On the morning of Sep. 7, 2012, UNC student Faith Hedgepeth was found murdered in her off-campus apartment. On Oct. 7, 2026, the prosecution and defense both delivered opening statements in the trial of Miguel Salguero Olivares for her murder, and the prosecution began to present its case.
Proceedings at the Durham County Courthouse began Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. with the selection of the fourth and final alternate juror, who was ultimately approved by both the state and attorneys for Salguero Olivares. Following the jury’s finalization, Judge Keith Gregory provided an orientation for the group before allowing the prosecution and the defense to deliver their opening statements.
The state’s opening statements got straight to the point, with Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca saying the evidence will show Salguero Olivares murdered Hedgepeth using an empty Bacardi bottle from the apartment before he raped her. The prosecution’s case centers on DNA evidence collected at the scene, which was matched to Salguero Olivares following his arrest for drunk driving in 2021. Garcia-Lamarca said DNA was found in semen in Hedgepeth’s genitals, as well as on a takeout bag with a vulgar message written on it. She said only one complete DNA profile has ever been created using evidence from the scene, and that it belongs to Olivares.
“He left his DNA on the murder weapon, a Barcardi rum bottle that was otherwise covered in blood,” Garcia-Lamarca told the jury. “He left his DNA on the boxer shorts Faith used to sleep in. He left her used, bloody tampon on the floor next to the bed after he pulled it out of her body. He left his DNA inside of her vagina — his semen, and his sperm. He left his DNA inside of her rectum — his semen, and his sperm. He left his DNA and his palm print, and his left thumb print, on a blue Riesling bottle that was found on the floor by the bed.”
Judge Keith Gregory presiding over opening statement and the first day of witness testimony at the Durham County Courthouse (Image via press pool).
Garcia-Lamarca said Hedgepeth and Salguero Olivares were strangers at the time of the crime. She said he has multiple extended family members who lived in the same apartment complex as Hedgepeth in 2012, and that they held a barbecue the night of Sep. 6 that lasted into the early morning hours of Sep. 7.
One point raised by Garcia-Lamarca was about “noise” surrounding the case, referring to speculation and conspiracy theories which arose during the years between the murder and Salguero Olivares’ arrest. Much of that speculation centered around Hedgepeth’s roommate Karena Rosario, who some speculated was involved in the murder since she not only discovered Hedgepeth’s body, but left the apartment in the early morning hours of Sep. 7. In a pretrial hearing, it was determined the defense could not accuse anyone else of having committed the crime as a part of their strategy to represent Salguero Olivares.
The defense’s opening statement, delivered by attorney James Rainsford, took direct aim at the state’s characterization of speculation around the case as “noise.” The defense brought up multiple potential shortcomings in the state’s evidence, asking the jury to consider whether the examples were just “noise” or were worthy of their consideration.
While not directly accusing her of any wrongdoing, Rainsford pointed out examples of Rosario’s behavior in the hours following Hedgepeth’s death that could be considered suspicious. That included a statement from Jordan McCrary, who picked up Rosario from the apartment around 4 a.m. He said Rosario asked why there would be blood on her hands before changing the subject. He also casted doubt on how conclusive the DNA results were, saying that only trace amounts of it point back to his client, and that key pieces of potential evidence, including a potential blood sample from the bathroom, were either not collected or mishandled.
“The swab never gets tested,” Rainsford said of the bathroom sample. “Thirteen years go by, that swab was never tested. The defense asks for it to be tested…and it can’t be located. It’s gone. It’s not in any of the police reports until 2025. No mention [by investigators] that ‘we had this evidence, but we lost it.’ Maybe that’s noise to some people, but that sounds like forensic evidence to others. You get to pick.”
Karena Rosario fields questions from the state on Wednesday, Oct. 7 (Image via press pool).
Once opening statements wrapped up the judge took proceedings straight into witness testimony, beginning with Hedgepeth’s niece Alexis Evans for background on the victim before moving on to Rosario. She recounted the night of Hedgepeth’s death from her perspective, discovering the body the following morning, and the long term effects the crime has had on her life in the following years. The prosecution repeatedly asked questions about Rosario’s cooperation with law enforcement, with the New Jersey native saying she always worked with investigators and had nothing to hide during their questioning.
Court will resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning with the defense’s cross examination Rosario.
Featured image via press pool.
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