FULL TESTIMONY — College friend Marisol Rangel testifies in the Salguero-Olivares murder trial

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: All righty. Thank you, Sheriff, and thank you, Madam Clark. Ma'am, can you state your first and last name for the record, please? [00:00:08] Karina: Okay. My name is Marisol Rangel. [00:00:10] Speaker 1: Can you spell your first and last name for the record, please? [00:00:13] Karina: M-A-R-I-S-O-L. Last name is R-A-N-G-E-L. [00:00:20] Speaker 1: Thank you, ma'am. And thank you for keeping your voice up like you're doing. Just be mindful of the fact that the court reporter is taking down everything you say, so try not to speak too fast. Also, if a lawyer asks you a question and the answer would be yes or no, you have to say yes or no. You can't say mm-hmm or mm-mm because you can't record that. And finally, if you allow for the attorney to ask the question, then you can respond in order to avoid talking over each other, okay? Okay. All right. This is with the state of North Carolina. [00:00:49] Speaker 3: Thank you, Your Honor. [00:00:49] Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am. [00:00:50] Speaker 3: Good afternoon. Ms. Rangel or Marisol, which do you prefer? [00:00:54] Karina: You can call me Marisol. Thank you. [00:00:56] Speaker 3: How old are you? [00:00:57] Karina: I am 37 years old. [00:01:01] Speaker 3: Do you live in North Carolina? [00:01:03] Karina: Yes. I live in western North Carolina right now. [00:01:07] Speaker 3: How did you know Faith Hedgepath? [00:01:11] Karina: Sorry. I knew Faith during my time at UNC Chapel Hill. I had met her through one of our mutual friends, Karina. [00:01:25] Speaker 3: What years were you at Chapel Hill, if you want to say? [00:01:28] Karina: I was between like 2008 to 2013, 14. [00:01:35] Speaker 3: You said you met Faith through Karina? Yes. Does that mean you met Karina first? [00:01:40] Karina: Yes, I met Karina at UNC, she was a first-year, she accidentally came, I was part of the Carolina Hispanic Association on campus, and I was part of the e-board and committee members, and we would have general body meetings one week and then alternate to where it was like planning meetings. Karina accidentally came into one of the planning meetings thinking it was a general body meeting, and that's where I met her, and then we got input from like a first year for like future programming and events like that. [00:02:15] Speaker 3: When Karina was, you said a first year, is that with freshmen? [00:02:18] Karina: Yes. [00:02:18] Speaker 3: Okay, what year were you? [00:02:21] Karina: It's kind of ambiguous for me just because I was in and out of college due to, to be honest, grades, family obligations that I had back home to help my family, and just things that have happened, yeah. [00:02:39] Speaker 3: Are you, you're older than Karina, is that right? Yes. How much older are you, if you know? I don't remember. Okay, okay. Would you guess you're one or two or three years older, or like five? [00:02:54] Karina: I was between like one or two, yeah. [00:03:00] Speaker 3: And so how did, so did you become friends with Karina after that meeting? [00:03:05] Karina: Yes, I became friends with Karina. She got involved in our committees and helping plan out, and then from there, we just kind of hit it off, and then I met some of her friends, which Faith was part of her group, and then that's how kind of like the three of us met. Faith and I really hit it off when I went to, I think it was someone's birthday party at one of the dorm rooms, and just like her personality and mine really meshed well together. We're both from small hometowns, so we're both from small hometowns, things like that, so we really, just the three of us just really became close and sister-like, yeah. So how would you describe sort of the dynamic of your group of friends, so I was the older one, so I was not necessarily like a mom, but like I was one of the ones that just kind of like getting them from time to time. Faith and I, well, Faith was like really goofy. She had a lot of joy. She gave like big hugs to everyone and just kind of made you feel seen. Very infectious smile, and then we had Karina. Karina was more quiet, more soft, more meek, just kind of like she had a lot of like funny to her personality, but you had to be kind of like close to her to kind of get that out of her for her to feel comfortable, but yeah. [00:04:48] Speaker 3: Okay, did you, what did y'all do together? Did you hang out regularly with them? [00:04:52] Karina: Yes, we would hang out a lot, at times we would go over to their apartment and cook together, Faith was really good at cooking, we, at times when, you know, we would go out, go out to eat, just kind of like hang out all the time, we would watch shows, like during that time I think Honey Boo Boo was one of the big shows back then, so we would just like chain watch like shows together. But yeah. [00:05:22] Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. Did either Faith or Karina speak Spanish? [00:05:28] Karina: No. I mean, they would try, people would assume they did, but no, I was the only one that spoke Spanish. Okay. [00:05:37] Speaker 3: Did you, were you ever out with them, with their, when they were dating, were you aware of who they were dating? Did y'all go out as a group ever? [00:05:49] Karina: Like, like with boyfriends? Yes. Yeah. Not all, no, not all of us together, no. Okay. But I was aware of some of the folks that they dated from time to time. Yeah. [00:05:59] Speaker 3: Um, did y'all share intimate details about your relationships with each other? Yes. You said you were close like sisters. [00:06:06] Karina: Yes. Mm-hmm. We did. We would share details just kind of like of who we dated or things like that. We kind of, most of the time knew like who was, who they were with. Okay. [00:06:18] Speaker 3: I'm just curious, you may not know this, but did you, um, did you know either of them to ever date a man who happened to be Hispanic? No. [00:06:25] Karina: Okay. [00:06:26] Speaker ?: Mm-mm. [00:06:29] Speaker 3: And how would you describe the relationship between Faith and Karina? [00:06:33] Karina: Faith and Karina were really close. Um, honestly, like sisters, they were more, I was kind of, I was already dating someone at that time. So I was over in, um, older. Um, so they were a lot closer than I was obviously to both of them. I had, um, a little bit of, I was friends with both of them. And then I had my like separate individual relationships on what we bonded over, but they were definitely a lot closer. [00:07:01] Speaker 3: Did you spend any time at their, the apartment they lived in, in September of 2012? [00:07:08] Karina: Um, I know I've gone to that apartment like a few times, um, here and there. So I would say yes. Um, and then sometimes they would come to my apartment. [00:07:19] Speaker 3: Okay. Do you remember what that apartment complex was called in 2012? [00:07:23] Karina: Uh, I think it's Hawthorne at the View maybe. I think that's what it was called back then. Okay. [00:07:31] Speaker 3: Um, I'm gonna ask you to go back to September 6th of 2012. Um, what, if anything, do you remember about what you did the evening of September 6th, 2012? So this would have been the evening before Faith died in the early morning hours. [00:07:52] Karina: Um, that night, um, during that time I was working two jobs. Um, one of them was, uh, being a bartender at a local nightclub here in Durham. Um, I was supposed to bartend that night, um, and I had arrived, um, to the parking lot and we would wait until, like, security and folks would open the doors to set up. Um, but I had noticed that no one was arriving and it was still pitch black outside. Um, so I, um, called and texted my, the manager at that time, um, and asked them if, where everyone was, like, were we still, um, having an event? Um, and they let me know that actually the event was canceled and they felt that, um, the other manager had already texted me. So I was out there waiting. Um, so at that point I decided, I just went back home to my apartment, um, with my boyfriend at that time who lived there. [00:08:48] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Where were you living then? [00:08:50] Karina: I lived at Pine Gate. Okay. Yeah. [00:08:54] Speaker 3: And you mentioned the boyfriend you were living with then. Mm-hmm. [00:08:57] Karina: What was his name? His name is Christian Wilson. [00:08:59] Speaker 3: Do you, are, do you still know Christian Wilson? [00:09:01] Karina: Um, yes, I'm, Christian is actually my husband now, um, and we have a little daughter together. Okay. [00:09:07] Speaker 3: What do you remember about the rest of that night? [00:09:11] Karina: Um, that night, um, him and I kind of, like, stayed up watching TV, um, and then ultimately, um, fell asleep. Um, but that night I know I had received, like, text messages from Karina. [00:09:26] Speaker 3: How did you know you received text messages that night? [00:09:29] Karina: Um, the next morning I saw them and I apologize because I fell asleep and told her, um, um, that I had not seen them until now. Um, but, um, essentially her, Karina and Faith, um, were at one of, um, the library studying and I think Faith had stepped out, but it was getting, she was out for a little too long. So Karina was asking me if I had heard from her or anything like that. Um, so I didn't see that until that next morning. [00:09:59] Speaker 3: Okay. Um, and so now we're talking about the morning of September 7th, 2012. When did you, aside from the text that you discovered that morning that she had sent earlier, um, when did you next communicate with Karina? [00:10:15] Karina: Um, it was later that morning, um, she, I don't remember if she called or texted me, um, but she was asking, uh, she was trying to get a hold of Faith. Um, Faith wasn't answering her phone or text messages. So she was just trying to see if I had heard from her and then asked if I could also reach out to Faith, um, to see if maybe like I could get her on the phone. Um, so yeah, and that's when I had heard from her. Okay. [00:10:46] Speaker 3: Was it, was it typical, um, in your experience for Karina, uh, to call several times if somebody didn't pick up the phone? [00:10:53] Karina: Um, yes. Um, with Faith, um, she tended to oversleep a lot sometimes or be late. Um, so we would always kind of like call them to like either wake her up or something to, to kind of get her going. Yeah. [00:11:10] Speaker 3: Okay. Um, and were you able to reach Faith? I was not. What do you remember about what happened next? [00:11:17] Karina: Um, we, Karina and I played phone tag, just trying to get a hold of each other. Um, so, um, I think Karina was trying to see if Faith could like pick her up from where she was. Um, I told Karina like not to worry about it. Like I'll just come get her wherever she was. Um, and so I asked her to send me the address and I went to go pick up Karina. [00:11:38] Speaker 3: Had you ever been to that address before? [00:11:43] Karina: Not that I remember. Okay. [00:11:45] Speaker 3: What do you remember about what happened next? [00:11:48] Karina: Um, I picked up Karina. We drove back to their, to Karina's apartment. Um, and we were just talking in the car when we got to, um, like the, the parking that's in front of their apartment. Um, I saw Faith's, we saw Faith's car was in the parking lot as well. So I assumed that she was either asleep, um, or something like that. So I was like, let's like, let's just go and take you both to campus essentially. Okay. [00:12:25] Speaker 3: Um, before I ask you to talk about going up to the apartment, do you, and you may not, which is fine. Uh, but do you happen to remember any of what you and Karina talked about in the car on the way from the address where you picked her up back to the apartment? Um, yes. [00:12:42] Karina: Um, Karina was very emotional that day. Um, she had, um, she had mentioned she thought Faith was probably upset with her because she had gotten drunk the night before. I guess when I, yeah, that night, that night essentially. Um, and, um, the reason being was just because, um, Karina had just had an abortion and she had not eaten and she had been drinking. Um, and then she was just talking about a lot of just like different things, like how she felt, you know, close to me and Faith. Um, but it was really hard to kind of have that relationship with even some of her family just because like we were, we just bonded over so much and we talked about so many things. Um, uh, we talked about how, you know, like Karina had gone through a very, um, abusive relationship with her, like previous partner. Um, and Faith and I were the ones, you know, like just talking her through that and helping her when she needed and just kind of being that emotional support for her. [00:13:54] Speaker 3: Do you remember if she told you anything else about that the night before where she had had too much to drink? [00:14:02] Karina: Um, yes. Um, while they were out, um, Karina, I guess, had ran into, uh, potential family members of her ex at the night. Um, the nightclub that they had visited and it just brought back a lot of memories. Um, just of that relationship and just like all the time there, like being with them and, and everything that basically she had, um, to endure and deal with. Yeah. [00:14:32] Speaker 3: Um, did she tell you anything else about, um, how she ended up at Jordan's house? [00:14:39] Karina: Yeah. She felt because of that, um, she said that she didn't feel, just being in that apartment, um, brought back a lot of memories. Um, her and her partner, her partner at one point like lived there and just kind of like tore up the place essentially. Um, and so she just, like, it just re-triggered a lot, um, for her to be there and just wanted to have, like, just to leave. [00:15:07] Speaker ?: Um, thank you. [00:15:09] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Is there anything else that you remember about what y'all talked about in the car before you went up to the apartment? [00:15:17] Karina: Uh, not right now. Okay. [00:15:19] Speaker 3: Uh, tell us if you would, what happened after you got out of the car. [00:15:24] Karina: Um, so, um, I told Karina I would go up with her to the apartment just because I know Karina had an assignment due, um, and Faith, I knew Faith had to get a class as well. So I told her, let me go up there. They're going to take a lot to get ready. So let me just go with you guys and I'll take you both to campus instead of y'all having to ride the bus or try to get there. Um, and we walked up, um, and, um, we, Karina opened the door and then we were calling Faith because we thought she had overslept because she wasn't answering our calls. We were like Faith, Faith, like just, um, and we weren't, um, no one was answering. So we're walking through, um, and, sorry. [00:16:20] Speaker ?: Sorry. [00:16:21] Karina: It's okay. We, we get to the bedroom and all at first you could see is just blood everywhere. And then we walked in and, um, there's just blood everywhere. It looked like brain matter and just different things. And, um, Faith was like somewhat wrapped in, in a comforter. And so we just, it just froze. Um, and we had a call for 9-1-1. Um, and, but Karina was able to unlock her phone faster than me. And I honestly just read it because I just, like looking back, I just thought she was unconscious. So Karina was able to call and they were asking us to touch Faith and to get a pulse. And I told her I couldn't touch her. And he asked us to like tug a little bit on the comforter to see, like to get the pulse. And I couldn't. Um, so Karina had to do it. And, um, it's just, there was, um, there's blood and like, like I remember seeing like a tampon like near the, near the bed. Um, and it, it just, all I keep thinking was like now, like obviously now looking at it obviously wasn't unconscious but that's all I can think about. So, um, Karina talked to 9-1-1 and I was able to, to text Christian and he didn't understand me and he didn't know what I was saying because I didn't know what else to do. [00:18:15] Speaker 3: Tell me a little bit about, um, the tampon. You said you noticed the tampon. Yeah. Do you remember thinking anything or why does that stand out? [00:18:29] Karina: Because, like, Faith is not a dirty person. She wouldn't have a tampon just on the floor. Like why would, like, she wouldn't just, yeah. Like, if she was on her period, why would she, why would it be, like, why would it be out? Like, why would she be there? And then she was, like, undressed. Like, her shirt was, like, over her chest. So. [00:18:58] Speaker 3: Do you remember seeing her face? [00:19:02] Karina: A little bit. Um, I think some of it, I just feel like over the years I've, like, blocked it. Um, but I just remember seeing, like, her, like, her hair and it was just wet. [00:19:16] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:19:18] Speaker 3: Where was Karina? Where were you, um, as compared to Karina when she was talking to the 911 operator? [00:19:28] Karina: Um, well, at some point Karina, like, I stopped at the, so the bed is this way. I know at one point I stopped here. Um, Karina obviously had to go around me to tug and feel her pulse. Um, cause Faith was kind of, like, off of, half off the bed, half not. Like, it was almost like she was, um, like, stuck between, um, the bed and there was, like, a desk or something, like, beside there. And then, um, I know what she called 911. Like, we were just both, like, towards the end at some point. Yeah. [00:20:05] Speaker 3: And did you stand with Karina while she talked? Yes. Okay. Um, and do you remember what happened next? [00:20:16] Karina: Um, yeah, so, after she touched, uh, Karina touched her, um, then, like, I think the 911 operator asked us to, like, step outside and, like, wait, um, for someone to come. So, we, um, had to step out in, like, the, like, the front door. There's, like, those little balcony areas until you enter. So, we had to wait for someone to come and we just felt like no one was coming fast enough. And then, um, we went down the stairs and that's what we saw. Them coming and they went upstairs. [00:20:50] Speaker 3: Do you remember anything about what happened once? The law enforcement, was it law enforcement officers who got there first or the ambulance? [00:20:57] Karina: I don't remember. Okay. Okay. Um, after that, um, they separated us. Um, and so, they separated us, had us, um, Um, I think it was, like, crisis counselors and, like, other people, I believe. Um, but they kind of kept us separate. Um, I know I had to, I, Christian had finally got there so he had to stay away and, like, in the car and just wait. Um, and then, um, I had to, to text my other child that I, I was a waitress in, in Raleigh as well. That I texted them that I wasn't coming in. Um, and then at some point they took us, um, to campus health to see some of the counselors. Um, and we were there for a bet with, like, the counselors. Um, and then they brought us back, um, to the crime scene. [00:21:53] Speaker 3: And what do you remember about what happened once you came back to the crime scene, if anything? [00:22:00] Karina: Um, we were, we were there at the crime scene and then, um, uh, Karina's ex-partner was, like, walking up. I remember seeing him and I had let them know, like, he, he can't be in here just because, um, she had, like, a restraining order against him. Um, and then we kind of, like, we stayed in the car with the person who drove us to campus health and back. Um, and then at some point we, um, I believe we had to go, um, take, like, our statements and stuff like that, like, to the police station. Okay. [00:22:42] Speaker 3: Do you remember, um, being interviewed by Investigator Britt of the Chapel Hill Police Department? [00:22:48] Karina: Honestly, no. Um, there have been so many interviews, so many different things to come. Um, every year around, as a time comes up, um, it's expected for me to, like, hear from someone. Um, so I don't answer phone calls, honestly, unless they leave a voicemail. Um, just because sometimes it's been, like, reporters harassing, um, or just people. So it's, it's just, I think, over time it's just gotten numb. Like, I don't even know who I talk to. [00:23:26] Speaker 3: I'm sorry. Have you talked to, did you, have you and Karina stayed in touch? No. [00:23:35] Karina: Um, we have not, um, at first we did, um, Karina was having a really hard time. Um, um, she wasn't eating for a while, um, and her mom was worried. Um, so her mom and I kind of, like, chatted, and they were, they went back to New Jersey. And, um, I, her and her mom planned for me to come up and kind of, like, surprise her. Um, and be there. And, um, you know, I had, like, a couple friends. Like, we, we created, like, um, a journal to where she could write things out because I knew she was having a harder time. Um, and, like, within there we even put, like, little positive notes so she could, like, as she would write. Um, but then after a while, um, it was a lot. Um, and I felt like I was pouring a lot more into that. So, um, it was hard and, um, we stopped talking. I don't even remember the last time I've talked to her, to be honest. It's been years. [00:24:45] Speaker 3: I want to ask you about, um, I want to take you back just for a second. And do you happen to remember if when you picked Karina up that morning at Jordan's house, was she carrying anything? Did she have anything with her that you recall? I don't remember. Okay. Do you happen to remember what she was wearing? Mm-mm. Okay. [00:25:09] Speaker 1: Yes, sir. [00:25:10] Speaker 3: No, sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. [00:25:12] Speaker ?: Sorry. [00:25:13] Speaker 3: Um. Have you talked to other people about faith since then? What do you mean? Who have you talked to about? [00:25:36] Karina: Um, I mean, I've, like, I've talked to my husband. Um, I don't really talk a lot about it. Um, I do and I don't. Um, it's really, really triggering. Um, also, it's really hard because all these people, everyone who loved her and were friends with her have all these great memories, like, their last ones. For me, um, it's been really hard since everything happened because at times that's all I can think about. And I don't want to re-traumatize anyone else or go through that. Um, so, I don't really talk about it much. [00:26:31] Speaker 3: When you say it's all you can think about, what are you, what do you mean? What is it that you... Seeing faith. [00:26:38] Speaker ?: Like that. [00:26:39] Speaker 3: When you found her. [00:26:40] Karina: Yeah, when I found her and just, like, the blood and everything is just, it's a lot. And it's also, like, re-triggering for me to even, to talk about it again and again. Um, so, I don't talk to people about it just because I don't know how people are feeling. I don't want them to, I want them to keep those positive, happy images of her, her goofy self. Like, she was really silly. Um, she was just great. She was a good person. [00:27:14] Speaker 3: Thank you, Marisol. I just have a couple more questions. Okay. Are you okay? [00:27:23] Karina: Yeah. [00:27:24] Speaker 3: Okay. Um, do you know Miguel Salguero Olivares? No. Do you remember Faith or Karina ever talking about somebody named Miguel or Mike Salguero Olivares? I do not. Okay. I'm going to ask you if you would look over at the defense table at the man who's wearing a light blue jacket. Do you recognize him? I do not. [00:27:49] Karina: Okay. [00:27:50] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:27:51] Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. No further questions, Your Honor. [00:27:54] Speaker 1: All right. Cross-examination, Mr. Reinspoon. [00:27:57] Speaker 3: No questions. [00:27:58] Speaker 1: All right. Thank you, sir. Um, Madame Tia, is Ms. Rangel under subpoena? [00:28:02] Speaker 3: She is, Your Honor, in the state. [00:28:03] Speaker 1: Are you asking? Are you asking it to be released? [00:28:05] Speaker 3: Yes, please. [00:28:06] Speaker 1: All right. Ms. Rangel, you're going to need some of the pain. You're pretty good, man.