Miguel Salguero Olivares convicted of Faith Hedgepeth's 2012 murder, sentenced to life without parole

A Durham County jury on Friday convicted Miguel Salguero Olivares, 33, of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offence and first-degree burglary in the September 2012 killing of Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sophomore found beaten to death in the off-campus apartment she shared with roommate Karena Rosario on 7 September 2012. Jurors deliberated about six hours over two days, with the trial running 19 days. (Economic Times; Nacionale)

The case went unsolved for nine years until a DNA sample taken during a September 2021 drunk-driving stop in Wake County matched crime-scene evidence. Investigators had also used genetic genealogy to point to Salguero Olivares, but Judge Keith Gregory excluded it, so jurors never heard it and the case rested on DNA and print evidence. He did not testify and called no witnesses. (Nacionale)

“He beat her until her skull cracked like an egg,” special prosecutor Lisa Coltrane told jurors in closing. Judge Gregory sentenced Salguero Olivares to life in prison without parole on the murder count — the mandatory sentence in North Carolina, where prosecutors did not seek the death penalty — plus maximum consecutive sentences on the other counts and lifetime sex-offender registration. His attorneys have indicated the defence intends to appeal. (Economic Times; Courtroom Insider; 9th Street Journal)

Before sentencing, victim impact statements were heard. Her mother, Connie Hedgepeth, said: “It didn’t matter who done it, I knew that I had to forgive. My heart aches for his family.” Her father, Roland Hedgepeth, said: “I always knew she was a gift from God.” (9th Street Journal)