Kriti Mehrotra
Faith Hedgepeth, a beautiful and sweet 19-year-old junior at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, was brutally murdered in her off-campus apartment on the morning of September 7, 2012, just a few weeks before her 20th birthday on September 26. After returning home safely from a night out with Karena Rosario, a friend and roommate, she went to bed thinking everything was alright. However, Karena left her home alone with the door unlocked, and within a few hours, Faith was beaten bloody, raped, and murdered.
The DNA evidence on the crime scene was believed to belong to the killer, but because no one that they have ever checked was a match, and because there is a lack of evidence that ties anyone to the murder, the case remains unsolved. The hard evidence the police did have was the DNA from the glass bottle that was used to hit her on the head – which is what ultimately killed her – a note left behind by the killer, and an inadvertently recorded voicemail.
Killer’s Note
The note that was left behind was the thing that baffled everyone the most. Left near Faith’s dead body, it stated in bold letters, “I’M NOT STUPID. BITCH. JEALOUS” in what could only be described as in a childlike handwriting. Although the whole crime scene was bloody and messy, the note itself was completely and utterly clean.
When Crime Watch Daily talked to an expert, Peggy Walla, and had her look at the images of the note to give them an insight as to what it could tell us about the killer, she admitted that because of how clean it was, it had to be written either beforehand or away from the crime scene. She also revealed that she thinks that the killer wrote it from their non-dominant hand in an attempt to hide their handwriting. But, because they were filled with rage over being called “stupid,” they had to have the last say and ensure that the word was never uttered by Faith again.
However, as handwriting analysis can not determine things like the gender or age of the person who wrote the note, finding the killer from it, without any other evidence, is impossible.
Faith Hedgepeth’s Voicemail
A friend of Faith’s gave the police a recording of a voicemail that Faith had left with them after mistakenly pocket dialing them. The recording, although timestamped at 1:23 a.m., hours before she was killed, is believed to be the documentation of Faith’s final moments alive. At 1:23 in the morning, Faith was still in the nightclub, The Thrill, with her roommate, but Arlo West, an audio expert, hired by Crime Watch Daily, claims that a known software issue can cause discrepancies when it comes to timestamps.
Alro took away all the background noises in the voicemail and stripped it till only the bare wordings could be heard. He made a transcript of the conversation and said that the conversation took place between Faith, a woman, and at least two other men. He claims to have heard Faith crying out for help, screaming things like “Ow!!!”, “Help me!” and “Let me go” while the other woman is cursing at her.
When it comes to the two males while one says, “I think she’s dying,” the other replies with, “Do it anyhow!” During the recording, Faith can also be heard begging them to untie her hands. The most chilling part of the recording, though, is when they talk about their “next victim,” and one of the males is heard casually rapping a song. And since there are no instrumental sounds or background conversation in the recording, Arlo is convinced that it was later in the night and not when Faith was in the club.
He also claims to have clearly heard the names “Rosie” and “Eriq” in the recording. This could be pointing towards Karena Rosario and her ex-boyfriend Eriq Jones, but because of the lack of concrete evidence, no arrests have ever been made, and the case, to this date, even after almost eight years, remains a mystery. (Featured Image Credit: Hedgepeth Family/ Crime Watch Daily)
Read More: Where Is Karena Rosario Now?
