Content warning: Details of Hedgepeth’s death may be disturbing to readers and contains reference to sexual assault.
Defense attorneys for the man arrested in 2021 and accused of murdering former UNC student Faith Hedgepeth nearly 14 years ago pleaded ‘not guilty’ on Monday afternoon.
The plea entry for Miguel Salguero Olivares is the latest step in the lead-up to a trial expected to feature differing stories of what happened the night of Sept. 7, 2012, when Hedgepeth was raped and killed in her apartment off Old Durham and Old Chapel Hill Road. Defense attorney James Rainsford delivered the plea as part of pretrial hearing where the prosecution and defense argued their motions for restricting what information can be presented and framed to the eventual jury. As of now, the trial is tentatively set to begin on September 28.
The case — prosecuted in Durham County, despite it initially being investigated by the Chapel Hill Police Department — has garnered national attention due to the extended amount of time law enforcement sought a suspect and the complicated nature of the evidence publicly shared as the investigation unfolded. To this point, roommate and UNC student Karena Rosario found Hedgepeth —who was unenrolled from UNC at the time of her death — beaten to death in Hedgepeth’s bed. Evidence from the scene indicated she was sexually assaulted, with police collecting semen with a sexual assault kit and later reporting that a Barcardi Rum bottle was used as a murder weapon. A note scribbled onto a white takeout food bag added to the mystery.
Investigators pulled DNA from 52 pieces of case evidence and cross-referenced the DNA samples with more than 200 others over the years to rule out suspects. But in 2021, only weeks after Salguero Olivares was arrested for driving while impaired in Raleigh, law enforcement said his fingerprints and DNA collected from the traffic stop came back as positive matches for those found at the crime scene. He was arrested on September 17, nine years after the incident, with Chapel Hill Police and local investigators holding a press conference to announce the update in the case.
Miguel Enrique Salguero Olivares, at the time of his arrest in 2021. (Photo via the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.)
Little has been heard from both prosecutors and defense attorneys since then, with Salguero Olivares only making minor procedural appearances in court. But the ‘not guilty’ plea and pretrial motions offer insight into how the defense may argue the 33-year-old’s case this fall. The News & Observer reported last summer that Salguero Olivares’ representation filed claims that Rosario may have been involved with Hedgepeth’s murder and WRAL reported in July that additional motions were filed asking for records related to law enforcement’s decision on which charges to bring against their client. That includes the state’s addition of rape, sexual offense and burglary to Salguero Olivares’ case in 2024.
In their own pretrial motions, the prosecution argued for the defense to be prevented from bringing arguments to the jury suggesting someone else was guilty for Hedgepeth’s murder. The News & Observer reported additional requests include prohibiting the introduction of polygraph or lie detector examinations to official evidence and preventing media from recording video or taking photographs during witness testimony.
If found guilty of murder, Salguero Olivares will automatically be sentenced to life in prison. Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry said in 2021 she would not seek the death penalty while prosecuting the case.
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Defense For Faith Hedgepeth Murder Suspect Enters ‘Not Guilty’ Plea During Pretrial Motions Chapelboro.com.
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