Faith Hedgepeth Trial: What the Jury Has Heard

Video · 3:45 · Watch on YouTube

UPDATE (Oct. 8, 2026): The trial of Miguel Salguero-Olivares in the 2012 death of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth is under way in Durham. Opening statements were made Oct. 7; testimony continued Oct. 8. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. We name him now because his trial is being held in open court; every claim below is attributed to what was said in court or reported.

Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student from Hollister, N.C., was found killed in her off-campus apartment on Sept. 7, 2012. An arrest was announced in 2021. He is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree rape and first-degree sexual offense.

What's confirmed

1. Sept. 7, 2012, Chapel HillFaith Hedgepeth, 19, was found dead in her off-campus apartment. (Town of Chapel Hill; WRAL; NBC News; WUNC)
2. Sept. 16, 2021Chapel Hill police announced an arrest. The N.C. attorney general said a DNA sample submitted to the State Crime Lab matched DNA collected at the scene in 2012. (Town of Chapel Hill release; WUNC; NBC News)
3. Aug. 3, 2026he pleaded not guilty to all charges. (The Daily Tar Heel; Chapelboro; The News & Observer)
4. Sept. 21, 2026Judge Keith Gregory ruled the defense may not argue to the jury that another person committed the crime. (ABC11; The Daily Tar Heel; WRAL)
5. Oct. 5, 2026a jury of 12 was confirmed after a week of individual questioning; the fourth alternate was seated Oct. 7. (WRAL; The Daily Tar Heel; ABC11)
6. Oct. 7, 2026, the state's openingAssistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-LaMarca told jurors his DNA was found on several items at the scene, and that the two were strangers, which she said is why it took years to find him. "The evidence in this case is louder than the noise around it," she said. (WRAL; The Associated Press; ABC11; CBS News)
7. Oct. 7, 2026, the defense's openingattorney James Rainsford said the DNA does not mean what the state says. "Finding something doesn't mean a crime occurred. You have to connect them," he said. He told jurors to make the state prove the two were strangers, questioned how police handled the investigation and the evidence, and pointed to possible blood evidence from the apartment's bathroom that police collected and later lost. (WRAL; The Associated Press; Chapelboro; ABC11)
8. The state's first witness was her niece. On Oct. 8, day two of testimony opened with the defense's cross-examination. (WRAL; Chapelboro; ABC11)

What's disputed

• What the DNA shows. Prosecutors say it points to him; the defense says finding DNA does not prove a crime or when it was left. The jury decides.

What we don't know

• Whether the defense will call witnesses. It has not said.
• How long the trial will run. No end date has been reported.

What happens next

• The state continues its case in Durham County Superior Court. We'll post an UPDATE here at the verdict.

Please note

Miguel Salguero-Olivares has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. No one else has been charged in Faith Hedgepeth's death. We do not name witnesses or anyone who has not been charged. The name on the Town's 2021 release stays covered as first published.

Chapters

1. 0:00The case
2. 0:29Who she was
3. 0:49Nine years
4. 1:34The charges
5. 1:56What the jury will hear
6. 2:16The trial

Sources

1. WRAL (Monica Casey, Oct. 7, 2026)wral.com/news/local/opening-statements-in-unc-student-murder-trial-october-2026/
2. WRAL (Monica Casey, Oct. 7, 2026, jury)wral.com/news/local/jury-seated-in-unc-student-murder-trial-october-2026/
3. The Associated Press (Holly Ramer, Oct. 7, 2026)abcnews.com/US/wireStory/trial-begins-man-accused-killing-unc-student-faith-137070471
4. CBS News (Oct. 8, 2026)cbsnews.com/news/faith-hedgepeth-murder-unc-suspect-dna-bottle-prosecutors-trial/
5. ABC11 (Elaina Athans, Oct. 8, 2026)abc11.com/post/faith-hedgepeth-roommate-testifies-opening-day-unc-student-murder-trial/19919521/
6. Chapelboro (Henry Taylor, Oct. 7, 2026)chapelboro.com/news/crime/faith-hedgepeth-murder-trial-opening-statements-complete-prosecution-begins-witness-testimony
7. The Daily Tar Heel (jury)dailytarheel.com/484435/university/faith-hedgepeth-office/university-hedgepeth-day-6/

Spot an error? Email corrections@undercurrentdaily.com. See our corrections policy. Have information about this case? Contact the investigating agency first.

Part of What We Know: open cases, confirmed facts only · YouTube playlist