint, and is open to multiple interpretations. We're all operating heavily on gut instincts and intuitions which can be misleading.

Having said all this, toward the end of the “Breaking…” show they bring up Occam’s Razor, which indeed is the approach I always take toward crimes, BUT in the instance of long-unsolved crimes Occam’s Razor often breaks down and there are some quite unexpected twists… which is one reason I’m less confident than ever that the simple scenario I’ve painted above is true (it’s too simple!)… I put it forth anyway because I believe people do need to think outside-the-box of Karena and Takoy, and accept that what we know in this case, what the police have disclosed, may be but a small fraction of what there is to know. I won't be surprised if it turns out that someone out there has the right theory, but I'll be even less surprised if it turns out no one does.

[…If by chance you haven’t already seen the Hedgepeth Breaking Homicide episode it officially airs tonight (10pm EDT) and Derrick Levasseur, one of the hosts, says he will be live-tweeting (@DerrickL) throughout, so that may be interesting or it may just be hectic and repetitious.]

------------------------------

ADDENDUM:  Looked at all the comments of those live-tweeting the episode last night; a few thoughts:

1)  I had some slim hope that with 1000s of new eyes on this case someone just might spot something different or have an original idea not previously offered… but as expected, for those who have followed the case for a long time, it was almost entirely re-hash of predictable, redundant thoughts, with the vast majority of folks again led to suspect Karena.

2)  To my surprise I think only 1 or 2 people asked about the estimated time-of-death — a question I’ve long been asking — surely somewhere out there is an officially-established time-of-death, but it has oddly never been released even though it could help dispel some of the theories put forth.

3)  A small number of people did ask about fingerprints — were there noteworthy fingerprints on the bag, the pen, the bottle, doorknobs…? Again, an obvious question I’ve posed before, and bizarrely the police have never addressed.

4)  Finally, I’ve surmised before that Faith fought back mightily, probably leaving defensive wounds (bruises, scratches, marks) on her attacker’s arms (who probably wore long sleeves during the ensuing hot September days), and one commenter did note that police would surely have seen defensive marks on Karena’s or Eric’s arms in the first 48 hours if there had been any to see.

"Breaking Homicide" ...+Addenda

A little catching up....
Folks may want to view the emotional address that Faith's sister, Rolanda Hedgepeth, gave during National Crime Victims' Rights Week earlier in April:

https://www.facebook.com/NCPublicSafety/videos/1478537362274343/

The newest investigation of the case though was offered up by Investigation/Discovery's new "Breaking Homicide" series with a 90+ minute episode here:

https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/breaking-homicide/full-episodes/who-killed-faith

[For some reason, I could not get this to load in my Safari browser, but then switched to Chrome and had no problems, so try a different browser if yours doesn't work.]

It includes a lot of re-hashed material of course, but also with fresh (though often speculative) bits of new information. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that it moves us very far forward, but viewers will find it interesting. And I won't be detailing all the bits that were new to me, because again, for now at least, they don't alter my overall view of the case (though learning of the boyfriend "Alex" "Ty" is an interesting new angle). Other viewers will weigh things out differently.

I will mention the two major beefs I have with the treatment:

1)  They don't mention at all the DNA phenotype that was a major piece of ABC's 20/20 segment on this case, and that supposedly gave Chapel Hill Police 100s of more leads (nor have CHPD ever made further mention of this computer-generated profile). Is that because the phenotype is no longer considered valid or credible, or some other reason? One would think it would have at least garnered a mention, even if only to discount it. (It points away from a Black or Caucasian suspect.)

2)  But my biggest problem is the short-shrift given the DNA evidence. The case presented by Breaking Homicide leans heavily toward Karena Rosario, Takoy Jones, and Faith boyfriend Alex Ty. But the CHPD have said for quite some time now that the perp is whoever left DNA on the bottle, note, perhaps pen, and in the form of semen -- THAT (according to police) points to who committed this crime and that DNA did NOT come from Rosario, Jones, or Alex  Ty. Yes, it's possible to concoct scenarios or staged scenes in which one individual commits the crime but enlists someone else to leave the DNA (although why someone would even be willing to leave such DNA at such a brutal crime scene is hard to fathom), but it complicates things immensely. "Occam's Razor" (mentioned in the show) can be abandoned.

The DNA evidence is among the strongest, most distinct evidence in this case, but because of the lack of a match, it keeps playing second fiddle (in many minds) to far more speculative, sketchy evidence/ideas. The episode hosts say the problem is that there is too much DNA (because so many individuals spent time in that apt.), but we are only concerned with the male DNA on a very few items, that so far has no match.

  Also, the episode repeated a couple of times the belief that CHPD are down to 4-5 main suspects, but I'm not convinced they have ANY real suspects at this point, other than people they'd still like to hear more from.

Finally, the hosts put a lot of weight on the thumps heard from Faith's apt. before 3am. on the morning of the crime, and strongly imply that that may be when the murder ensued (while Karena was still there). Again, I wish we had an estimated time-of-death for Faith that would either include or eliminate death that early on (but we don't, and I was surprised they didn't pursue an estimated-time-of-death more).

Anyway, do enjoy the program, and view it carefully. People will reach their own conclusions. I'm sure many will find the case they make quite convincing, but as usual so many questions still lack firm answers, even though gut-feelings abound.

******************

ADDENDUM:  one thing I’ll add is that the episode twice stated that it was unknown if Takoy Jones was at the Thrill nightclub on the night before the crime — my own understanding (from some earlier reporting) is that police had established that Jones was NOT at the Club, but his cousin WAS, and there’s always been some question as to any communication between Jones and his cousin on that night. It is frustrating (though not unusual) that so many of the “facts” of this case are in some dispute via varying press reports.

ADDENDUM2:  Another matter I wish they would have considered more is whether or not Faith was even the intended victim of this crime? Again harking back to the DNA phenotype which indicated likelihood of a Hispanic perp, Karena, being Hispanic, may have had more Hispanic contacts in her circle of acquaintances than others in this case — did someone come looking for HER that night, only to get into an altercation with Faith (possibly fueled by alcohol or drugs) that then led to this seemingly spontaneous (not planned) act of rage?

[I’ll probably re-post my own conception of this crime, which differs from the Breaking Homicide conjecture, in an upcoming post, but for the moment want to continue to watch various reactions to the show on some other sites/forums.]

Keeping a Cold Case Warm

Another new brief crime video covers Faith’s case again:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155726120659902&id=126250704901

Just rehash/summary material; nothing new, but at least it keeps the case in the public eye where it needs to be, and may bring it to the attention of new eyes who take a fresh interest.

Meanwhile, we are almost halfway into year 6 since this senseless, brutal crime transpired and are hearing nothing substantively new or significant about the case. Tom Gasparoli wonders aloud if the perpetrator is even still alive, and others wonder how badly the forensic/investigative case has simply been botched.

1-time Crime or a Pattern?

I’ll repost here something I already put on the Websleuths website; just a loose idea in case anyone has the time/ability to pursue it:

Police have painted this case as a personal crime against Faith Hedgepeth, BUT what if instead (as I think possible) it is the work of a repeat criminal (rapist or murderer) who happened to cross paths with Faith or Karena that night or week and learned of their location? 

For me it's at least a bit difficult to imagine that whoever perpetrated such a horrendous act did it as a one-time-only crime; it is easier to imagine that they have attacked young females at other times before or since Faith’s murder. Which makes one wonder if what we know of Faith’s murder represents an M.O. for this individual: i.e., they attack young women (perhaps coeds, perhaps in college towns?) in early daybreak hours (say perhaps between 5 and 7 am.) in their own apartments. Do they have anger issues and beat their victims with whatever is handy (rather than bringing a weapon). Is Friday morning of any particular significance? Do they scrawl out notes at the crime scene? And are we specifically looking for a Hispanic individual?

So... I doubt that most of us have the savvy or access to do the sort of search needed. But might someone out there be able to search a crime database or even the internet to look specifically for other attempted rapes and/or murders in the last 5 years that fit the above description?… perhaps starting in N.C. and neighboring states and working outward from there. Unless you have access to a very user-efficient, suitable database it would likely be a daunting, time-consuming task, but perhaps someone wants to take a crack at it… Perhaps there's a "trail" out there just waiting to be discovered.

Finally, even if one accepts the notion that the attacker knew and specifically-targeted Faith, are we to believe that in the 5+ years since he has never exhibited highly-violent, angry behavior toward any other female? Some female out there has experienced his rage, perhaps in early morning hours in an apartment bedroom... some female out there knows something, or has a hunch... Call Chapel Hill Police: 919-614-6363

or CrimeStoppers: 919-942-7515 (can call anonymously) ...yield to your conscience.

In Defense of Karena...

Probably ~70% of the emails I get from people with a strong opinion about this case point to Karena Rosario as a prime suspect, heavily involved in the crime, whether or not she was present at the murder scene. I’ve never been very inclined toward that viewpoint and now a reader (who goes elsewhere as “CADwrest”) has sent me a lengthy piece in defense of Karena against the aspersions aimed her way. You can read it HERE (in addition to being a defense of K.R., it is also worth reading as a decent summary of several major aspects of the crime).

...I'll also note that Tom Gasparoli has a new post up HERE but it's mostly same ol' same ol' stuff partly in podcast form. He promises to post a second half to the podcast on Dec. 15, so check back (to his site) then as well.

Bits & Pieces (& addendum)

Many may well already be aware of it, but I only recently discovered that Wikipedia has a page devoted to the Hedgepeth case here (good starting summary for anyone coming late to the case):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Hedgepeth_homicide

Also, a YouTuber has posted another video (21-min.) summary of the crime here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ArUntqmJY

Meanwhile I’ve learned that the “Trace Evidence” podcast is working on an episode devoted to the case.
==> ADDENDUM:  this podcast from Steven Pacheco is now available here (and it is very good! I don't quite agree with all his points, but very much worth listening to the whole thing):

https://soundcloud.com/user-94400891/023-the-murder-of-faith-hedgepeth

And over at the WebSleuths’ thread for this case someone has brought up an oddity I’ve not seen discussed before. The below Red Robin (restaurant) receipt (from an ‘admirer’ just days before the murder) posted on Faith’s Instagram account is written partially in French — doesn’t necessarily mean anything, just seems a small peculiarity the very week of Faith’s assault. I presume law enforcement have looked into this to their satisfaction, but of course I don’t know for sure.

https://www.instagram.com/p/PFdKmlGcWc/?taken-by=ole_faithful

Finally, one last side-note: as most locals know there was another murder in Chapel Hill about a week ago, actually a double murder of an elderly mother and her 58-year-old live-in son, in a well-to-do neighborhood. Police have been completely tight-lipped about the case since, other than to say that they believe there is no danger to the public — precisely what they said following Faith’s brutal, unsolved murder. 

The rumor I hear is that the son had mental health issues and it may be a case of a murder-suicide, which would make sense given the police-behavior. Still, I find it completely egregious that stigmas (unnecessarily) attached to mental health and suicide might prevent the public from information it ought have for it’s own well-being. It’s just hard to know when law enforcement is motivated to maintain a pristine image for a college town (which, like most major college towns, suffers a lot of crimes) and when they really have residents’ interest uppermost.
10/26: In an official update, police have confirmed that the son murdered his mother, but are awaiting autopsy reports before stating the cause of death of the son (though it seems clear/likely it was self-inflicted).

Questions Without Answers

Many folks in the Chapel Hill area have largely lost touch with this case; indeed most of the students now at the Univ. of N. Carolina probably don’t remember it or have any great familiarity. Many key figures and others formerly interested in the case have long since moved out of the area.

What Chapel Hill Police should do to regain some of their own credibility, as well as maintain interest in this fading case, is solicit questions about the crime from that segment of the public that IS still engaged. Many questions will be redundant, inappropriate, or trivial, but they can sift and sort through them ahead of time and then hold a press conference answering what they are able… instead of, once-a-year emerging to embarrassingly ask the public to produce new info on a case they feel largely in the dark on.

Here are some of the questions I have (several of which I’m sure they won’t answer)… other folks will no doubt have many additional questions:

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1.  What was Faith's estimated time-of-death?

2.  There’s been a lot of talk about DNA, but no mention of fingerprints (as I recall?) — were any key fingerprints (i.e. of the murderer) found at the crime scene and if no fingerprints were found how do you explain that (wiped clean, gloves used…)?

3.  How many individual apts. adjacent to Faith's were occupied at the time of the assault, and was anything heard by anyone beyond the single early morning “thump” that has been reported? Again, if nothing was heard, how do you explain that?

4. How many men that were at the Thrill nightclub on the fateful night were interviewed (…and can you estimate how many may have passed through the club that evening who were NOT interviewed)?

5. How confident are you that the murderer is of Latino or Native American background (as indicated by DNA), or at least NOT Black nor Caucasian? Most all the men mentioned in the released documents were Black or Caucasian (…were the 2+ years of inquiry based on those released documents largely ‘wild goose chases’?)

6. Law enforcement constantly implies that the case is close to being solved and just needs a little more help from the public. Does that mean you have a very small number, or even just one, significant suspects at this point, or does it merely mean you have a LOT of evidence built up at this point but with no one to tie it to?

7. How often do you have to travel out of town to seek evidence or interviews? And are there any individuals you’re still interested in but have lost contact with (lost addresses for) over the course of 5 years?

8. How frequently is the DNA run through the national database?

9. When was the last time you spoke with Eric Takoy Jones, and the last time you spoke with Karena Rosario? 

10. Since the 20/20 case episode of last year has there been a single piece of actual, new evidence uncovered (not speculation, theory, or “leads”, but new solid or physical/forensic evidence)?

11.  My understanding is that it is believed the NON-blood-stained Time-Out bag was written on by one person, the killer, AFTER the crime… is that correct, or is the timing of the message far less certain than that?

12. Is it fair to say that this case can NOT be resolved without a DNA match? And to move the case along has any thought been given to seeking a familial-related DNA match?

13. Is the SBI or FBI currently assisting in any aspects of the case?

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…not holding my breath, though, for any answers.

Anniversary #5

Two news entries to the case, as expected, this week marking the 5th anniversary of Faith's death):

1)  Tom Gasparoli’s latest post on the case here:

http://www.gaspowrites.com/2017/09/new-info-from-law-enforcement-clip-of.html

Disappointingly, LOTS of words but nothing much new or substantive (I don’t say that to criticize Tom, but just to indicate how embarrassingly, tight-lipped law enforcement continues to be).  Still, there’s stuff folks can continue to chew on, speculate about, imagine scenarios for. There are a couple of additional pics (I'd not seen before) of the Time-Out food bag, and the possibility that there was only one apt. key between the two girls is raised as one possible explanation for Karena not locking the door behind her (as I’ve never found leaving the door unlocked terribly surprising, it’s not a detail I even care about much, but others may). I wish Tom had pressed his 'informer' more on certain issues, though perhaps he did and simply got no answers.

2)  Chapel Hill Police Dept. with their annual inept-ish-sounding announcement at the crime anniversary: 

http://www.townofchapelhill.org/Home/Components/News/News/11464/22

It’s almost insulting to the public, not to mention Faith’s family, that after claiming they had 100’s of new leads last year, they appear to have nothing new to add to public knowledge this year, nor even summarize what if anything those prior leads produced. But five years out they’re still begging for additional info from the public. 

I’ve said before that I believe Faith put up quite a struggle, probably leaving visible marks on her attacker(s)… five years ago police could’ve requested that family members, workers, students, others, be on the lookout for individuals who were oddly wearing long-sleeve shirts on those hot September days perhaps to cover arm marks/bruises… but, they did not. They could’ve disclosed the odd bag message to see if that handwriting or letter formation was recognized by ANYone out there… but, they did not (until 2 years later). What else have they chosen not to disclose that might have wrapped this case up 250 weeks ago?

How many key figures, or friends and family of Faith, will be dead by the time this case is solved, IF it ever is? And when “solved” will the correct perp be apprehended, or just someone to make the case go away?

Yeah, like others, I'm feeling pretty frustrated and skeptical by now.

I’ll throw out one additional, completely speculative (maybe even off-the-wall) thought I’ve had:

I’m in a camp that believes there may well have been two (or more) perps involved and present at Faith’s murder. It’s difficult and rare for even one individual to commit such a heinous act and manage to remain silent about it for 5 years… for two people to have been present and maintained silence among all their contacts for this long is remarkable (though it’s always possible they have threatened violence against anyone who they have told of their acts). I can only imagine such a silent pact possibly arising between very close blood relatives… like two brothers. Raising the possibility in my mind of two close-knit brothers (or similarly tight-knit relatives) at the Thrill on the fateful night, possibly being rebuffed by the girls, and venturing later to their apartment. But nothing more than further idle speculation of which we already have plenty.

So many of us are so weary of this case… and in utter disbelief that it remains unsolved. But we carry on and press forward, because our hearts won’t allow us to do otherwise, until resolution is reached.

[...There may be further news reports this week, and I believe Gaspo plans another column as well (maybe even today), so it's possible I'll tack on an Addendum to this post at some point, if worthwhile.]
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ADDENDUM:  For any who hadn't already heard it, Tom has now posted Karena Rosario's entire 911 audio call here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2syhKETyJEzVUFNS3d6VWNpdkE/view

This is the call that many (including Tom) find suspicious, but again, I've never had a problem with it, given an individual in shock. I don't believe it adds much information at all to the case, but others analyze it differently, so you can make up your own mind.

Heading Toward the 5-Year Anniversary

Yet another recent interpretation of Faith’s “buttdial” call has come to my attention over at Reddit [worth noting that this interpreter assumes the message originated at the Thrill nightclub, as the police believe, and NOT at the murder scene as some assume]:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/6ne4pr/unresolved_murder_i_tried_my_hand_at_deciphering/

Once again, I don’t find the call interpretable, but post the link so others can form their own opinion of the writer’s translation and the comments that follow it.

It’s interesting to me that when I started this blog probably MOST emails/comments I received pointed the finger at Karena’s ex- boyfriend Eric, but these days most comments coming in point directly to Karena herself, which still makes little sense to me. If she was involved she clearly had to have help (she didn’t leave the semen or other crucial male DNA), and I find most of the scenarios described a huge stretch, but it's not worth arguing over people's various ideas, since there is still so much none of us know. For now I continue to lean toward this being a simple case of males encountered at the Thrill that fateful night being the perp(s) — but I have no more monopoly on the truth than anyone else.

We’re less than 2 months away from the September 7 anniversary date of this horrific crime, when the Chapel Hill Police routinely come out and almost embarrassingly ask for any further possible assistance or memories from the public. I almost dread hearing them do it yet again, unless they actually have something new to report. At the very least I hope they will say something about the '100s of leads' they supposedly received after last year’s 20/20 broadcast on the crime, and if any of those leads are still being followed.

FYI... DNA Familial Analysis

Over at the Websleuths site someone had asked about the possibility of DNA familial searches being employed to help solve Faith’s murder — the basic idea is that you look for matches to DNA from a crime scene, NOT just from criminal databases, but also from less direct familial matching in the many private databases that now collect DNA for genetic or ancestry study (i.e., you find someone who may be a blood relative to the actual perpetrator of an unsolved crime, thus narrowing your search).

Constitutional and privacy rights make this a highly controversial method in the U.S., though Britain has used it more extensively. Nine states (last I read) in the U.S. currently use the procedure on occasion. North Carolina is not one of them. But, as I understand it, only one state outright bans it, so more may well be employing it in the future, with techniques constantly improving, and population databases becoming evermore widespread.

I understand there are some very difficult issues/concerns involved in its use, but Faith's case certainly seems of the sort where it might be considered.

Anyway, here are a few sites you can read more about the subject:

http://www.dnaforensics.com/familialsearches.aspx

http://www.promegaconnections.com/familial-dna-searching-for-criminal-forensics-qa/

http://www.denverda.org/DNA_Documents/Familial_DNA/families-and-communities-familial-dna.pdf

...And there's much more if you search Google under "DNA familial forensics".

Theorizing Out Loud…

One thing hard to escape, no matter where you read about this case, is all the suspicion that continues to hover around Faith’s roommate (Karena) and her ex-boyfriend (Eriq Takoy Jones). Reading all of people’s pet theories, and the evidence as we know it, I’ve tried to tie it together a bit in one scenario, especially given all that suspicion, even while nothing seems to directly tie these two to the murder scene (yet repeatedly we hear they might know more than they’ve told):

Suppose there was some sort of ongoing tension, jealousy, or love triangle happening between Karena & Faith… that reached a critical point… might KR, already aware of ETJ’s declared desire to do harm to Faith, give him a sort of tacit go-ahead to have her messed with or roughed up a bit to ‘teach her a lesson’ as-it-were. And suppose ETJ knowing he’d be easily recognized/suspected of any such 'assault,' preferred to employ 1 or 2 acquaintances (perhaps at The Thrill that night) to do the deed, and KR then agreed to depart the apt. early and leave the door unlocked… someone, or possibly 2 individuals come over, honestly planning to mess with Faith to ‘deliver a message,’ but when things get out-of-hand smash her head with a bottle that kills her. Possible? KR and ETJ, while not guilty of the actual crime, would be frozen into silence, because of their involvement/knowledge; unable to tell what they knew about something they were essentially accessory to, even if not intended??? 

Perhaps the cryptic bag note was written by KR (many ascribe it to female handwriting & wordage) before she departed, and left for a sleeping Faith as a message/warning to Faith upon awakening??? 

Two individuals that were known to be in contact with Faith and KR at the Club that night were a rapper who’s name I’m not certain of and Jones’ cousin (Jones himself was not there), BOTH of whom apparently lived in the same apt. complex as ETJ, KR, and Faith. Were they involved? (I assume they were interrogated by police?) Or, if not them, one or two others from Jones’ circle of contacts? All we can do is speculate, but perhaps this scenario would explain why 4+ years after the fact no evidence puts KR or ETJ directly at the crime scene, and yet so much suspicion clings to them.

OR, maybe everything in all the released police reports, and prior speculations, are just red herrings. Maybe KR and ETJ are themselves just victims of circumstances and appearances. Perhaps, in accordance with the 20/20 report, we need be looking for a Latino who hasn't been on anyone's radar, and is possibly long gone from the area by now. So many what-ifs, so many 'maybe's, and so much time passed... AND, so frustrating.

Pondering....

In large part, since law enforcement has indicated it had “100s” of new leads generated by the earlier 20/20 broadcast, I was content to wait and see what new info, if any, might come from those leads. On the other hand, unless there’s a major breakthrough, I suspect we won’t hear from the police again until next fall when they tell us for the 5th year in a row that they are asking for any new info the public can provide. :-(

So in meantime, I’ll throw out one thing I’ve grappled with:

By all indications Faith’s death was very violent; one might expect a lot of noise/commotion. Yet, other than a downstairs neighbor mentioning some unusual sounds around 3am (before roommate Karena had even departed), there’s been no auditory indication of a major struggle later in morning. This would seem to imply that Faith was either drugged or completely overpowered/controlled. The autopsy gives no indication of any drugs (beyond a small amount of alcohol) being in Faith’s system. I find it hard to imagine one individual being able to subdue another so quietly amidst such violence, which is why I’ve thought it likely that 2-3 individuals would be required to overpower Faith while maintaining relative quiet in that room. But still, I’m merely speculating… [the other possibility is that she was with individuals, she knew and trusted (and not strangers), and somehow had little time to react before realizing what was happening, by which time it was too late?].

I’ll add that the whole crime certainly appears to be one of impulse, not a premeditated killing. Was it a robbery, rape, drug deal, lovers-quarrel, or something else gone bad, turned into vicious, unspeakable murder? When will we know? Someone out there... perhaps someone reading these very words... knows the answers. . . .

Could It Be This Easy? (...with Addendums)

The big news from the ABC 20/20 take on the Hedgepeth case was release of a “DNA phenotype” reconstruction of the suspected killer of Faith:
https://twitter.com/ABC2020/status/779559747385036800

This “photo” might suddenly move the case forward in a way that hasn’t happened for 4 years, though it is no slam dunk. I’ll come back to it later, but first want to mention all the other details that were either new or interesting to me from the episode (in no particular order):

1)  one big question still unanswered is, why did roommate Karena Rosario leave the apt. door UNlocked when she left ~4:30am in morning knowing Faith was still in the apt. MANY are casting aspersions at KR because of this (among many other things), so it would be good to know what explanation she gave to law enforcement for this, though it may be as simple as college students, in nice complexes, often leaving their door unlocked. Relatedly, it's always been odd that the autopsy report never gave an 'estimated time of death' for Faith? ...pretty important information (one assumes police have it and it conforms to their timeline).

2)  confirmation that Takoy Jones was NOT at The Thrill on the night of the murder; also he DID have his DNA tested (no match). He remains a person-of-interest for what further information he may know. Not clear to me if there remains anyone at this point who has refused to give a DNA sample when requested by investigators, but it sounds as if all Faith's known acquaintances have cooperated?

3)  The evidentiary fast food bag left at the murder scene came from “Time Out” restaurant (a popular local food joint), and NOT from Wendy’s (nearby to the murder scene).

4)  Police continue to believe that the “butt dial” call made from Faith’s phone came from The Thrill night club and not from the murder scene. Many people still place a lot of weight on that garbled call; I do not.

5)  Police say the roommate Karena was very cooperative in her multiple interviews with them (just what she had to say is still largely unreleased).

6)  Suspicion was cast at a former (ex-con) roommate of Brandon Edwards (friend of both Karena and Faith), another key figure in the case. But not clear to me that those suspicions are going anywhere.

7)  Downstairs neighbor heard “thumps” and commotion from a “trio” in upstairs apt. around 3am. that morning! — this is well before Karena departed ~4:30am., and thus VERY interesting, tantalizing testimony (for those who believe Faith was killed while KR was still there), though once again inconclusive (and off timeline).

8)  DNA on fast food bag, pen, bottle, and Faith all match (unknown male), presumably from the killer, but hasn’t matched any of 100s tested. Also, worth noting that despite widespread blood spatter at scene, there was NO BLOOD on the food bag (was it brought into room and written on after the crime?)

9)  Several key figures in this case refused to take part in the ABC investigation — I DO NOT find this odd or suspicious. These folks have repeatedly given testimony to law enforcement and sometimes others. Dredging up these memories/thoughts yet again, 4 years later, for TV cameras, is probably not something they see as productive or useful. From their perspective nothing good could come of it except putting themselves, perhaps unnecessarily, into the spotlight — and if any of them are engaged with lawyers, I’m sure lawyers advised against it. I only say all this to stress that reluctance to engage with a television crew is not a sign of guilt or innocence, especially after this much passage of time. Whatever these people think they have to say about the case, they have said by now to proper authorities.

In 1000s of comments around the Web following the ABC program I continue to see a great deal of accusations pointed at both Karena Rosario and Eric Takoy Jones. I’ve never been in that camp, and it remains my impression that law enforcement has largely ruled both out as the killer, though either might still know more than what they have told. My own (admittedly subjective, intuitive) view continues to be that the killer(s) came from individuals who had engaged Faith at The Thrill night club that horribly fateful morning, though the specific persons of most interest may change due to the ABC investigation.

Now, returning to that DNA phenotype….

This is a relatively new form of forensic evidence; using DNA to reconstruct an actual photo-like composite picture of a person. As far as I can tell only a couple of companies are actively touting it in the U.S. and it is not clear to me that there is much track-record of its success (or failure). Thus, I have to start from a skeptical position, especially given how easily genetic information is mis-used or mis-applied. It would be great if the released composite DOES bring new leads and an end to this case; but I wouldn’t be surprised if the culprit once captured looks nothing (or little) like that picture.

The really interesting part though is the assertion, with better than 50% probability that the killer is “Latino.” I’m not sure if ANY of the previous, high-profile suspects were Latino? Does this throw the case in a whole new direction???

CHPD has long claimed that they were very near to catching the perp in this case, they just needed a little bit more evidence from the public to lock it down. Yet the ONLY real significant evidence they seem to have is the DNA. Essentially, they have evidence to rule people out, but seem to have little other than the DNA to point to people who haven’t already been looked at. Have they been going on wild goose chases for 4 years, and now must turn in a different direction? THAT is an impression the episode leaves.

Faith’s Facebook, Twitter, or other pages may have pictures of her killer. Could it be as easy as matching them up to a computer generated DNA phenotype? Is the killer facing us on a computer screen? Time will tell.

Lastly, one interesting suggestion I read in a comment somewhere on the Web would be to send the suspect DNA to a large DNA genealogical-testing company, like “23 and Me” (costs $100), and have them test to find relatives of the killer. Not sure how practical this is, and it may well not even be legal (except by some sort of court order). If it were that simple I suspect these companies could open whole new forensic divisions at significant profit.

I’m still investigating some things so might have addendums here later, but have already seen so much commentary online about the ABC broadcast that I felt the need to offer some first impressions for now.  The key, immediate take-away question from the broadcast is whether or not the released DNA phenotype composite is a valid, credible rendition of the individual we are looking for, or simply another misleading distraction to this case (or somewhere in-between)?

ADDENDUM: in looking over old notes one person-of-interest not much seen in 20/20 report is Jacob (Jake) Beatley, who has long since left N.C., but who’s whereabouts (possibly near the murder scene) on the morning of the murder were of some interest — also, last I knew he did refuse to give a DNA sample [ADDED: actually in re-watching the broadcast it is indicated that he DID give DNA and was not a match]. Don’t know if by now he has been cleared of any significant connection to the crime, or where things stand with him, (though I don’t think he was ever a serious suspect, just someone with possible information)?

In lieu of the 20/20 episode it would be interesting to know the whereabouts of various men (I’ll just use initials, J.J., K.R., H.C., J.R., E.W., R.C.) on the night/morning of murder, though again none may be connected to the crime.

sidenote: one of the oddest mysteries of this case is the meaning of the message scrawled on the fast food bag that is hard to make sense of. Supposedly it reads, “ I’m not stupid bitch jealous” — it is open to several interpretations and many folks have speculated that “jealous” is a word more often used by females than males. Long ago I saw someone suggest that the word in question may not be “jealous” but in fact “Jeazous” — with what looks like an “L” actually being a mis-shapen, scrawled “z” on a wrinkled bag. At the time I didn’t think much of the unlikely idea, but am now more willing to give it consideration. “Jeazous” is apparently used in some quarters as an alternative to “Jesus” and could be employed either as a signature or simply an exclamatory word. It may be used by gamers or perhaps in the Latino community. Not sure, but maybe worth considering — the note may make more sense, with that word as a sign-off? Even simple evidence in this frustrating case is hard to make sense of.
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ADDENDUM II:  Around the Web (and in email to me), what I keep seeing most is the theory that roommate Karena is directly involved in the crime (many are quite adamant about it), if not the killer, than being present when the crime transpired, or at least knowing what happened. People seem to arrive at that same conclusion from various paths (often just ‘women’s  intuition’) — I remain doubtful of it (for too many reasons to mention), but think it important to acknowledge that of those who’ve followed the case, in the court of public opinion, it’s a very common line of belief, so don’t want to entirely discount it.

The second biggest theory I see/hear of course points the finger at Karena’s ex-boyfriend Eric Takoy Jones, again for too many reasons to go back over. And yet again the police seem to have covered Jones quite thoroughly, and so far as I can tell cleared him, despite the heavy initial evidence pointing his way.

At the same time police have hinted for a long while that they have substantial circumstantial evidence against an individual and just need something a little more definitive — it’s difficult to see who, outside of KR and ETJ could have so much circumstantial evidence amassed against them.

But with the 20/20 report emphasizing a Latino perp that certainly re-focuses the case elsewhere, from those named in released documents. Many folks say the produced composite looks a lot like a ‘male Karena’ (asking that her relatives be looked at) — once again though I don’t really see it. The composite is just generic enough to look like a lot of young Hispanic males. Among Faith’s circle of digital acquaintances I found two I believe look quite similar to the DNA phenotype and probably another 4-5 that bore some interesting resemblance. There may be no shortage of ‘look-alikes’ for the image that has been generated, and Orange County, where the crime happened, has a large Hispanic population. All of which is just to caution that while I truly hope this new forensic tool sends the case in a fresh, productive (and final) direction, it might not.

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ADDENDUM III (9/27/16) -- the local press reports that there have been 100s of leads from across the country to Chapel Hill police since ABC's 20/20 broadcast. Let's hope many of these can be quickly dismissed and LE can soon focus on a few truly valuable, promising new leads.

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