The murder of Faith Danielle Hedgepeth on September 7, 2012, shocked the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill community and began an investigation that continued for nearly 9 years before an arrest was made. Faith was a 19-year-old college student with strong family ties, ambitious educational goals and plans to use her future career to help others. Her life ended violently inside the off-campus apartment she shared with a roommate in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Faith was found partially unclothed in a bedroom shortly before noon. She had suffered severe injuries to her head and face after being struck repeatedly with a heavy object. Investigators concluded that an empty liquor bottle recovered from the room was likely used as the murder weapon. Evidence also indicated that Faith had been sexually assaulted.
The crime scene contained several important clues, including male DNA, semen, a palm print and a handwritten message left on a restaurant takeout bag. Despite the amount of physical evidence, investigators could not initially identify the unknown man whose DNA appeared on Faith’s body and multiple objects inside the apartment…